from Wes Kao 🏛 | by Wes Kao 🏛

The key to standing out in a noisy world? Your spiky point of view. How to instantly separate your ideas from everyone else's:

What is a spiky point of view? It’s a perspective others can disagree with. A belief you feel strongly about and are willing to advocate for. Your thesis about topics in your area of expertise.

For example, here’s one of my spiky POV: High performers don’t wait for their managers to tell them what to do. Instead, you should manage your manager.

Your spiky points of view are what separate you from everyone else. Sourced from your: • Experience • Personality • Instincts • Intuition • Skills The factors that have molded you into the person you are today.

A spiky point of view is almost impossible to imitate. It’s unique to each person--a powerful competitive advantage, rooted in your conviction and authenticity. The best part? You already have it in you. Here are the key elements of a spiky point of view:

1. A spiky point of view must be debatable Other experts in your field should be able to disagree with your spiky point of view. Otherwise it’s too middle of the road. Ex: Some marketers are pro market research. Others think surveys are mostly useless. Both camps are right.

2. A spiky point of view isn’t controversial for the sake of it Being contrarian for the sake of it is lazy and annoying. Some people say mic drop things to attract attention, but don’t have the expertise or logic to back up their statements. Don’t be that person. It's cringe.

3. A spiky point of view shares a new insight Respect your audience’s intelligence. No one wants regurgitated and obvious advice, so offer insights that show problems in a new light. You want folks to say, "Wow I never thought about it this way, this makes a lot of sense.”

4. A spiky point of view doesn’t have to be a universal truth Your perspective should be defensible. It should withstand scrutiny. But it doesn’t have to be THE one truth. There can be multiple right answers, styles, approaches--and your spiky point of view is yours.

5. A spiky point of view requires conviction You should believe in your perspective strongly enough to advocate for it. You'll need to put in the effort to persuade your audience. It takes courage to share your perspective because some people will inevitably disagree with you.

What a spiky POV isn’t: A random, emotion-fueled opinion. A hot take on politics is not a spiky POV... unless you're an expert in the area you're commenting on. More importantly, you should know the argument well enough to advocate for the opposite view!

To bring this to life, here are a few of my spiky POVs: 🌵 If you’re building an online course, you need to build marketing into your “product” from day one. You can’t afford to tack on marketing at the end because you’ll build the wrong thing and no one will know it exists.

🌵 Launches aren’t a one-time event. Most companies do a ton of work for the launch but don’t spend enough time on what happens after. A successful launch means sustaining the momentum once the confetti settles.

🌵 When you teach online, many people assume they’re 100% an instructor. But you’re actually 50% an instructor and 50% an entertainer. Attention spans are short and the responsibility is on the instructor (not the student) to help students care.

More examples? Here are spiky points of view from Maven instructors: For example, @davidjbland teaches a course on how to de-risk your business idea in 10 days. In his course, he dives deeper into the "how" with projects, feedback, and hands-on practice.

So how do you create your own spiky points of view? Luckily, you already have them in you. It’s part of how you operate and how you approach your craft. To get you started... Here are easy fill-in-the-blank templates:

“Stop doing X. Start doing Y.” ^ This template works because you're saying to stop doing something that seems reasonable. Your reader wants to hear more. Here's an example:

"Most people think X. But actually Y." ^ This template gives you a chance to show your counter-intuitive ideas. Make sure you're able to support your claim with a solid argument. An example:

“The best way to [achieve goal] is to [do thing they usually avoid].” ^ This template hooks your reader's curiosity & gives you a chance to explain more. PS We share lots of easy step-by-step templates, guides, and worksheets like this in the free Maven Course Accelerator.

To recap: A spiky POV is a perspective you feel strongly about & is rooted in your expertise, but others can disagree with it. It captures attention bc it stands out in a sea of sameness. Try it. You’ll be surprised by how people appreciate your willingness to take a stand.

Thanks for reading! 1. Follow for more threads dissecting leadership, education, marketing → @wes_kao 2. Spiky POV is just one of the concepts we teach in the Maven Course Accelerator. Over 900+ experts have participated. Apply below. PS It's free t.co/Pag7JxjlXd

Btw spiky POV is the main framework I use for spurring writing ideas. It’s hard for me to write on a topic unless I have a strong perspective I’m itching to share. Asking myself what SPOV I have helps me think of what I feel strongly enough about & want to convince readers of.