better communication results

Are you a communicator working in or as a contractor to a business? Congratulations, you are a 'business communicator' and able to join the world's best organisation for business communicators—the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators). Are you a marketer? SEO expert? PR specialist? Speaker? Presenter? Photographer? Videographer? If so, you TOO are a 'business communicator'. The episodes in this podcast are from a small collection I found when I was recovering my files from a catastrophic data loss. But there are more episodes coming soon. Enjoy these short episodes :)

BCR 136 - Kate Crocker on dark marketing and dark AI 02/11/2025

BCR 136 - Kate Crocker on dark marketing and dark AI Speaker 1: Lee Today I'm interviewing Kate Crocker. And Kate is our AI problem solver and dark patterns consultant. Kate is an Australian legal design writer, SEO copywriter, and a former lawyer as a former lawyer turned legal design writer. Kate has mastered the art of blending complex legal concepts with a user friendly design. Now, Kate's also an expert in dark patterns, those tricky little design tactics on the web. You probably Kate and is on a mission to make websites ethical, transparent and user friendly. Kate skills don't stop at legal fees though. As an AI prompt engineer, she crafts the perfect AI responses and empowers teams to shape their digital presence with clarity and accountability. Her passion for ethical design keeps our AI solutions human centered and accessible. Kate can distill even the densest legal jargon into something your grandmother could understand, all while making it a SEO friendly. Kate, welcome to the podcast. Speaker 2: Kate Crocker I'm South Australian, just like you. Former lawyer, and, trained legal designer. I came across doc patents as part of my logo design training and quickly realized it's a very important subset of logo design not to be overlooked. And more recently, I jumped on the AI, avalanche. Towards the end of, at the beginning of 2023, really, when it became obvious it was going to fundamentally affect, businesses like copywriting, which is what I was doing at that time and still do. 00:02:03:12 - 00:02:04:09 Speaker 2 So. 00:02:04:11 - 00:02:15:04 Speaker 1 All right, I've got some questions for you, if you don't mind, Kate. The first question is, what are doc patterns? And I presume we're not talking about my paisley waistcoats. 00:02:15:06 - 00:02:45:03 Speaker 2 Not your paisley waistcoats? No. No, we're talking about user interfaces. So, doc patterns can appear on websites, apps, social media. So they're, they're design tricks, sort of, specifically aimed at manipulating you as the user to do something that you didn't intend to do. So it might be that, countdown clock was used to get you to purchase something. 00:02:45:05 - 00:03:18:17 Speaker 2 And as soon as you made the purchase, that clock reset and started counting down again. And so the deadline to purchase was false. It could be a, something that you're automatically opted into when you subscribe or, or a subscription that is, that you are opted into, and then you can't find a way to unsubscribe. Or it could be, something mysteriously appearing in your shopping basket that you never put in there in the hope that you just you won't notice and you end up buying it. 00:03:18:19 - 00:03:25:24 Speaker 2 So all sorts of little tricks. There's a huge range of, categories of dark patterns. 00:03:26:01 - 00:03:37:24 Speaker 1 So the one that says nefarious and I've, I've come across, all of those myself. And it's very frustrating. No, I agree. Yeah. But what what's why is it a problem? 00:03:39:00 - 00:04:07:23 Speaker 2 It creates all sorts of difficulties for, consumers. So it's a problem because a lot of dark patterns are designed to trick us into handing over our personal information. And as we all know, data protection is, a bigger and bigger issue. We've all, encountered scams online. We in Australia had the Optus and Medibank data breaches. 00:04:07:23 - 00:04:53:11 Speaker 2 So if you can remember lining up to get a new driver's license. Yeah. So all sorts of, all sorts of issues are now arising with our ability to protect our personal information online. So in 2023, online scams cost Australians roughly $480 million. And that figure is increasing exponentially. So it is absolutely huge. But dark patterns are also, they're not transparent and they exploit, cognitive biases such as decision fatigue or where you just choose the first thing because you don't know what else to choose. 00:04:53:13 - 00:05:19:20 Speaker 2 So all the patterns that your brain will just automatically want to follow to reduce your mental load when you are completely overloaded with information or choice. So so you're bit you're acting in ways that you haven't intended to. You're spending money that you didn't really think you'd be spending. Vulnerable people are particularly susceptible to exploitation with dark patterns. 