Jeffrey Davis Books

In Hollywood, the pitch is more than a presentation—it’s a performance that must capture imagination and trust in minutes. A typical film pitch revolves around emotional clarity: Who is the main character? What do they want? What stands in their way? Executives listen not just for plot, but for the ...

From Pitch Like Hollywood: What You Can Learn from the High-Stakes Film Industry

Successful pitching isn’t only about technique—it’s also about how you show up. As a psychologist, I’ve studied performance anxiety for decades. I’ve seen brilliant thinkers fall silent in critical moments because their nervous system hijacked them. The fear of judgment or rejection can silence clar...

From Pitch Like Hollywood: What You Can Learn from the High-Stakes Film Industry

Everywhere we turn, there’s an imperative to optimize. To do more, faster, better. Productivity culture has entrenched itself so deeply in our psyche that many of us now equate our self-worth with efficiency. I’ve seen it in creative professionals and corporate executives alike—the quiet anxiety tha...

From Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

Wonder is both psychological and spiritual—a state of openness that transcends self-consciousness and awakens our innate capacity for creativity. In rediscovering wonder, we tap into the kind of awareness that psychologists like Abraham Maslow called 'peak experience' and that philosophers like Plat...

From Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity