How I Work

Amantha Imber

You know those annoyingly successful people who seem to have it all figured out? Time to steal their playbook. Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber gets world‑class achievers to spill their secrets - the daily strategies behind their success through to life hacks and productivity hacks they’d rather keep to themselves. We’re talking practical tips for boosting your output (including clever AI tools and shortcuts that’ll make you look like a genius), managing overwhelm without losing your mind, and optimising both work and wellbeing. No motivational fluff. Just battle‑tested tactics from people who’ve cracked the code.

  1. What watching 20,000 auditions teaches you about getting attention, with Big Brother and The X Factor creator Maz Farrelly

    3h ago

    What watching 20,000 auditions teaches you about getting attention, with Big Brother and The X Factor creator Maz Farrelly

    Most professionals are terrible at talking about themselves. Not because they lack substance, but because no one ever taught them that being interesting is a skill, and that skill can be learned.  Maz Farrelly has spent decades on the other side of that problem. As the executive producer behind Big Brother, The X Factor, and Celebrity Apprentice, she has auditioned over 20,000 people, had her content watched more than eight billion times, and once broke Twitter deliberately. In this episode, I sit down with Maz to unpack what the TV industry understands about attention that most professionals never learn, and how to bring that same thinking into the way you pitch yourself and show up in any room.  Maz and I discuss:  Why you have about 10 seconds to earn someone's attention, and what TV producers do with that window that most professionals don't  The one word missing from almost every professional pitch ("so that")  Why adapting your introduction for every room you walk into isn't being fake — it's understanding your audience  How to share your credentials and achievements without sounding like you're bragging  The case Maz makes against performed humility on LinkedIn, and better alternatives that actually build trust  Why Maz banned email entirely on Dancing with the Stars UK, replaced it with two 10-minute standing meetings a day, and had only four phone calls across 100 shows  What Gogglebox taught Maz about the power of doing the exact opposite of what everyone else in your industry is doing  Key quotes  "If you can help people, you need to show off. Because I need to be able to buy you, and I can't buy you if I don't know you exist."  "The first line's job is to make me read the second. It's so obvious, and hardly anyone does it."  Connect with Maz Farrelly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website.    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    35 min
  2. (BONUS) The psychology of the pitch: what TV producers know that salespeople don't, with Maz Farrelly

    3h ago

    (BONUS) The psychology of the pitch: what TV producers know that salespeople don't, with Maz Farrelly

    We put someone on the moon in 1969. We didn't put wheels on suitcases until 1972. The problem was: Nobody had stopped to notice the problem existed in the first place.  That gap - between the problems people will tell you about, the ones they'll only admit after a drink, and the ones they don't even know they have - is exactly where Maz Farrelly operates. In this bonus conversation with the executive producer behind Big Brother, The X Factor, and Celebrity Apprentice, we get into the practical mechanics of walking into a meeting and already having the room on your side before you've said a single word.  If you have a pitch coming up - for an idea, a budget, or yourself - this episode has something useful in it for you.  Maz and I discuss:  The "warming up the room" technique Maz uses at the start of every pitch meeting, and why it works  How she used reverse psychology to make network executives desperate for the idea she told them she wasn't going to pitch  Why the smartest operators don't sell — they make themselves buyable  The three layers of problems your clients have, and why cracking the third layer is where the real opportunity lives  The suitcase story: why solving problems people don't know they have is the most valuable thing you can do in any industry  Why Maz brought too much cake to a Microsoft meeting, and how it made her go viral inside the building without spending a cent on advertising  What "sticky information" is, and why it determines whether anything you said in a meeting actually matters  Key quotes  "The smart money doesn't sell. The smart money is bought."  "Hope is not a strategy."  And if you haven't listened to the main episode with Maz yet, start there. It's all about how to make yourself impossible to ignore. Listen to the main episode here.  Connect with Maz Farrelly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website.    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:   Host: Amantha Imber  Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    11 min
  3. How I AI: The agent that Neo uses every single day

