23 Mar Granny Throw
Oscar Wilde famously said that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” We enjoyed the TV series Running Point with Kate Hudson about the life of pro basketballers. A young player, Dyson Gibbs has trouble making free-throw shots, so the team brings in a female specialist who teaches him the underhand “granny throw.” Mocked and embarrassed by his teammates, but under pressure to perform, Gibbs finally uses it, makes the shots and his entire game improves.
Last Thursday’s big sports news was about Kyler Filewich of Wofford College who faced the same challenge. Strangely enough, Filewich was given the same solution as Gibbs by Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry, the godfather of underhand free-throw shots. Filewich went from an 18% to 60% success rate and the rest of his game also improved. Life imitated art.
When Eloqui introduces novel ways to open presentations or meetings, we often hear “We don’t do it that way” or “That’s too different” or “What if the audience doesn’t like it?” We will now counter with what Rick Barry told Filewich; “They can’t boo you if you’re making them.” (sunk shots) Change is hard. But when you adopt a new method, execute with commitment and it works, you won’t receive boos—only applause. And like Filewich, you’ll loosen up, gain confidence, and take more risks.
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