TAISPEAK
Tai speaks on turning customers into Fans, leadership, music, and navigating AI.
The Frontline of Fandom
The people with the most power to turn customers into Fans are usually nowhere near the boardroom. What Taylor Swift, Disney, and Chick-fil-A know about the front line of fandom.
The Real Danger of AI Isn’t Deception. It’s Delusion.
Deception targets the audience. Delusion targets the creator. Why the most insidious risk of AI is believing the machine’s output is your own.
We Loved Dolly for Staying Neutral. So Why Are We Mad at Ed?
Can a personal brand stay neutral in a divided world? The ingredients-and-flavors framework, plus the three rules I use before weighing in on anything political.
Be More Human in the Age of AI
My nine-year-old summed up the AI backlash in three words. Why I am stepping back from generative video and music, and why the imperfect human touch is what actually builds trust.
Stop Filling the Funnel. Start Building Fans.
Peter Furler gave me a stage when I needed one. A year later, I watched him hand-paint drum heads for his superfans, and it reminded me why marketing should end in fandom, not at the sale.
Curiosity, Preparation, and the Problem with Slop
A guitar lesson with my niece exposed a leadership blind spot. Why curiosity plus preparation is the antidote to both the pointless meeting and the empty AI report.
The Marketing Step You Can’t Afford to Skip
U2 gave 500 million people a free album, and most of them were furious. The step they skipped is the same one most marketers skip, and it costs them.
The Power of “We.”
A green-room conversation with a fellow keynote speaker rearranged how I think about giving advice. One small word carries the wisdom and delivers the message people need most: you are not alone.
When the Wind Derails a Win
Two weeks of wins, then one gust of wind doubled the cost of a video shoot and shattered my gear. Why I am sharing the failure, and what it taught me about pricing, producing, and authenticity.
Into the Great Wide Open
Written at 34,015 feet on the way to Red Rocks: the book goes to production, THIRD DAY is current again, and after ten years I have stepped away from my corporate role to speak and consult full-time.
Crossover Dilutes. Spillover Amplifies. The Marketing Principle That Built a 30-Year Career.
In the late nineties, THIRD DAY was told to soften its edges to reach a bigger audience. Two sentences from John Huie sent us the other direction, and the result sold two million records. The same principle applies to every business I work with.
Your Customers Are Not a Crowd
Eight West Coast shows and tens of thousands of faces. Three of them, a mother in Sacramento, a boy in San Diego, and a man named Big Al in Phoenix, reminded me that an audience is never a crowd. Neither are your customers.
Simon Sinek Got One Thing Wrong. Here’s What This Tour Taught Me.
Seventy percent of the way through THIRD DAY’s 30th Anniversary Tour, three lessons have risen above the rest, starting with the one thing the Golden Circle leaves out.
When My Work Became Worship
Seven shows into the tour, in front of six thousand people in Houston, I dropped to my knees during the encore. What happened that night taught me that doing your work well can itself be an offering.
I Wasn’t Good Enough. They Let Me In Anyway.
I joined THIRD DAY at 16 without an audition, and for the next three decades I outworked an impostor syndrome I never named. For the 30th Anniversary Tour, I decided to show up differently.
You Are Not “Bad at Technology.” You’re Just Complacent.
Saying you are just not good at technology is not a description of a limitation. It is an installation of one. Here is the small shift in language that changes the trajectory, and why the barrier to learning anything is no longer access. It’s attitude.
What a Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Taught Me About AI Accountability
I used AI to turn an old photo into a tribute slide for my father-in-law, and the room gave him a standing ovation. On the drive home I learned the pilot in the photo wasn’t him. The lesson is the one I had just taught: we have to own our output.
Say Yes, Then Figure It Out
Sometimes you have to say yes to the opportunity first, and then figure out how to make it a reality. Here is what a three-week crash course on 14 songs taught me about business.