    3d ago

    How I AI: The agent that Neo uses every single day

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  You type a research question into your AI tool, get back a perfectly serviceable answer, and still feel like something's missing. The output isn't wrong, exactly. It just didn't quite hit the mark. The culprit, more often than not, is the prompt you started with.  The good news: there's a smarter way to approach this, and it doesn't involve becoming a prompt engineering expert.  In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through the agent Neo reaches for more than any other he has built: the Research Prompt Builder. We get into how it works, when to use it with a thinking model instead of deep research, and how pairing it with NotebookLM can get you genuinely well-briefed in a fraction of the usual time.  How I AI is a special series within How I Work, where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.  What you'll learn in this episode:  Why your research prompt matters more than the tool you use  How Neo's Research Prompt Builder actually works before any research begins  When a thinking model is a better choice than deep research  How to go from a raw research output to a proper briefing using NotebookLM  Practical AI tools for productivity and focus  Real-world AI workflows used by high performers  How to use AI at work without burning out  Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load  Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.    And here are links we promised:  Download the Research Prompt Builder agent here: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/41cec7c48c  NotebookLM (notebooklm.google.com) - Google's learning tool that lets you upload up to 50 sources and generate a podcast episode, ask questions, and get cited answers from your own documents.    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:  Host: Amantha Imber  Sound Engineer: Martin Imber  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    15 min
  4. The Work Edit: Everyone is using AI to apply for jobs. Here's how to stand out.

    May 27

    The Work Edit: Everyone is using AI to apply for jobs. Here's how to stand out.

    Knowing how hiring works does not prepare you for what job hunting actually feels like right now. Today’s guest, Nicole, found that out the hard way. She has spent 30 years on the hiring side of the table. She has interviewed hundreds of candidates, read thousands of applications, and knows exactly what good looks like. So when she re-entered the job market after a six-month sabbatical, she found herself starting from scratch.  Nicole, a senior executive, knew how the game used to work. What she didn't know was how much it had changed. AI-generated resumes flooding inboxes. Applicant tracking systems filtering on past performance. Three or four hundred applications for every role, most of them indistinguishable from one another. The playbook she had built over decades wasn't quite fitting the game anymore.  This episode is part of The Work Edit, a new format on How I Work where I sit down with someone facing a real professional challenge and we work through it together. Nicole came to me wanting help with the part of job hunting that was giving her the most trouble: getting from application to shortlist. We get practical about what actually works right now, from why a written application might be the weakest version of your pitch, to how to use AI to run your own mock interview and genuinely sharpen your performance in ways most people never bother doing.  If you are currently in the job market, or know someone who is, this one is worth sharing.  We discuss:  Why the job market has shifted so dramatically in the last few years, and what that means for experienced candidates re-entering the workforce  How applicant tracking systems work and why they tend to filter out people with non-linear careers or future-focused skills  The case for treating your job search as a sales role, and what that reframe actually changes about how you show up  Why a short video pitch cuts through in a way that a written application simply cannot right now, and what makes the difference between a video that opens doors and one that falls flat  What AI fluency actually looks like in a resume or cover letter, and how to find and remove the tells that signal lazy prompting to any recruiter paying attention  How to use AI to run your own mock interview, and why stopping short of the critique step means leaving most of the value on the table  Key quotes  "If you're not AI fluent, why would you be considered for a job in this day and age?"  "I think if you are purely relying on your resume and cover letter being the best out of 400 applications, that is a losing game."    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:   Host: Amantha Imber   Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    29 min
  5. How I AI: The three agents every knowledge worker should have

    May 24

    How I AI: The three agents every knowledge worker should have

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  You sit down to research something for work, open a few tabs, type a vague query into AI, and get back something that feels… fine. Technically an answer. Not quite useful. Meanwhile, that report you've been working on probably needs another set of eyes, but getting real feedback takes time you don't have, so you send it anyway and hope for the best.  There's a better way. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through three agents we think every knowledge worker genuinely needs, including two we're giving away for free.  How I AI, a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.  What you'll learn in this episode:  Why a basic AI research query often isn't enough, and what to do instead  What a critical thinking agent actually checks for, and when it earns its place  What a cross-functional advisory board agent is, and who it's built for  How long it really takes to build agents that work reliably  Practical AI tools for productivity and focus  Real-world AI workflows used by high performers  How to use AI at work without burning out  Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load    Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  Here are links to the free agents mentioned in this episode:  Research agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/41cec7c48c  Critical Thinking agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/51dd2a9719  Join the AI Agent Bootcamp to access the Advisory Board agent  My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:  Host: Amantha Imber  Sound Engineer: Martin Imber  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    14 min