00:05:19:20 - 00:05:47:15 Speaker 2 So children and the elderly, so yeah. So we're talking about, decision making difficulties, financial loss, interference with in independent decision making, compromise privacy and also physical effects like frustration, anxiety and stress, which shouldn't be, so the effects of, of those should not be underestimated. Actually can have a quite a debilitating impact on a lot of people. 00:05:47:15 - 00:05:47:22 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:05:48:11 - 00:05:52:08 Speaker 1 What's the implication then, with all these dark patterns for AI? 00:05:52:10 - 00:06:16:07 Speaker 2 So with generative AI, the first implication is that AI is just so new, and we're all sort of still learning how to use it and have navigate it and what it means. But what is emerging is that the more we use generative AI, the bigger the risk of dark patterns, because it can easily create dark patterns, and often they're very hard to detect. 00:06:16:08 - 00:06:45:14 Speaker 2 So you need to understand what to look for. So if you're creating something with generative AI, you need to know what dark patterns look like. So you can check the output. And if you are, a consumer or, or just a user who may hand over some personal information, then it's good to know about dark patterns so you can try and work out whether or not that's what you're dealing with. 00:06:45:18 - 00:06:50:06 Speaker 1 So how do you avoid dark pattern risks when using AI? 00:06:50:08 - 00:07:23:06 Speaker 2 So I think you need to sort of understand how dark patterns can emerge when you're using AI first. So what we're really talking about is, risks of deepfakes. So, we've all come across, fake fake images or voices, or synthetic voices. So deep fakes that probably can quite easily manipulate users with false information and undermine autonomy and privacy. 00:07:24:00 - 00:07:51:04 Speaker 2 So I so the recommendation there is that you would use AI filters to detect and block the deepfakes. You'd put watermarks in or metadata in to try and. Yeah, to try and make it, more, more genuine. And you definitely be conducting regular reviews of, yeah. What how how that form of AI is being used. 00:07:52:11 - 00:08:25:03 Speaker 2 You know, when it comes to synthetic media or the new Google Notebook alarm function that produces a podcast episode is absolutely incredible. It is. If you've not used it, I recommend you just, go and have a go, because the voices sound so natural. It's not what we're used to hearing with synthetic voices. But it just goes to show how quickly that technology has improved. 00:08:25:23 - 00:08:55:12 Speaker 2 And yeah, it's a real reminder that you have to be very much on your guard when online. Other examples. Bots, of course. So there is risks that bots may, impersonate humans. Which is also unethical. Any kind of disinformation. So you need to check that the information sources are, in fact, from authoritative sites. 00:08:55:23 - 00:09:25:11 Speaker 2 And I would add in particular statistical information there. I have, a lot of experience with statistics in particular being made up on, by, any AI that I've been using haven't actually managed to iron out that little glitch yet, but I'm working on it. And that, of course, leads to hallucinations where the AI can just absolutely make up anything. 00:09:25:11 - 00:09:55:12 Speaker 2 So you do need to double check your output. And in fact, you do need to be mindful of how you prompt the AI as well, so that, it's not just given complete, round of the internet, you actually want to want it to be very focused about what it's looking at online. So a few of the concerns are that I can analyze huge amounts of consumer data very, very quickly. 00:09:55:14 - 00:10:29:05 Speaker 2 And so you can personalize stock patterns rapidly even while you're online doing something. So it can, sort of alter algorithms and, and harvest your data. It can it can store and analyze information about your profile as he going around browsing online. So it's, it is it is a bit like the Wild West out there with AI. 00:10:29:07 - 00:10:46:06 Speaker 1 Here in Australia. We have some data privacy laws, perhaps, better than some other countries, but certainly, worse than other countries. We are sort of semi protected that we but only semi. 00:10:46:08 - 00:11:15:01 Speaker 2 We, we're sort of in the midst of, a major change at the moment with a major change of the privacy laws being contemplated. There are, we've been we were waiting for some announcements back in September, and we're still sort of waiting with bated breath to find out exactly what's going to happen. So the expectation is that, jack patterns will be specifically regulated by privacy laws. 00:11:15:01 - 00:11:47:03 Speaker 2 At the moment. There's general regulation, around, collection of personal information. But, you know, more specific laws will do more with consent and prohibiting, information collection in certain circumstances, regardless of whether a person's consented, because one of the issues is dark patterns is, of course, that you consents not informed if you're being manipulated and not acting with authority. 