Summary: What do The Fugitive and Saturday Night Live have to do with business communications? Find out in this interview with Rob Biesenbach, author of the book Act Like You Mean Business. Rob is a Chicago-based communications strategist, actor and writer. During his 20-plus years in communications and PR, he has counseled clients from Fortune 500 companies to startups, and he has managed a successful solo practice for more than a decade. Rob and I had great fun discussing the idea of integrating both storytelling and acting techniques into communications. Here are the show notes: 00:01 Introduction and welcome; about Rob Biesenbach 01:20 Interview with Rob Biesenbach includes: Why this book? Uses of stories related to movies, TV and theatre; “cutting to the chase” example from The Fugitive Why do we add needless exposition? We do not need to convey everything we know! Trying to be perfect – the Saturday Night Live story Premise of the book is not about being a phony; true acting is about honesty and human connection Speaking tips; TED Talks have raised the bar; Steve Jobs as a master showman Get your script off the slides; notes are fine during a presentation; Rob uses iPhone as a remote and for notes Preparation is key for speaking; links to interviews with Shel Israel and Eric Bergman on speaking Match.com syndrome; show, don’t tell Storytelling saves the day for a candy company Rob recommends improv classes for everyone Treating every communications opportunity as a performance, and apply proven techniques of actors 20:41 Where to send comments; email donna at trafcom dot com or comment here on the show blog. Get more info on the book on Rob's website. Theme music for Trafcom News Podcast is “Beneath Your Surface” by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from Music Alley.
