Apparently Geisel was taking a boat from Europe to the US.  – an eight day voyage in the days before TVs and the Internet. He found himself lulled by the rhythm of the engine and began to write to that melody. The result was “And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street.”

The manuscript was rejected several dozen times.  One day by chance, Geisel was walking down the street when he happened to run into an old friend who inquired about the children’s book.  Geisel said he was giving up. He was going to get rid of the manuscript and move on.  The friend, who had just accepted a job with a publishing company, asked to read it. He loved it, published it and the rest, as they say, is history.

Yep, after all the rejections, Geisel gave it one more shot.  Persistence and the faith of one friend, gave millions and several generations characters to laugh and love and rock out to.

Lucky us.

Seuss had a friend who made a plan.

We all need to have faith and a friend.

Even after rejection, we only need one yes to make it work and then you can celebrate with Green Eggs and Ham.

Piece of cake. Talk to fellow student and then tell everyone else in the class what you learned.  And yet, every semester, this assignment is met with anxiety and some outright fear.  Why?  Because it involves standing up and talking to an audience. An audience of 18 of their peers, but a live audience nonetheless. It reminds me of the old adage many people would rather be dead than do any public speaking.  Really? Do they really think that one through?

It’s the same thing when we are trying to introduce our products or services.  Too often we hide behind stark and standard prose until we can’t tell why one product is better than another.

But having faith and confidence in who we are and what we are is the best way I know to attract an audience… talk and listen.