Your Go-To Line

Jimmy Carr has one. So should you.

Apr 30, 2026

I’m so envious of my husband right now.

He was sitting at a regional airport in Central Queensland, waiting for his flight home after night shift (not envious about that bit).

But guess who happens to walk past him?

Jimmy Carr.

Omg…Jimmy Carr is THE GUY that would be #2 on my list if you were to ask me, “Leanne, if you could have dinner with 5 people in the world, who would they be?” (feel free to guess my #1 in the comments).

I love everything Jimmy does - his book, Before & Laughter is in my top 3 memoirs, I love his life philosophy (here’s a terrific interview he did on Diary of a CEO), so of course we’re booked in for his Brisbane gig this weekend.

Ever since Chris has arrived home, I’ve asked him to replay the interaction about 17 times: Was Jimmy tall? Was he wearing his suit? Was he smiling? What EXACTLY did he say?

Here’s exactly what Jimmy said…

Chris waved at him + said, “Hey! How are you?”

Jimmy replied, “Hey mate. I’m great - you know, rich and famous!”

Ahahaha. This line is SO Jimmy Carr.

It’s precisely on-brand. It signals his entire worldview in two words - self-aware, unapologetic, comic.

Which is what I wanted to talk to you about today: Go-to lines.

Jimmy needs a go-to line because he gets waves and random hellos every day of his life.

It’s a cognitive shortcut that he can rely on.

The closest I’ve ever gotten to Jimmy Carr <insert sad face>

And he's not the only one. Peloton instructors have made an art form of it with their one-liners, here are some of my fave go-to lines:

“Grab water. Grab a towel. Get your life together.” - Cody Rigsby
"I am. I can. I will. I do." - Christine D’Ercole
"If you don't squeeze your glutes, no one else will” (LOL) - Adrian Williams

You don’t need to be rich and famous to have a go-to line

There’s value in all of us having go-to lines.

On my podcast, Leanne on Demand, 95% of my solo episodes start with, “Hey! Thanks for tuning in to Leanne on Demand today”.

While it’s unoriginal, I find it helpful to start with this consistent line as it eases me into my monologue. When I host workshops or step on stages, I really just focus in on those first few lines to reduce the nerves.

It just acts as a nice little settler.

Getting started is genuinely the hardest part.

There’s a well-documented concept in psychology called task initiation inertia, which is the idea that the moment before you begin is the highest-friction point of any task.

Once you’re in, momentum takes over.

A go-to lines moves you off the Hesitation Station

A go-to line is essentially a launch sequence that bypasses your hesitation loop entirely.

There’s a Harvard, Columbia, and Wharton study I love on this - “Don’t stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety” (Brooks et al., 2016). Researchers found that performing a ritual before a stressful task lowers heart rate, reduces self-reported anxiety, and improves performance.

You see this all the time when watching pro tennis players’ before they serve… Oh, and Alan Weiss and I also have a fun ‘toasting’ ritual before our Talk the Walk live-steam (here’s a replay of last week’s episode: How to design high-end client experiences) before our go-to lines, “Good morning, Alan! Good evening, Leanne!” makes kicking off the call a little bit easier.

The great news is that the ritual doesn’t need to be meaningful to anyone else. It just needs to feel meaningful to you.

For me, a go-to line is just a small, repeatable phrase that helps me move from yet-to-start to started.

It’s a small thing but something to consider as you go about your day - what could your one-liner be, either to start a meeting, or respond to a request.

Or maybe it could be something a little different from the default “Good, thanks!” when someone asks how you’re going.

Hit the heart 💙 and tell me in the comments what your line could be..!

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