I must say that one of the things that I am thankful for with the ongoing Hive Zealy campaign, despite all the challenges, is the growth and leaps that I have been able to take ever since it started. I am reminded of all that because of the X Spaces I attended today, courtesy of the Zealy quests.
Today's episode was about having some Web3 projects come up and shill their projects, and then the panel of judges would grill them by probing them about the projects. Hence the name, Shill and Grill, I guess.
Learning is always the goal, but I didn't expect the experience I had today. I would say that the show is probably one of the most enlightening yet intense X Spaces that I have attended so far, so much so that I want to share my hot takes.
Know just enough
One of the reasons why some ideas, products, or projects do not sell can sometimes be due to the fact that the sellers themselves do not have the charisma to get potential "buyers" to buy into the idea. And charisma can be built by knowing exactly what you are selling.
Knowing enough about what one is selling is very imperative. One would want to be able to provide a convincing and solid standing for your product to entice their customers. Even if one is not the real brain behind the idea or product, knowing the very important details would go a long way.
Webbing it around
If one isn't dealing with exactly knowledgeable people when discussing ideas, it is important to utilise the element of relatable stories to keep them flowing and make things easier for their comprehension. Otherwise, one may just discourage them and lose them soon enough.
An example is when I try to talk about Hive to people. There are quite a number of things that Web2 normies are not used to. Therefore, I try to break things down and relate them to other things to help them understand.
"What the heck is a frontend?" is a typical question I get at certain points, but I use the concept of how apps like WhatsApp have been modified by third-party developers, and then how these modified aps provide some added functionality or a different user interface but still pull data from WhatsApp to run just the same.
Pitching your idea
I witnessed the way the judges gave their unfiltered comments about the products of the Web3 ambassadors, and I would say that I have had my horizons expanded on how to present products. Although I do not agree with the way they criticised and condemned some of the products and ambassadors, there were truths to take away from it.
I listen to Jay Shetty's podcasts a lot. He's a life coach, and I find his words and insights to be profound. One thing I have noticed about his talks is that he never really uses filler words, and that has somehow contributed to the sublime experience of listening to him over time.
Filler words like "uh" and "hmm" kind of make speeches lack solidity, especially in formal settings. One of the judges made a comment about how one of the ambassadors used that too often in a pitch. Surely, I would have felt bad if I were criticised in the exact way they handled it, but it's something that I have now learned to work on more to improve my eloquence with speeches.
The X Space was very enlightening, and we even had our very own Eric speak fire about InLeo and what we do over here on Hive that cannot be found anywhere. Listening to how knowledgeable and passionate Eric was about the Hive and InLeo ecosystems was pretty impressive.
Again, this was one of the few spaces I have listened to lately that has taught me more about certain things about shilling Web3 and its products. And the most impressive thing was how knowledgeable the speakers were about their products and how eloquently they spoke about them. It was very intense, especially in the end, but I may find myself tuned in next week if they do hold one.
