Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The Bullseye Principle summary
David Lewis and G. Riley Mills
Mastering Intention-Based Communication to Collaborate, Execute, and Succeed
Listen to the first key idea
Key idea 1 of 6
4.1 (104 ratings)
19 mins
6 key ideas
Audio & text
What is The Bullseye Principle about?
The Bullseye Principle (2018) is a practical guide to confident, clear communication in contemporary business settings. Covering everything from personal branding to inspiring others and running meetings effectively, these blinks will show you how to deliver your lines with style and win over your audience.
About the Author
David Lewis is an author. His first book, Sawdust and Spangles, won a 2007 NAPPA Honor Award, while his 2012 broadway musical The Hundred Dresses was nominated for a Distinguished Play Award. G. Riley Mills is the cofounder of Pinnacle Performance Company and a coach who has taught communication skills to CEOs around the world. Mills and Lewis are also the co-authors of The Pin Drop Principle.
© David Lewis and G. Riley Mills: The Bullseye Principle copyright 2018, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Used by permission of John Wiley & Sons Inc. and shall not be made available to any unauthorized third parties.
Table of Contents
Key idea 1 of 6
We communicate to achieve specific objectives.
Picture the scene. Despite telling your teenage son countless times not to play ball in the house, you come home and find your favorite vase in pieces on the floor. What do you do? That’s right – you tell him off.
Or let’s say you’re a manager and one of your employees shows up late for the third day in a row. Again, you’re going to have to have a talk.
Hopefully they won’t just be idle words.
The key message in this blink is: We communicate to achieve specific objectives.
In both these scenarios, you’re communicating with the intention of changing another person’s actions. Put differently, you’re attempting to persuade. Persuasion is at the heart of communication, which can be defined as an intentional effort to alter someone’s mental state.
So here’s the million dollar question: What’s the most effective way to communicate and persuade others?
Let’s use a metaphor. Think of your message as an arrow. Like an archer, you’re aiming for the bullseye. This is the objective of your communication. Perhaps you want your son to understand the importance of respecting other people’s property, or your employees to know the importance of showing up on time.
When an archer misses the bullseye, she doesn’t blame the target. Every arrow that goes astray is the result of poor marksmanship. This is also true of communication. Whether you’re facilitating a meeting or giving a presentation, it’s your job to hit the bullseye with your audience.
Unfortunately, the business world is full of poor marksmen. Take a 2014 study published in Forbes. It found that 71 percent of employees don’t believe their bosses properly communicate what’s expected of them. The result? Unhappy workers. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, almost 70 percent of all employees in the US and 85 percent of the global workforce are “actively disengaged” from their jobs! Let that sink in for a moment.
These numbers should be a wake-up call for managers and leaders. If you want to avoid alienating your team, you need to start improving your communication skills. In the following blinks, we’ll explore some techniques to help you hit the bullseye every time.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Bullseye Principle?
Key ideas in The Bullseye Principle
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Who should read The Bullseye Principle
- Leaders looking to find their voice
- Public speakers with stage fright
- Interviewers and interviewees
Categories with The Bullseye Principle
Books like The Bullseye Principle
What our members say
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Start growing with Blinkist now
25 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers