#76 Persuade with Visuals: The Cuba Map Strategy
From Winning Edge by Commonwealth Partners
June 3, 2026 · 5 min
About this episode
The episode discusses General David Shoup's use of visual aids during a White House meeting in 1962 to illustrate the challenges of invading Cuba.
The Historical Story: Spring 1962: General David Shoup at White House meeting about potential Cuba invasionUsed two transparencies to make his point about invasion difficultyFirst transparency: Cuba map overlaid on USA - stretched from DC past Chicago (over 800 miles)Second transparency: Dot representing tiny Tarawa islandTarawa: 2 square miles, took 18,000 Marines three days to conquer in WWIIShoup had commanded Marines at Tarawa, earned Medal of HonorTwo visuals transformed Cuba invasion fr...
Topics covered
- Cuba invasion
- military strategy
- visual persuasion
- historical analysis
- General David Shoup
- transparency visuals
Keywords
- Cuba
- General David Shoup
- visuals
- military strategy
- Tarawa
- invasion difficulty
- historical context
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Medal of Honor
Places: Cuba, USA, Tarawa
More episodes of Winning Edge
- #75 How to Fight Back Against FUD · May 13, 2026 · 7 min
- #74 Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt · April 29, 2026 · 5 min
- #73 The 90 Second Phone Pitch · April 15, 2026 · 4 min
- #72 The Phone Coach · April 1, 2026 · 5 min
- #71 Practice Without Pressure · March 18, 2026 · 6 min
- #70 One-minute Reps · March 4, 2026 · 4 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Winning Edge podcast page.