00:11:47:05 - 00:12:18:01 Speaker 2 So we have seen in the EU the introduction of the AI act over there, which bans AI generated dark patterns. And that's those bands are going to be staged over the next couple of years. So into 2026. And it does depend on the type of activity. But yeah, it's it will also apply to non-EU countries who are doing business in the EU. 00:12:18:03 - 00:12:23:18 Speaker 2 So it does potentially also apply to some Australian businesses. 00:12:24:06 - 00:13:02:04 Speaker 1 Because I write a lot. There's an interesting sort of discussion going on with the writing community at the moment in that on the one hand, the writing community is being asked to be transparent if it's used AI. And certainly Amazon is asking you, very clearly, have you used AI for anything? And the other point is that a lot of the writers in that community are saying, no, we're not going to talk because the public at the moment has such a bad, idea about AI that we can just walk up to, you know, Claude or ChatGPT and say, write me a novel. 00:13:02:13 - 00:13:26:02 Speaker 1 And, you know, outcomes or novel, that, you know, writers don't want to disclose that. Or if they do, they just say, oh, look, you know, they edit it my, my text. But I wrote it all. Yeah. So, you know, that's a balancing act because the public I don't think the public is ready for writers to be honest about how they're writing stuff. 00:13:26:04 - 00:14:10:17 Speaker 2 Well, yeah, I think the, there is a, a more of an umbrella issue there, which has to do with copyright because it's not clear yet how copyright laws are going to apply to AI generated, content. So, some of the recommendations, that you do identify when you have used AI, or if it's 100% human generated for that reason that if you do later need to enforce your copyright over something, then, you know, you can point to that as, and, you know, at, at contemporaneous statement of, how you produced that content at the time. 00:14:10:19 - 00:14:37:00 Speaker 2 So it is a very it is a very difficult area at the moment. It's the same for copyright is everything's in flux. Starting to see sort of codes of ethics, come out in various forms, including by copyright is disclosing with clients how they are using AI. It is an absolutely incredible brainstorming tool for copywriters. 00:14:37:02 - 00:15:07:05 Speaker 2 It is not, generally speaking, it's not the sharpest tool for writing. But it it also depends on how you prompt it and the, knowledge base that you're giving it. So yeah, it's, it's it's an interesting area. It's tricky times. And it's, it's difficult for our clients as well because, if we're all sort of walking a tightrope at the same time, it feels like, 00:15:07:07 - 00:15:28:02 Speaker 1 I mean, certainly there's a challenge with, as you say, with copywriting because, you know, ways we've said in the past, it might take us 3 or 4 days to turn this around and put it in your, your company's voice. You know, with, as you say, with the right, you know, background material, with the right prompting, they can turn it around in about a minute and a half. 00:15:28:04 - 00:15:51:18 Speaker 2 Yeah, well, it's the legwork. The legwork is where the gold is for copyright is. So all the things that we've, had to wade through that have been so time consuming, like pulling all the information out of a brief that we. So that, you know, that we can collate somehow or, pulling, you know, information together from different sources. 00:15:52:09 - 00:16:16:05 Speaker 2 And, and making it, something that we can make sense of so we can then write or just simply try to understand, what the benefit is of a feature when we're writing sales copy, all those kind of things. Incredible. Well, I it is it is an incredible tool for brainstorming, and there are different ways of doing it. 00:16:16:05 - 00:16:29:08 Speaker 2 So, if you think laterally enough, you can actually get solutions that do seem quite creative and find little golden nuggets that you'd never considered. 00:16:29:10 - 00:16:45:15 Speaker 1 Okay. Are there any other ethical considerations? When we're using AI not just as copywriters, but just as, as business people, are there, ethical considerations that we can we should consider that we haven't talked about so far. 00:16:45:17 - 00:17:14:06 Speaker 2 Yeah. So I think when it when it comes to things like social proof, like with, testimonials of, testimonials on websites or, reviews, that kind of thing. There's there's a big risk of dark patterns there. It's very easy to, make up a testimonial. Especially if you're not if especially if you're not giving any details about the person who is purporting to have given you the testimonial. 00:17:14:08 - 00:17:47:06 Speaker 2 So you need to be very careful about that kind of thing. We know that I can very easily generate fake reviews and other forms of social proof. So and even, potentially using deep fakes to do that. So it's, it's very you need to be very careful about how you do that. I like the idea of using, Google reviews, screenshots of the Google reviews, screenshots of Facebook reviews. 00:17:47:15 - 00:18:16:00 Speaker 2 Anything like that, that, that that carries quite a bit of weight to it. So is the photo of the person, say where they're from? If you can convince them to give you a video testimonial, even better. But that's, just about the most compelling. So those things, you know, when it comes to exploiting cognitive biases, we're hearing a lot about dynamic pricing these days. 00:18:16:00 - 00:18:41:11 Speaker 2 So dynamic pricing is something that is very much driven by AI and also dynamic inventory. So when you get those awful messages when you're on a website, it's it's a big thing in, women's fashion websites. But saying that a person looked at looked at this article, you know, back from the Gold Coast, looked at this article five minutes ago and that kind of thing. 00:18:41:13 - 00:19:20:08 Speaker 2 So, you know, they hate that those kind of things can be AI generated. And, you know, nudging the user towards a particular, act that the business once wants from the user. So, yeah, that's, you know, things like data harvesting with privacy or even, manipulating you to provide consent, a really, one way of, one form of manipulation, which is a, a big dark pattern is just to throw a wall of data, a wall of words at you. 00:19:20:10 - 00:19:42:24 Speaker 2 So in order to proceed with something, you need to consent to all their terms and conditions. People give blind consent because it's written in legalese. So they don't want to read it that don't understand. But they know that if they tick the yes box, then they'll get through to the next screen. So that's a very big issue. 00:19:44:13 - 00:20:03:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. And also, I think, as I said before, the ability for AI to sort of, collect data about you as you travel around the internet and just build a profile about you. That can be then used in various ways. As we know, that's how scammers often, target people as well. 00:20:03:16 - 00:20:11:15 Speaker 1 Any last thoughts? About dark patterns and AI and, the risks involved? 00:20:11:19 - 00:20:37:22 Speaker 2 Well, I think it's at the moment in Australia, we're in kind of a sweet spot with, with what's happening in dark patterns because the laws that if we don't have specific laws against dark patterns yet. So we have general laws, we've got general consumer and privacy laws that will regulate dark patterns, but we don't have the specifics. 00:20:37:24 - 00:21:08:18 Speaker 2 So while the I mean, while the government is working that out and we know it's coming, it's just last week the Albanese government was talking about, introducing draft laws in early 2025. Opt to opt out subscription like subscription dark patterns and, various other insipid practices. So we know these laws are coming there. 00:21:09:03 - 00:21:42:20 Speaker 2 There are there are all sorts reports and consultations going on. But right now they're day like right now, the laws aren't specific. And so it represents an opportunity for businesses to actually take a look and, and work out what needs to happen, work out how to it, like assess what what what strategy should be put in place and also what needs doing straight away. 00:21:42:20 - 00:22:08:07 Speaker 2 What can wait. So we have the luxury of a bit of time at the moment. All that is said with the overlay overlay of the European privacy laws and AI and digital laws, which actually may already apply to a lot of Australian businesses. Who who attract customers or clients in the UK or website visitors. Sorry. 00:22:08:07 - 00:22:40:24 Speaker 2 In the EU and the UK. So but those laws with the with the enforcement of those laws is tending to be a little more focused on the really big players at the moment, on the huge mega companies that will not always be the case. So we've just we've just got this time at the moment where we can we can get to work and learn more about, these deceptive practices, understand more about ethical design as well. 00:22:41:01 - 00:23:18:01 Speaker 2 I think consumers are increasingly, wanting ethical practices, ethical designs, wanting to, you know, lead more, you know, ethical, sustainable lives. And that is going to come across in, you know, in, in online behavior. So I think it is also for companies, a really huge marketing advantage in, in embracing more ethical practices and, and, and getting rid of as many dark patterns as possible of websites. 00:23:18:03 - 00:23:21:18 Speaker 1 Excellent. Well, thank you for that, Kate. We really appreciate that. 00:23:21:19 - 00:23:23:02 Speaker 2 Thank you very much, Lee. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34754050

