Rob Biesenbach 
Wanna know the super-secret magical ingredient that can make or break your presentation? It’s energy. Without it, your speech is doomed. With it, you may be able to compensate for a talk that’s light on insight. It took me a while to figure out what energy is. I remember a rehearsal for my very first … Read more
I spoke at a big conference this week of PR professionals and was frankly appalled at the poor presentation skills of some of the presenters. These are, after all, communications pros! I realized many speakers were picked on the basis of their substantive expertise and credentials. And that is not enough. It just isn’t. I … Read more
I honestly don’t know how some social media “stars” keep up with it — tweeting, blogging, Facebooking constantly throughout the day. I’m fortunate to work for myself, and on days when I’m not in meetings or on a hot deadline, I can keep up okay. But in the past couple of months I’ve been traveling … Read more
SNL producer Lorne Michaels once famously said, “We don’t go on [the air] because we’re ready, we go on because it’s 11:30.” I cited that in my book as a lesson for business: big public events drive accountability. Too often it’s easy to let deadlines slide, but when you’re standing up in front of shareholders … Read more
When I went searching for Hemingway’s fabled Two-Hearted River in 1994, there was only one paved road in all of Luce County, Michigan. My poor little Honda bounced along rutted dirt at 15 mph, with huge pickups blazing past, their drivers wondering what the hell a little white sedan was doing up in that country. … Read more
Marketing, of course, is all about knowing your audience. And there’s probably nothing that takes more sensitivity than marketing to families who have lost a loved one. This is a solicitation I received promoting video/photography services at Arlington National Cemetery, where my father will be buried next month. I can’t figure out if it offends … Read more
My father died last week, after a heartbreaking, years-long battle with Alzheimer’s. It was not unexpected, yet it hit me a little harder than I thought, even after all this time to prepare. My sister and I delivered the eulogy, and it was both the writing and public speaking job of a lifetime. As I … Read more
LinkedIn Answers is a pretty neat tool. People post questions on certain topics, like PR or Writing, and the LinkedIn universe offers answers. It’s a great way to get your questions answered and it’s useful for people who want to position themselves as experts (and enjoy the karmic benefits of helping others). Sometimes people post … Read more
There’s been some interesting debate on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere about the Clint Eastwood speech, which I labeled a debacle. Some people feel it was successful. It was an authentic moment with Clint being Clint and the crowd inside the hall ate it up. I wouldn’t disagree with any of that. It did seem to … Read more
Last night’s Clint Eastwood debacle at the Republican convention points to an imperative for anyone planning a conference or convention: control your message, control your speakers. It’s a difficult job and the convention planners and Romney’s staff either didn’t take it seriously or tried and failed. And it wasn’t just Eastwood that was a problem. … Read more