Sunday, July 08, 2012

FIR Interview: Eric Bergman, author of Five Steps to Conquer ‘Death by PowerPoint’

5 stepsIf you hope to communicate effectively with any audience, the best thing you can change about your presentation is to never, ever, use a slideware program to develop your presentation content, says Eric Bergman.

No PowerPoint. No Keynote. No Prezi. No SlideRocket. None.

The author of Five Steps to Conquer ‘Death by PowerPoint’, published in May 2012, Bergman is passionate in his belief that the procedures we habitually use during presentations are dysfunctional and badly need changing.

If you want to be more effective, he says, you must separate the spoken word and the written word - regardless of whether you’re the sender or the receiver in the communication process

In this FIR Interview, co-host Neville Hobson met with Bergman during his visit to London in July 2012. In a wide-ranging conversation, Eric touches on the five steps in the book’s title, and explains how his book will help anyone make better use of their time in preparation, without using PowerPoint to do that; and make better use of everyone’s time when you get together.

He says, "When it comes to expectations for presentations, today’s audiences should be easy to please. First and foremost, they don’t want to be bored. They don’t like to waste their time. I have yet to meet anyone who attends a presentation thinking: ‘I wonder what colors the presenter will use,’ or ‘I hope the slides are engaging’."

As the conversation concludes, Eric makes note of two people who he believes are highly-effective presenters, and offers some insightful suggestions to listeners that they can think about in their quest to be effective as presenters.

  • FIR listeners can download a free copy of Present With Ease, a workbook that complements Five Steps to Conquer ‘Death by PowerPoint’ , designed to help presenters develop content first, then slides, in order to actively engage and win over their audiences.

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About our Conversation Partner

Eric BergmanEric Bergman is passionate about helping his clients communicate effectively.

He has been a public relations practitioner for more than 30 years and has provided presentation skills and media training to clients in North America, South America, Europe and Asia for more than 20 years.

His workshops, seminars and one-on-one coaching have improved the communication skills of thousands of professionals, managers, salespeople, politicians and senior executives. He also consults on strategy, positioning, issues management and message content for presentations, and in advance of exchanges with journalists.

Eric holds a bachelor of professional arts in communication studies from Athabasca University and a two-year diploma in advertising and public relations from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is an accredited business communicator, an accredited public relations practitioner and a master communicator. He is also a fifth-degree black belt in Wado-Kai karate.

Connect with Eric Bergman on Twitter: @5stepstoconquer.

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Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 338 7960 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by neville on 07/08 at 12:32 AM
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Monday, July 02, 2012

FIR Book Club #3: “Marketing in the Round” co-author Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich was the guest author for the third installment of the FIR Book Club, hosted by FIR Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew. Gini co-authored Marketing in the Round with Geoff Livingston.

imageGini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communication firm. She also is the founder of the professional development site for PR and marketing pros, Spin Sucks Pro. Gini is the author of the PR and marketing blog, Spin Sucks, which is a 2012 Cision Top 100 Blog, the 2010 and 2011 Readers Choice Blog of the Year, a Top 42 Content Marketing Blog from Junta42, a top 10 social media blog from Social Media Examiner, and an AdAge Power 150 blog. She delivers numerous keynotes, panel discussions, coaching sessions, and workshops across North America and Europe on the subject of using online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR. One of the top rated communication professionals on the social networks, Gini was recently named the number one PR person, according to Klout and TechCrunch, on the channels, and number one on Twitter, according to TweetLevel. She also can be found writing at Crain’s Chicago Business and in various PR and marketing blogs and publications.

This podcast was recorded live on TalkShoe.

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Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 07/02 at 01:13 PM
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The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #658: July 2, 2012

Content summary: FIR Book Club recording coming; Shel’s IABC presentation is up; FIR Interview with Eric Bergman coming; a congratulatory shout out to Inside PR, celebrating 300 episodes!; News That Fits: Discussion - Wikipedia and PR: the landscape and what’s next following publication of the CIPR’s guidelines for PR practitioners; Ragan promo; Michael Netzley reports from Singapore on the battle for Fairfax Media and CEO use of Enterprise 2.0; listener comments including from Ike Piggott on GaggleAmp and unintended consequences; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; Progresso crisis over BPA heats up; Dan York reports with a response to FIR 657 on correcting tweets, and on Apple’s forthcoming podcasts app for iOS6; TemboSocial promo; Wikipedia is an editorial warzone, says study; Canada Day and July 4 Independence Day; music from Rusted Root; and more.

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; and TemboSocial (formerly Pollstream): helping you transform your communications goals into exciting strategies that will enable you to engage, educate and inform your customers and employees online, pollstream.com/fir/.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report for July 2, 2012: A 78-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Wokingham, Berkshire, England.


Links to websites, blog posts and other content we discuss in the show are posted as Delicious bookmarks to facilitate your connection with the discussions and sharing of that content.

FIR Show Notes links
Names of blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Notes pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute time stamps – see the show notes home page for info.

