Brian Fanzo

Apr 30, 20192 min

How Binge-Watching Netflix, Game of Thrones and Brene Brown Make You A Better Entrepreneur

Most thought leaders today look down upon other entrepreneurs that spend part of their day or even many hours of their week binge watching Netflix but I think the opposite.

For the past 3 years I’ve had a notebook on my coffee table or really multiple notebooks where I record different notes, emotions and thoughts while binge-watching tv. Now just to put it out there I LOVE binge watching tv shows and find its a hobby of mine that allows my brain to switch gears much in the way going to the gym for some people helps them avoid burnout.

The “tv note-taking” started with simple notes or ideas that were invoked while watching my favorite shows like Parenthood or Sons of Anarchy or Making of a Murder documentary and then I began to be more structured in my note-taking. Now when I watch shows I first watch an episode or special with the goal of consuming it as a fan but often times I go back and consume it a second or third time with the goal of studying and analyzing the storytelling.

I often break my notes into those 3 categories:

  1. Message

  2. Delivery

  3. Video production

I try to define what I believe the success of the show/episode/documentary looks like it's going to be based on marketing/promo/trailer/preview before watching it.

These are a couple of things I try to pay attention to while watching:

  • Feeling/Emotion

  • Did success match what I thought

  • What changed vs surprised me

  • Who do I think the target audience was/is

A great example of this happened this past week as I took notes while watching 3 drastically different programs: Game of Thrones, Brene Brown Netflix Special and Beyonce Homecoming documentary.

I was blown away by how much I learned and how I could take something from each to improve my storytelling on my new speaker website, my podcast content and how I tell stories both on video and on stage as a keynote speaker.

On this episode of FOMOFanz I share the structure of the notes, what I look for and how I connect what I learn about camera positioning in Game of Thrones to how I will stand and position a story I plan on telling next week on stage at an event I’m speaking at.

It doesn’t matter if its a book you’re reading or YouTube channel you subscribe to, I believe storytelling is amazing because we can never perfect it and we can also be learning from the stories we consume.

I challenge you to listen to this episode and start taking notes the next time you binge watch a show!