Presentations and guides I've put together over the years on leadership, brand, sales and life.
They're all free. Read them online, download them, use them in your own work and share them with anyone you think might benefit.
Video, 20 seconds
Why so many athletes hit a crisis in their late 20s or early 30s, and why the years before it matter most.
PDF, six pages
A road map for getting the best result possible from every meeting you chair.
PDF, one page
Every decision uses up a little of your energy. How to spend it wisely and save the best of it for the decisions that matter.
PDF, six pages
A few simple, specific questions, asked once a week, to check you are on track and heading in the right direction.
PDF, 18 pages
Most of what we achieve comes from a small part of what we do. How to find that part, and do more of it.
PDF, six pages
What Bill Clinton's 1992 town hall debate teaches about eye contact, personal space and presence.
PDF, five pages
What 3,831 leaders, managers and employees said they want from a good manager.
PDF, one page
Seven hardwired human instincts that can quietly derail any change you try to lead.
PDF, nine pages
He lost his ship, never reached his goal and still brought every one of his men home. The story, a timeline and ten leadership lessons.
PDF, seven pages
Your plane has crashed in the snow and you have 12 items. Rank them as a group, then see what the survival experts said. A team game about deciding under pressure.
PDF, four pages
Anchoring, the bandwagon effect, survivorship bias and 17 more. What each one is, in a sentence or two, so you can spot it sooner.
PDF, 12 pages
Eight questions that get to the essence of a brand: what it stands for, who it is for, and why anyone should care.
PDF, 17 pages
Twelve universal characters that help bring a brand to life, so customers feel they already know it.
PDF, 11 pages
Seven rules for a strong, compelling brand name, and 33 real names, strong and weak, to show how they work.
PDF, four pages
Three questions every business needs a clear answer to, starting from the inside out.
PDF, five pages
How to make each product in a range easy to tell apart, so even a distracted shopper brings home the right one.
PDF, five pages
How to help people feel good about choosing you, and show them they can trust you, without looking arrogant.
PDF, 11 pages
Dave Whitehead's anatomy of type: the names of the parts of a letter, one sentence at a time.
PDF, 14 pages
How Basketball Australia brought dozens of logos together under one master brand: Basketball, everyone's game.
PDF, five pages
How a sports organisation can reach its members, participants, volunteers and everyone else, clearly and consistently.
PDF, nine pages
Seven simple questions that give your brand a clear message, with a worked example and a worksheet to fill in.
PDF, five pages
Before anyone buys anything, they ask two questions. Most organisations only ever work on the first one.
PDF, five pages
Your business already has a brand, whether you like it or not. Seven reasons to take charge of it.
PDF, eight pages
Colour, then shape, then images, then words: the order in which people read packaging.
PDF, 31 pages
The Introduction and Part I of my book: why there's never been a better time to grow your sports organisation, and what marketing really is.
PDF, 13 pages
Five numbers drive every business's profit. Improve each one a little and the result multiplies.
PDF, one page
Most sales are made after the fourth contact. Most salespeople have stopped by then.
PDF, four pages
What to say when someone is shopping on price, not on value.
PDF, six pages
People buy on emotion and justify with logic. How to make sure they walk away with the facts.
PDF, 19 pages
How to manage and measure the three things that decide whether a business makes money, takes effort and is any fun.
PDF, six pages
Why a bookkeeper should be one of the first people on your team, no matter how new, how small or how complex your business is.
PDF, one page
Robert Cialdini's six principles of influence, and why people say yes.
PDF, one page
Dan Kennedy's question for anyone who wants to make more happen, hour by hour, day by day.
PDF, 13 pages
Black, blue and red time, your capacity, and how to run your diary, or have someone run it for you.
PDF, ten pages, plus a Word file to edit
The ad I've used to find a personal assistant, more than once. So specific about the person and the work that the right people recognise themselves, and the wrong ones don't apply.
PDF, four pages
One new habit, formed in 30 days, and the nine rules that make it stick.
PDF, seven pages
What a palliative care nurse learned from her patients in their last weeks, and what it might mean for how we live and work now.
PDF, six pages
The triple filter test: three questions to ask before you pass on what you've heard.
PDF, four pages
Why athletes, and the rest of us, need to see ourselves as more than what we used to do.
PDF, five pages
Fifteen rules for protecting your best hours from email, phones, interruptions and meetings without an end time.
PDF, one page
The Sherpas' secret, and three quotes on the power of deciding to act.
PDF, seven pages
Leo Babauta on why we resist structure, how to build it anyway, and how to practise with the uncertainty that's left.
PDF, five pages
Fifteen ways rich people think differently, based on Steve Siebold's How Rich People Think.
PDF, five pages
Stuff is just stuff. A true friend will come running at 2am. Floss regularly. Nineteen short lessons from people who have lived long enough to know.
If one of these helped you, or you'd like to talk something through, let me know. I read my own email and reply as quickly as possible, generally within 24 hours.
NED COTEN
Chair, director and executive leader in commercial, data and global sport.
Copyright © 2026 Ned Coten Melbourne, Australia