BCR 143 - Driving innovation with AI 02/05/2025

BCR 143 - Driving innovation with AI Welcome to Better Communication Results. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this week we look at how AI can supercharge innovation and brainstorming in your business. The problem: Stale ideas and innovation bottlenecks Innovation is the lifeblood of any successful organisation. But let’s face it—brainstorming sessions can sometimes feel uninspired. Team members often rely on the same ideas, and groupthink can stifle creativity. This lack of fresh thinking can be a major roadblock to business growth. If your organisation isn’t continuously innovating, you risk falling behind competitors who are. The barriers to effective brainstorming Traditional brainstorming sessions often suffer from time constraints, dominant voices in the room, and a lack of diverse perspectives. As a result, great ideas can be overlooked, and innovation stalls. The solution: AI as a creative collaborator Artificial intelligence can act as a virtual brainstorming partner, generating fresh ideas and perspectives that your team might not have considered. Here’s how: AI-driven idea generationTools like ChatGPT or Writesonic can generate a wide range of ideas on any given topic, acting as a springboard for your team’s creativity. Trend analysisAI tools like TrendHunter or Crayon analyse market trends and competitor strategies, providing data-driven inspiration for new products, services, or campaigns. Diverse perspectivesAI can simulate different viewpoints by analysing global data and cultural trends, offering ideas that resonate with diverse customer bases. Collaborative platformsAI-enhanced collaboration tools like Miro or Notion AI can help teams organise and refine their ideas, turning raw concepts into actionable plans. Rapid prototypingAI-powered design tools like Canva or Figma with AI integrations allow you to quickly visualise and prototype ideas, accelerating the innovation process. The results: Breakthrough innovation By integrating AI into your brainstorming process, you can generate more creative, diverse, and actionable ideas. This not only drives innovation but also keeps your business ahead of the curve. Well, there you have it. That's this episode of Better Communication Results. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Until next we meet, take care, take some communication risks because you never know what may pay off, and communicate with passion! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/35159450

BCR 141 - Cutting podcast costs with AI 02/01/2025

BCR 141 - Cutting podcast costs with AI Welcome to Better Communication Results. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this week we look at the challenge of reducing podcast production costs without cutting corners or compromising quality. The problem: Rising production costs Producing a professional podcast can be expensive, especially when you factor in equipment, editing, marketing, and team salaries. For CEOs managing budgets, podcasting can start to feel more like a cost centre than a value generator. The temptation to cut corners—such as using lower-quality editing or skipping promotional efforts—is strong, but this approach often backfires. Poor-quality audio or lacklustre marketing can damage your credibility and result in fewer listeners. So how can you reduce your podcasting expenses without jeopardising your brand’s reputation? The hidden costs of inefficiency What many businesses overlook is the inefficiency baked into their podcast production workflows. Teams often spend hours on repetitive tasks like editing, transcription, or brainstorming topics. These inefficiencies add up, costing both time and money. The solution: AI-powered tools to optimise costs Artificial intelligence offers a range of cost-effective solutions that can streamline your podcast production process while maintaining—or even improving—quality. Here’s how AI can help you cut costs without cutting corners: Automated editingAI tools like Descript or Adobe Podcast use advanced algorithms to automate editing tasks, such as removing background noise, cutting out filler words, or enhancing audio quality. This eliminates the need to hire expensive editors or spend hours doing it yourself. Affordable transcriptionTraditional transcription services can be costly, but AI-driven tools like Sonix or Otter.ai provide fast and accurate transcription at a fraction of the price. These transcripts can also double as show notes or blog posts, increasing the value of each episode. Content creation assistanceAI writing tools like ChatGPT or Jasper can help you draft episode scripts, promotional copy, and social media posts, saving you time and reducing your reliance on external content creators. Marketing automationAI-powered marketing platforms like HubSpot or Hootsuite can handle the scheduling and targeting of your podcast promotions. They analyse audience behaviour to ensure your episodes reach the right people at the right time, maximising your marketing ROI. Efficient project managementAI can optimise your workflow by automating task assignment and tracking progress. Tools like Notion AI or Monday.com with AI integrations help your team stay organised and reduce time waste. The result: A leaner, more efficient podcasting process By leveraging AI, you can significantly reduce production costs while maintaining the high standards your audience expects. This allows you to reallocate resources to other areas of your business, making podcasting a more sustainable and impactful part of your communication strategy. Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Better Communication Results. Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts. As a side note, I no longer host any podcasts on Spotify for ethical reasons. And visit my website — leehopkins.com — for further information and ways we can work together to further your business communication goals. Until next we meet, take some communication risks because you never know what may pay off, and communicate with passion! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/35111000

