Once upon a time there were two frogs. Actually, there were millions of frogs, but this story is about just two of them. These two frogs hadn’t yet been run over after rainy summer nights, so they hung out together.
The frogs were opposites. Skinny frog was, well, skinny; fat frog was fat. Skinny frog saw the glass half-full; fat frog had poor eyesight and couldn’t really see at all—and that made fat frog cynical and pessimistic. Skinny frog was always getting kissed by princesses and spending weekends as a prince, and fat frog thought a princess’s place was in the kitchen and never made it to first base.
Somehow, though, they got along. For a while. One day, while hopping around, they both landed in a milk churner that was filled with milk. Immediately, fat frog said, “I’m lactose intolerant and hate swimming. Let’s just die.” Skinny frog, understanding that the ordeal would likely lead to publishing and movie deals if they could just survive, prevailed upon fat frog to swim and give it his all.
They swam for hours, waiting for someone to come and notice them in the milk. Fat frog felt that said event would spell certain doom—who wants frogs in milk? he argued. Skinny frog didn’t know how things would turn out; he only knew that they had to survive.
After a while, fat frog decided to give up and drown and he did. Skinny frog continued paddling, though he was tired, hungry and just a little flour and a hot pan away from being someone else’s dinner. But he kept paddling. And you know what?
Things just got harder. The milk seemed harder and harder to swim in. He couldn’t believe it. Just as he was running out of energy, too. He had to kick twice as hard to stay afloat. He felt clumsy, fighting for every breath in milk that seemed to be slowly solidifying around him. For a moment, he thought about fat frog, down at the bottom of the churner, and wondered who made the right decision. But he pressed on.
Suddenly, he realized something. The milk was getting even more dense. He still had to kick his hardest to stay afloat, but he could rest between kicks. He kept at it for a few more hours, and to his surprise, the milk had become completely solid. After a short breather, he simply jumped out of the churner.
When we hear this story, we see parallels to the lives of many of our clients and the great presenters we work with. For them, it’s always an origins story: presenters know that for years, nobody listens. Nobody cares. Presenters are optimists, so they call the room, “half-full”, but it still hurts to see the empty seats. It takes courage, hard work, constant refinement and an unswervingly positive attitude to keep on presenting, to keep taking that message to audiences, even when you doubt anyone cares.
Then, suddenly, it happens. There’s a breakthrough. A major turnout, tons of positive and engaging feedback. Progress. And yes, occasionally, book deals do happen.
For the presenters out there still waiting for the break, we wanted to share the classic story of two frogs once again. You know plenty of people who think it’s easier to give up. Don’t. Stick with it. Refine the message. Practice and improve, and enjoy the fruits of your labor when you change the world.
Question: How important is your message? How much would you sacrifice to make sure you overcame every obstacle to share it with the world?
