Remix Recipe №58
The Contrarian Exercise
Hand your people an exercise they can draw in thirty seconds, built on the insight your industry keeps getting wrong.
The hook template
Here's an exercise called your name for the exercise, because what actually makes the outcome possible isn't the obvious answer
The hook in the wild
“Here's an exercise called the Honest Ledger, because what actually makes leaving your job possible isn't a savings number, it's a plan you believe.”
“Here's an exercise called Receipts Not Vibes, because what actually makes getting on stage possible isn't confidence, it's evidence.”
The recipe
- Topic
- An exercise that solves something your audience keeps failing at with the usual advice
- Take
- The non-obvious reason you think that advice keeps failing
- Format
- A voiceover walk-through, drawing the exercise and filling it in live
The structure
- Name the exercise and say what it is not
Say what your exercise is called, then in the same breath name the advice it argues with. Both halves belong in the first line.
- Hit them with the contrarian line
Say what actually makes the outcome possible, and name the advice it is not. This is the reason anyone keeps watching.
- Draw the shape
Draw the framework on paper while you talk. Keep it to three named parts so it fits on one page.
- Fill it in live
Write real examples into each part, close enough to camera that people can read them.
- Close on why it works
End on the one sentence that explains why your version beats the advice they already tried.
Your Studio follows these beats when it writes your script.
Why it worked
The exercise is the deliverable, but the contrarian insight is what makes anyone want it. She argues directly with the advice her audience has already tried and failed at, then hands over an exercise built on her version instead.
A take on its own is just an opinion, and an exercise on its own is just homework. She also fills the boxes in on camera with real examples, so you can see exactly what your own page would look like.