The news-anchor trick every leader should steal

Master this hyper-niche skill to hold attention, shorten meetings, and land decisions

I love reading the news but I hate watching the news.

It’s too dramatic for me.

However, there is something to learn if you tune in for 30 mins.

You’ll watch a news anchor pivot from a political scandal to the weather forecast, from a stock market crash to a heartwarming pet rescue, from an international conflict to a local school fundraiser.

The shifts are so smooth, you barely notice they’re happening.

Meanwhile, in your last meeting, the transition from budget discussion to upcoming deadlines probably felt like hitting a speed bump at 100 k/ph.

This is the art of the segue.

It’s the secret skill that separates amateur communicators from masters, and most people don’t even know it exists.

When Sally Prosser and I host our Get to the Point workshops, we focus on helping individuals be more concise.

But what do you do when others in the room are the ones derailing the conversation?

You need a way to steer them back.

Meet some of the characters who sidetrack your meetings

They often mean well, but these characters can unintentionally send a meeting into over-time (and just quietly, I’ve played many of these roles over my career, too):

• Backstory Bob: Can't mention any decision without explaining the 18-month history leading up to it.

• Research Rita: Turns every two-minute discussion into a dissertation.

• Personal Pivot Paula: Redirects every topic to her personal life.

• Worst-Case Walter: Can't discuss any plan without exploring every possible disaster scenario.

If you can’t smoothly redirect these conversations, you’re enabling them.

I wrote another article on keeping them on track: The Dark Arts of Interrupting Someone and I’m here today to share another secret weapon:

The seamless segue.

What is a segue?

Segue (noun/verb, pronounced “SEG-way”) is a smooth, unbroken transition from one topic, section, or activity to the next.

Originating as a 18th-century musical direction meaning “it follows” (Italian: segue), it now describes how you carry an audience forward without a pause or jolt - often by naming or implying a shared attribute, theme, or purpose so the listener feels carried rather than redirected.

I learned this the hard way.

Listen to the first 20 episodes of my First Time Facilitator podcast, and you'll hear a masterclass in what not to do. I’d ask a question, my guest would answer, and then I’d lumber into the next topic like a reversing truck.

"Thanks. So... next question..."

I felt like I had to stick to the script.

The result? The conversations felt disjointed; I don’t think I got the best out of my guests, and I felt super awkward, too.

How a comedy show exposed the news anchor's superpower

The Australian comedy show The Chaser's War on Everything built an entire segment around the concept of ‘seamless segues’.

They showed how newsreaders could connect a story on drink driving to new research on fruit juice in two flawless sentences:

"Karen Cooper just reported on the dangers of alcohol excess. Speaking of excess, did you know that fruit juice can also be deadly, according to recent research?"

Anna Coren demonstrates how to seamlessly segue

They understood the principle perfectly: the transition is just as important as the content.

Two ways to change topics

As I write in my book, The Two-Hour Workshop Blueprint, transitions come in two forms:

1. The signposted turn (obvious) Sometimes, you want the group to know you're deliberately changing direction. Tim Ferriss does this masterfully on his podcast with phrases like, "Let's take a sharp left turn," or "Let's double-click on that." Not every transition needs to be subtle.

2. The invisible bridge (seamless) This is the news-anchor method. You find a "bridge word" to guide the conversation toward your objective without anyone noticing the shift.

---

The 'Paris to Bananas' exercise

This isn't just a party trick; it's a workout for your brain. The goal is to build the mental muscle you need to find connections under pressure.

Try it right now.

In 1-2 sentences, try to connect two completely unrelated things, like Paris and bananas.

Here’s how I start. I quickly reel out attributes for each:

• Paris: Eiffel Tower, Romantic, Bridges, Croissants, Mona Lisa

• Bananas: Yellow, Grows on a tree, Delicious, High in potassium

Now, find the bridge: "Paris is famous for its delicious croissants, which are almost as delightful as the bananas growing in my backyard."

The point isn't to talk about Paris and bananas in your next budget meeting.

The point is to practice this conceptual agility so you can make connections on the fly.

When I spoke to my friend Andrew Hollo on the podcast, he shares his constant practice of finding connections. He’ll often play this as a game with his 15-year-old son: "How is the TV series Succession like a pineapple?"

(Answer: Prickly on the outside, sweet on the inside, and goes rotten surprisingly quickly.)

This mental exercise gives him the conceptual agility to connect any topic during high-stakes workshops.

As Andrew says, "It's good to connect the dots, but you need to know what dots you want to connect."

Warning: Use segues to drive outcomes (don’t use it all the time!)

Now that you have this conversational superpower, a word of caution.

If every single interaction with you is a masterclass in redirection, people will stop seeing you as a collaborator.

You'll be accused of 100% driving your own agenda because…well, that’s exactly what a segue is designed to do.

Deploy your segues when you are:

• Facilitating a workshop and need to keep the group on track and on time.

• Leading a meeting where you must land a decision.

• Influencing a decision.

• Hosting a livestream or podcast interview and managing the flow.

Do NOT deploy your segues when:

• Your spouse is telling you about their horrible day. Replying with, "Speaking of horrible, did you remember to take those horribly smelly bins out?" is a flawless transition that will NOT deliver the outcome you’re after!

• You're out with friends. You’re not in work mode. Sometimes the whole point of a conversation is the tangent.

Your first move (it takes 10 seconds)

Don't even try to perform a segue tomorrow. Just start by noticing.

1. Look at your calendar right now and pick one meeting for tomorrow.

2. In that meeting, your only job is to spot one moment where a conversation went off-track.

3. After the meeting, ask yourself: "What was the bridge word I could have used to steer it back?"

Or... A tougher mission should you choose to accept it:

I'd love you to comment and share: How would YOU segue between medieval history and pizza?

---

Get your Leanne voice note every day 🌴

Join me daily as I podcast on Leanne on Demand.

This week, I recorded episodes on my 10-minute rule, why I’m not waiting 280+ days to build the Con Con-unity, and one email hack you can use for more impact.

---

Join us for our next Talk the Walk livestream

Join Alan Weiss and me for a LinkedIn Live conversation on how to build communities that create cashflow, not just conversation.

It’s on Thursday 11 Sep 5pm ET (Friday 7am AEST Brisbane).

Click here to RSVP and BYO martini or coffee.

---

🌴

Leanne “Subtly segueing” Hughes

p.s. If you found this article helpful, hit the heart icon ❤️ or share your thoughts in the comments.