This is my freshly revamped newsletter for marketing tips — sent a little more frequently than the usual quarterly studio update.

First up, I wanted to share an insight from a recent session on presenting marketing plans to a team.

I was in a meeting with a General Manager reviewing the final version of our marketing plan slides. Everything was set and ready to go, but she had one last concern:

“How do I tell the team this is what we’re doing?”

Ideally, of course, your team is involved throughout the journey, but sometimes for various reasons — time, budget, areas of expertise — the bulk of the research and preparation may be developed by one or two people and presented back.

That was the case here. And she was unsure how it would land. Would the team feel left out? Would they push back?

That’s when I suggested a simple shift.

Instead of presenting it as the plan, call it our proposal.

Labelling it a proposal signals that the idea is well-developed and thought through — but still open to feedback.

It shifts the tone from directive to collaborative. It shows that their feedback matters. And it builds shared ownership of the direction you're taking together.

So, next time you're sharing something big with your team, try this:

Present it as a proposal.

You might be surprised by the openness and dialogue it creates.

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