Rob Biesenbach 
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
It’s easy to forget in our lawyered up society that some lessons are timeless and based on basic rules of fairness. Like the matter of intellectual property and what is and is not “free” on the Internet. I was reminded of this during a visit to a reconstructed Mandan Indian village in North Dakota. (Yes, … Read more
I consider certain truths to be self evident. Like the power of stories to move and persuade people. So I’m surprised when I have to justify this principle to someone. A while back I was interviewed by a grad student doing research and he wanted to know what facts and evidence I use to support … Read more
I bet that’s a headline you never thought you’d see. Ringwald has apparently written a novel, and in this New York Times piece she draws the connection between acting and writing. (Which I, obviously, find very astute. Right down to the headline: “Act Like a Writer.”) It’s a pretty thoughtful essay, and though it’s geared mainly … Read more
I cite David Mamet’s “master class memo on writing” so often I’ve probably worn a groove in the Internet. It’s must reading if you haven’t seen it — witty, insightful, profane … terribly punctuated. I was reminded it of it again by, of all things, a Spiderman comic. Now I don’t read the newspaper comics … Read more
One of the hardest things in public speaking is maintaining your focus — keeping your mind free of unnecessary distractions. I was helping out with some speaker training for a group of young engineers the other day and observed one participant after another losing their train of thought and grasping for words — that familiar … Read more
It was three minutes to the hour and 260-plus people from around the country were waiting online for me to begin a webinar. And after an hour of wrestling with technology, I still wasn’t close to being logged in. My pulse was probably at about 160 beats per minute. The presenter’s nightmare, right? Only it … Read more
I’ll be on the radio this morning (Thursday the 26th) talking Act Like You Mean Business on All Sides with Ann Fisher (WOSU Columbus Public Radio). We’ll be going for an hour and taking questions from callers. You can listen online and hear some of the best lessons from the book brought to life. Tune in at … Read more