The Power in the Quiet: What Paul Tazewell Taught Me About Showing Value

Earlier today, I went to hear Paul Tazewell—the Tony- and Oscar-winning costume designer—speak at the University of Richmond. (And yes, pretty much everyone there assumed I was a student. It’s both a blessing and a curse, but I’ll take the fountain-of-youth points where I can get them. I also refrained from telling everyone I was a VCU alum.)

Listening to him speak immediately brought me back to a networking call I had with Laurie earlier that morning.

Laurie asked me a question that almost every founder, consultant, and creator wrestles with: How do you get people to see the value in what you provide? How do you convince them to invest in you?

My honest answer? I don't want to be "salesy." I hate being sold to, so the last thing I want to do is hit people with aggressive, high-pressure pitches. Instead, I want to show people the quiet, transformative power of a well-crafted story.

I know that can sound a little ethereal. But as Paul broke down his craft on stage, everything clicked into place.

The Silent Narrative & The Art of Listening

In film and theater, we tend to think of costuming as an accessory—just pretty clothes meant to fill out the frame.

But Paul reminded us that costume design is actually a silent, primary communicator. Long before a character speaks a single line of dialogue, we see their hair, their makeup, and their clothes. We absorb their posture, their texture, and their palette. Before a character opens their mouth, their visual story has already told us exactly who they are in that moment. Alongside the strategic pauses and silence within dialogue, that visual narrative is the most powerful element on screen.

It doesn't scream for attention. It simply establishes truth.

Beyond visual design, Paul emphasized another crucial element: the power of listening.
When you truly listen—whether to a director, a script, or a client—you hear the subtle nuances that completely shift your understanding of something you thought you already knew. Or better yet, you hear a hidden detail you never would have thought of on your own. Listening changes the entire canvas.

Meaningful Beats Over Grand Gestures

That is the exact key to answering Laurie’s question about positioning and value. Storytelling doesn't have to be a grand, groundbreaking performance. Too many professionals think that "showing value" means delivering a loud, masterful pitch filled with massive declarations and buzzwords. But real narrative authority is much quieter than that:

1. Listen Before You Pitch: You can't reflect value if you haven't truly heard the other person. Deep listening reveals the underlying friction, allowing you to tailor a story that directly addresses what they actually need--not just what you assume they need.
   
2. Relevance Beats Volume: You don't need a cinema-sized plot arc to move people. Your story just needs to be deeply meaningful and directly relevant to the specific person sitting across from you.
   
3. Show the Ecosystem First: Just like a character's costume sets the stage before they speak, your narrative context—how you think, how you approach problems, and the quiet consistency of your work—builds trust before you ever ask for a sale.
   
4. Respect the Silence: You don't have to over-explain why you're valuable. When you listen intently and frame your story accurately, the alignment speaks for itself.
   

Value isn't something you force someone to see through loud pitch tactics. It's something you reveal by listening closely, uncovering the hidden story, and framing it so clearly and relevantly that they recognize themselves (and their solution) inside it.