BCR 140 - Using AI to personalise your content 01/24/2025

BCR 140 - Using AI to personalise your content Overcoming the challenge of audience engagement through podcasting Welcome to Better Communication Results. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this week we look at the challenge of keeping your podcast audience engaged in an increasingly saturated market. The problem: Declining listener engagement Podcasting has exploded in popularity, with over 5 million podcasts globally as of 2025. While this is great for the industry, it’s a double-edged sword for businesses. With so many options available, how can you ensure your audience doesn’t just tune in but stays engaged episode after episode? Listener fatigue is real, and it’s often the result of generic, one-size-fits-all content. Your audience craves relevant, valuable, and engaging content that speaks directly to their needs. The challenge is figuring out how to deliver that consistently. Why engagement matters Engagement isn’t just about likes or downloads—it’s about creating a deeper connection with your audience. Engaged listeners are more likely to share your content, recommend your brand, and even convert into paying clients. A lack of engagement, on the other hand, can lead to dwindling listenership and wasted marketing efforts. The solution: Using AI to personalise your content Artificial intelligence offers game-changing solutions to improve audience engagement. By leveraging AI tools, you can analyse listener behaviour, tailor your content, and deliver a more personalised experience. Here’s how: Audience analyticsAI-powered tools like Podtrac or Chartable can analyse listener data to identify what topics resonate most with your audience. You’ll gain insights into which episodes perform well, when listeners drop off, and what keeps them coming back. Dynamic ad insertionAI enables you to personalise ads and sponsorship messages based on listener preferences. For instance, platforms like Acast use AI to deliver targeted ads that match the interests of your audience, improving the overall listening experience. Interactive contentAI tools can help you create interactive episodes, such as quizzes or polls, that encourage listener participation. This transforms passive listeners into active participants, deepening their connection with your brand. AI-driven topic generationTools like ChatGPT can help you brainstorm fresh and engaging topics based on industry trends, audience feedback, and competitor analysis. This ensures your content remains relevant and compelling. Customised recommendationsAI can also power recommendation engines, similar to how Netflix and YouTube suggests content. This allows you to promote specific episodes to listeners based on their preferences, increasing the likelihood they’ll stay engaged. The result: A loyal and engaged audience By incorporating AI into your podcast strategy, you can create a more engaging experience that keeps listeners coming back. The key is to focus on delivering value and personalisation while staying true to your brand’s voice. Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Better Communication Results. Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts. As a side note, I no longer host any podcasts on Spotify for ethical reasons. And visit my website — — for further information and ways we can work together to further your business communication goals. Until next we meet, take some communication risks because you never know what may pay off, and communicate with passion! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34991835

BCR 139 - How to scale your podcasting efforts 01/24/2025

BCR 139 - How to scale your podcasting efforts The first in a series of episodes on podcasting and how your business can benefit from podcasting. Episode 1: How to scale your podcasting efforts without sacrificing quality Welcome to special six-part series on podcasting with AI. This is the first episode, and I'm your host, Lee Hopkins. This week we look at the challenge of scaling your podcasting efforts without sacrificing the quality that helps you connect with your audience. The problem: Scaling podcast production For many businesses, podcasting has become a powerful tool for engaging clients and stakeholders, building brand authority, and nurturing trust. But here's the rub: scaling podcast production can be a massive headache. CEOs often find that as they expand their podcasting efforts—whether it’s increasing the number of episodes, adding new segments, or launching multiple shows—the quality begins to slip. You’re suddenly dealing with missed deadlines, inconsistent messaging, and a lack of alignment with your brand voice. It’s tempting to throw more staff or budget at the problem, but that often doesn’t fix the root cause. For genuinely scalable podcasting, you need a smarter solution. The true cost of poor scalability When podcast quality drops, so does audience engagement. Listeners notice when your episodes feel rushed or repetitive. And from a business perspective, low-quality content can dilute your brand’s value proposition. Worse still, it can undermine the trust you’ve carefully built with your audience. But the solution isn’t just about working harder—it’s about working smarter. And that’s where AI comes in. The solution: Leveraging AI to streamline production Artificial intelligence has reshaped the way businesses approach content creation, and podcasting is no exception. With the help of AI tools, you can scale your podcasting operations while maintaining, or even improving, quality. Here’s how it works: Automated transcription and editingAI-powered transcription tools like Otter.ai or Descript allow you to quickly generate accurate transcripts of your episodes. These tools don’t just save time—they also help you identify filler words, tighten up your dialogue, and ensure your messaging stays sharp. Content repurposingAI tools can help extract key points from your episodes, turning them into blog posts, social media snippets, or email newsletters. This means you can scale your content marketing without creating entirely new material for every channel. Voice cloning and personalisationNeed to create additional voiceovers but don’t have time to record? AI voice synthesis tools like ElevenLabs can clone your voice to produce high-quality, natural-sounding audio. This is particularly useful for creating intros, outros, or even multilingual versions of your podcast. I'm using ElevenLabs to voice my latest book. Content consistency through AI analyticsAI tools like ChatGPT can help you draft consistent episode scripts that align with your brand voice. These tools also analyse listener feedback and engagement data, allowing you to refine your content strategy. Streamlining workflowsAI-powered project management tools like Trello with AI integrations or Notion can help you automate episode planning, task allocation, and team collaboration—especially useful when managing large-scale podcast operations. The result: A scalable and efficient process By implementing AI, you can create a streamlined podcast production process that delivers consistent, high-quality content. This not only saves time and resources but ensures your brand maintains its credibility with your audience. Well, there you have it. That's this episode of Better Communication Results. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Until next we meet, take some communication risks because you never know what may pay off, and communicate with passion! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34990165

