Episode Details

When I met David Van Bennekum on Linked In and he told me he'd written a self-help book on National Security, I thought 'That's a bit unusual, followed by blimey he's got some guts … that's a challenging topic'.

My curiosity was well and truly piqued though, so I had a look at his LinkedIn profile and saw that he was a former United States Marine Corps Infantry and Logistics Officer. He was a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and he'd retired from active service as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Then I saw that besides that, he had a law degree and also a Masters in National Security Law from Georgetown University.

He obviously had the knowledge, but as I messaged him back to find out more, I'm not going to lie … based on previous conversations with some 'experts', I was fully expecting him to bore the pants off me!

But … the opposite happened. When he started sharing about it, he didn't waffle on about facts and stats, no … he made me laugh and even better, gave me a light bulb moment about something truly important.

And that's when I knew I had to get him on the show, because being able to make something complex, technical and difficult, engaging and relatable to an audience, is a key skill for writers and speakers.

If you want to get a different perspective on how to make your subject more entertaining, then sit back and listen 'cause you'll love this show.

What you'll discover:

• Why David decided to write the first self-help book on National Security
• How he decided on the big idea of the book
• Why people are sceptical about it and how he addresses that.
• Why the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game is relevant to National Security
• David's definition of National Security and why he thinks it applies universally.
• What he means by 'true community'
• How he approached making the topic entertaining and relatable, and why this was so critical.
• Some examples of his approach in action.
• Where speaking fits into the picture.

All things David:

https://store.bookbaby.com/book/searching-for-true-community

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvanbennekum/

X: @dvanbennekum

Books & Resources*:

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Resources:

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