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 338 7960 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

So, until Monday July 9…

Posted by neville on 07/02 at 12:02 AM
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Friday, June 29, 2012

FIR Speakers and Speeches: Shel Holtz on mobility, games and gamification

imageOn June 27, 2012, FIR co-host Shel Holtz delivered a closing-day presentation on the real meaning for communicators of the shift to mobile and the related issue of games and gamification.

While many communicators aren’t even thinking yet about mobile (at an earlier conference session, someone argued that mobile is a consideration for IT and HR, not communications), others are focused on deploying apps and optimizing their existing websites for smaller screens. The issues are deeper, however. They range from the way people use these devices—not the same way they use computers—to some of the technologies (like QR codes and Augmented Reality) that will drive more and more usage in the future. There’s also content to consider: Will people get it from traditional channels on smaller devices, newer tools like Flipboard, or tools that have not yet emerged?

The PowerPoint deck is available below as a Slidecast presentation, so all you have to do is click the play button and the audio will play in sync with the slides. The audio will stand alone, too, if you prefer to listen on the treadmill or out on your walk with the dog.

Game Changer: Mobility, Games and Gamification for the Communications Profession
View another webinar from Shel Holtz

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Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 253 780 9125 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

This FIR Speakers & Speeches podcast is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe outro music - extract from On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 06/29 at 02:52 PM
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Thursday, June 28, 2012

FIR Book Review: Marketing in the Round, by Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston

imageFIR Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew reviews Marketing in the Round, a collaboration between Arment-Dietrich CEO Gini Dietrich and marketing strategist Geoff Livingston.

From the book description:

“It’s not about social media. Or new (or old) media. It’s about results—and there’s only one way to get results. You must finally bite the bullet, tear down your silos, and integrate all your marketing and communications. That’s how you choose the best platforms and messages for each customer. That’s how you make research and metrics work. That’s how you overcome today’s insane levels of complexity and clutter. “

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“Marketing in the Round: How to Develop an Integrated Marketing Campaign in the Digital Era” by Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston

Publisher: Que
Hardcover only (224 pages)
Published: May 3, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0789749173
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0789749178

Purchase the book online at:

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

This FIR Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 06/28 at 08:29 AM
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Monday, June 25, 2012

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #657: June 25, 2012

Content summary: Neville’s at SWCC meeting in Bath on June 25; Shel’s at the IABC World Conference, FIR lunchtime meetup in Chicago on Wednesday June 27; FIR Interview with Badgeville’s Adena DeMonte is up; FIR Book Review by Bob LeDrew on Marketing in the Round by Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston will be up soon; Gini Dietrich is the next guest on the FIR Book Club on June 29; News That Fits: How Google+ Hangouts On Air will disrupt the conference business for producers and attendees; Ragan promo; Dan York reports on WCIT and why it’s important to communicators; should Twitter introduce a correction tool?; listener comments; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; does every employee need social media training?; Michael Netzley reports from Singapore on mobile internet and smartphone trends in Asia Pacific; TemboSocial promo; the changing nature of content; Neville and Shel back together as usual next week; music from Ed Roth; and more.

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; and TemboSocial (formerly Pollstream): helping you transform your communications goals into exciting strategies that will enable you to engage, educate and inform your customers and employees online, pollstream.com/fir/.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report for June 25, 2012: A 64-minute podcast recorded live from Wokingham, Berkshire, England.


Links to websites, blog posts and other content we discuss in the show are posted as Delicious bookmarks to facilitate your connection with the discussions and sharing of that content.

FIR Show Notes links
Names of blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Notes pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute time stamps – see the show notes home page for info.

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 338 7960 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

So, until Monday July 2…

Posted by neville on 06/25 at 12:01 AM
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Thursday, June 21, 2012

FIR Interview: Badgeville Marketing Director Adena DeMonte

imageBadgeville, the gamification service, introduced “social mechanics” on June 20, with features including a “Behavior Graph” that allows companies to measure specific social behaviors, and “Social Context,” an activity stream not unlike a Facebook newsfeed that companies can add to their own web and mobile properties. In this interview, FIR co-host Shel Holtz talks with Adena DeMonte, Badgeville’s director of marketing, about social mechanics, the gamification platform introduced last month, and the potential roles for gamification in both internal and external communications.

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About our Conversation Partner

imageAdena DeMonte is the director of Marketing at Badgeville. Founded in 2010 to help companies measure and influence user behavior, Badgeville is a leader in enterprise gamification, having added a global client roster of over 170 customers including Deloitte, EMC, eBay’s X.Commerce, Samsung, Dell, NBC, CA Technologies, Universal Music, The Active Network and Recyclebank.

DeMonte has over a decade of experience in social media marketing and community management for F1000 enterprises and startups across B2C and B2B. She previously ran social media marketing at Nokia Point & Find for the Emmy-Nominated Alternate Reality Game (ARG) Conspiracy for Good in collaboration with Tim Kring and Nokia’s global communities, and led community management at numerous startups. Prior to her career in marketing, DeMonte reported on web and mobile technology and venture capital for Red Herring Magazine, GigaOm and MobileMarketingWatch.com.

Connect with Adena on Twitter at @GamificationGal.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

FIR on Friendfeed
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 253 780 9125 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 06/21 at 11:30 AM
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