  6. May 20

    What I told Lael Stone about my worst year

    **This week I'm sharing a crossover episode from the Humans, being. podcast with the wonderful Lael Stone. It's one of the more personal chats I've done in a while. We talk about my burnout year, the tiny experiments that brought me back, AI and where I think it's headed, and the uncomfortable question of whether being ordinary might actually be enough. I hope you love it as much as I loved having it. You can find the original episode on Humans Being here.**   Amantha calls her AI 'Sunny'. She talks to it on the drive to the gym, like she's chatting to a friend. And it has quietly changed how she works, how she writes, and how she gets the thinking out of her own head. Dr. Amantha Imber is one of the sharpest, most generous humans I know. An organisational psychologist, the founder of Inventium, host of How I Work, the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award, the author of four bestselling books, and her brand new one, The Energy Game, lands in July. In this episode, we discuss Amantha's burnout year and the tiny experiments that crawled her back, the ones she calls boosts, rest, and protect. Why "fake rest" (Netflix while you scroll) won't fill the bucket. And we talk about the childhood praise imprint that drives so many of us: what if the goal isn't to be more, but to be okay with being ordinary? We explore: The pressure we accept being human and thinking we must do it all The hit-by-a-bus fantasy and what it tells us about how women carry stress AI as a thought partner, and how Amantha uses it without losing the human bit What we want for our daughters, and the thinking skills we don't want to outsource Connect with Humans, being™: Web: humansbeing.au YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 11m
  7. How I AI: How to build a knowledge agent that answers every 101 question - so you don't have to

    May 17

    How I AI: How to build a knowledge agent that answers every 101 question - so you don't have to

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  There's a question you've answered a hundred times before. You know the one. Someone pings you, you stop what you're doing, dig through a document or two, and type out the same response you've typed a dozen times this month. It doesn't feel catastrophic in the moment, but across a week it quietly eats hours.  A knowledge agent is built for exactly this problem. It holds the information so you don't have to be the one constantly retrieving it.  In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack what a knowledge agent is, how it works, and how to build one that actually saves you time, whether you're fielding questions solo or trying to help a whole team self-serve.  How I AI is a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.  What you'll learn:  What a knowledge agent actually is and how it differs from other agents  The kinds of questions and roles that benefit most from one  How to share a knowledge agent across a team without creating problems  What makes knowledge good (or bad) for an agent to work from  The three things you need to set up a knowledge agent properly  Practical AI tools for productivity and focus  Real-world AI workflows used by high performers  How to use AI at work without burning out  Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load  Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:  Host: Amantha Imber  Sound Engineer: Martin Imber  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    11 min
  8. I asked a LinkedIn insider how to actually stand out on LinkedIn in 2026

    May 13

    I asked a LinkedIn insider how to actually stand out on LinkedIn in 2026

    There's a moment a lot of professionals know well. You put real thought into a LinkedIn post, hit publish, and watch the likes trickle in. Five. Maybe six. One comment from a colleague you personally recruited into the thread.  Meanwhile, your feed has started to look like it was written by the same person. Polished, vaguely inspirational, and somehow saying nothing at all.  In this episode, I sit down with Jessi Hempel, senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn and host of the award-winning podcast Hello Monday, to get inside what's actually happening on the platform right now. Jessi has spent 25 years in tech journalism and eight years at LinkedIn, and she has a front-row seat to how AI is reshaping what it means to have a voice, both on the platform and in your career more broadly.  We talk about why your LinkedIn profile is doing more heavy lifting than any post you'll ever write, how to approach content in a way that builds real conversation rather than chasing reach, and what the rise of AI-generated posts actually means for anyone trying to show up as themselves online.  If you've been feeling like something's off with how your content is landing lately, this conversation will give you some much-needed clarity.    Jessi and I discuss:  The part of your LinkedIn profile that matters far more than your posts (and that most people ignore)  Why Jessi's posting advice runs counter to what most social media gurus will tell you  The one habit that has made the biggest difference to how Jessi's own posts find reach  What AI-generated content is doing to trust on LinkedIn, and where Jessi thinks it's all heading  The creator who has built one of the most engaged communities on the platform, and what makes her strategy work  Why Jessi thinks a major career shift is becoming the smarter move for mid-career professionals right now  The skill that no bootcamp can teach you, and why it matters more than ever in the age of AI    Key quotes  "If I get off of this conversation and I jump onto LinkedIn and I read a post from you and it sounds like an LLM wrote it, I'm gonna really have distaste in my mouth."  "Success is being in real conversations that matter with people who have the potential to elevate the issues of concern for you in your career."    Connect with Jessi Hempel on Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out her newsletter and listen to her podcast Hello Monday.    My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au  Credits:   Host: Amantha Imber   Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min
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4.9
out of 5
123 Ratings

About

You know those annoyingly successful people who seem to have it all figured out? Time to steal their playbook. Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber gets world‑class achievers to spill their secrets - the daily strategies behind their success through to life hacks and productivity hacks they’d rather keep to themselves. We’re talking practical tips for boosting your output (including clever AI tools and shortcuts that’ll make you look like a genius), managing overwhelm without losing your mind, and optimising both work and wellbeing. No motivational fluff. Just battle‑tested tactics from people who’ve cracked the code.

Information

  • Creator
    Amantha Imber
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    719
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Amantha Imber
  • Show Website
    How I Work

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