EE Voice Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips

So much of our time as communicators is spent navigating uncharted territory – handling crises, adapting to emerging technology, etc. – that it’s easy to forget to take time to reflect.

We recently received a great reminder to do just that from our friend and former Sears colleague, Barbara Rozgonyi. A pioneer of digital communications and the leader of CoryWest Media, Barbara joined us to discuss the current popularity of retro culture and how lessons from the past can help shape how we work moving forward.

“It's just really gives you a feeling that what was cool is still cool,” Barbara said. “I was looking at some of the projects we worked on together – and the groundwork that we laid back then may seem nostalgic, but it's super relevant for today.”
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The post EPISODE #70: WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN WITH BARBARA ROZGONYI appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As communicators, we are often at our best while functioning as trusted advisors to executives, colleagues and other key business stakeholders. But trust isn’t gained overnight. How do you build trust for the long-term?

Enter Jason Anthoine, the managing founder and “head honcho” of Audacity, a communications consultancy that helps companies inform, involve and inspire their employees by immersing themselves in businesses and absorbing as much as possible, from balance sheets and organizational goals to day-to-day operations.

“We will never be able to understand what their world is like unless we insert ourselves into it,” Jason told us. “We're here to understand you better so we can give you more of what you want and, more importantly, less of what you don't want.”
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The post EPISODE #69: JASON ANTHOINE ON BECOMING A COMMS TRUSTED ADVISOR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here, and no one is less surprised than Shel Holtz.

So many of us know Shel from his 40-plus years as a consultant, speaker, blogger, author, and co-founder of the FIR Podcast Network, but it is his fascination with emerging technologies that make him the ideal person to discuss AI models like ChatGPT.

“Mark my words,” Shel wrote in 2016, “Bots are coming to the workplace, to media relations, to public relations. They are coming just as surely as the web was going to completely disrupt the way communications was done a quarter century ago.”

Now, with his prediction a reality, Shel joins our podcast to urge communicators to embrace AI tools, rather than fear being replaced by them. To Shel, learning how to properly – and ethically – use AI is becoming an essential skill and can help us generate ideas, overcome writers block, teach writing, and save time.
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The post EPISODE #68: SHEL HOLTZ – EMBRACING CHATGPT FOR INTERNAL COMMS appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In our first episode of the year, we look to unpack what’s going on and what lies ahead for communicators in 2023. To us, there’s no one better suited to discuss the present and future of executive communication than David Murray.

In addition to being an expert communicator and accomplished author, David is the Executive Director of the Executive Communication Council, the head of the Professional Speechwriters Association, and he also pens the popular communications blog, “Writing Boots.” We’re thrilled to have him back on EE Voice.

During our conversation, David jests that this is “the only interesting time” in executive communication and, while we’ll happily grant our friend some room for hyperbole, the reality is that we have absolutely reached an inflection point. Tune in as David discusses the unprecedented spotlight on – and access to – executives, an increasingly influential workforce, emerging AI technology, and how communicators can plan accordingly. (Tune in for the terrific storytelling; stay for the great advice.)
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The post EPISODE #67: DAVID MURRAY – WHAT’S AHEAD FOR EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As we prepare to take a brief pause for the holidays – and hope you do, too! – we’ll first take a moment to reflect on the challenges we faced this year: increasingly passionate employee bases; global, domestic, and online uncertainty; developing data and communication methods; and the many other factors that contributed to the year that was for internal communicators in 2022.

In looking back, we’re happy to continue our holiday tradition of a year-end roundup episode: one podcast with highlights from our 2022 conversations, in just a few minutes. Here are some of the top insights from this year’s slate of IC experts.
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The post EPISODE #66: OUR BEST IC EXPERT ADVICE FROM 2022 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

What is it they say about “the best laid plans?"

In this episode of the EE Voice podcast, we are joined by Caleb Gardner to discuss his new book – No Point B – and how leaders must embrace change and use effective communication in the face of developing technology, social activism, and other key elements in today’s tranformational world.

“All leadership has to be change leadership,” Caleb told us. “Because we just have so much inbound, so much new data, so much going on in the world that we're going to have to be constantly asking our people to think differently -- and we're not prepared to ask them to have that level of mental flexibility.”
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The post EPISODE #65: AUTHOR CALEB GARDNER – ALL LEADERSHIP IS CHANGE LEADERSHIP appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.