How an empty chair can say it all….

Happy October?
Wait….October?
It’s the last quarter of the year?
How did that happen (checking watch and frowning)?

I’m going to keep this short as I have a book to write, clients to support, and a cheesecake to eat.

In case you missed it (which is shortened to ICYMI in mails and social media posts), I was honored to be asked by the Op1 TV show to analyse the American Presidential Debate last week. I was in the studio from 1 am till 5.30 am, and it was a delight! I was thinking….do I even dare to interrupt people like Jeroen Pauw, Charles Groenhuijsen, and Bert Koenders? At 4 am? In Dutch?

Well, my dear….the answer is YES.

You can watch it here.

And at 3.07 (yes, that’s at 3 hours and 7 minutes, fast forward!) you’ll see me talking about the ‘communicative gold’ in the (otherwise horrible!)  debate- when Joe Biden talked about coming home to an empty chair when someone has died of Corona.

This is emotional and visual. When we hear this, we immediately imagine the empty chair and all that it represents. He himself had years of empty chairs when he lost his first wife and child in a car accident many years ago. Instead of talking about grief, he talked about the empty chair. Such an effective way to tell a story.

It was an amazing night, and I’m so glad I did it. I could not sleep afterwards because I was too happy. (But of course, very sad at the state of my country, and that debate was just horrible in so many ways. Even a professional debate coach said it was a train wreck.)

So, my question to you is this- what’s your gold today?
What’s the story you’d like to tell?
What visual image could you share which represents the feeling behind that story?

Sometimes an empty chair says it all.
If I can help you shape your stories better, let me know by hitting ‘reply’!

Love,
Buffi

PS: Last Friday I launched another Friday Fun video – this one is all about phrasal verbs! You can also admire my snazzy knife skills. Check it out here!