BCR 138 - Implementing AI in your business without losing your mind 01/20/2025

BCR 138 - Implementing AI in your business without losing your mind I'm Lee Hopkins, and today we're talking about something that's keeping many of you awake at night. Implementing AI in your business without losing your mind or your staff's trust. 00:00:23:23 - 00:00:47:23 Unknown 20 years ago, I was exactly where many of you are now, staring at the emergence of social media and wondering if it would destroy workplace productivity. Instead, it revolutionized how we connect with customers and staff. Today, I see the same fears about AI, but also the same incredible potential. Let me share a recent experience with a CEO in Adelaide. 00:00:48:00 - 00:01:11:04 Unknown Sarah was terrified that implementing I would make her look incompetent in front of her tech savvy team. Lee. She said, I don't even know where to start and my staff are already talking about ChatGPT like it's their new best mate. Well, here's the thing. You don't need to be a tech wizard to lead your organization into the AI era. 00:01:11:06 - 00:01:42:19 Unknown What you need is a strategic approach that puts people first. Let's break this down into three practical steps that have worked for numerous Australian businesses. First, start small. Choose one process, maybe email response times or basic data analysis and implement AI. There, one of our Melbourne clients began by using artificial intelligence to draft initial customer service responses, which their team then personalized. 00:01:42:21 - 00:02:14:20 Unknown The result was that response times dropped by 60% and staff reported feeling less stressed about inbox management. Second, involve your team from day one. Make it clear that AI is about augmenting their capabilities, not replacing them. When the Commonwealth Bank introduced AI tools for their marketing team, they first ran workshops where staff could experiment and provide feedback. This approach turned a potential resistance into enthusiastic adoption. 00:02:14:22 - 00:02:53:02 Unknown Third measure and communicate success. Set clear KPI goals before implementation and share the wins. A Brisbane logistics company we worked with saved 15 hours per week on routine tasks. After implementing AI time, their team now spends on strategic planning and innovation. Here's what most people don't realize about AI implementation. It actually increases job satisfaction when done right. Staff who previously spent hours on repetitive tasks are now solving complex problems and being more creative. 00:02:53:04 - 00:03:20:15 Unknown That's not just good for morale, it's brilliant for your bottom line. Think of it like introducing a new team member, one who's incredibly efficient at routine tasks but needs guidance on company culture and values. If you're feeling overwhelmed about where to start, you're not alone. Remember, every business leader who successfully implemented artificial intelligence started exactly where you are now. 00:03:20:17 - 00:03:53:23 Unknown The difference between success and struggle often comes down to having the right guidance and support. Give us a call on 0410 642 052, and organize a suitable time to talk seriously about how we will help you navigate the design and implementation of Artificial intelligence. Let us help you lead your organization to new heights and new profitability, and have your staff unleash their hidden creativity and help drive your business forward at a rate that will surprise you. 00:03:54:00 - 00:04:15:16 Unknown And if something you've heard here inspires you, please leave a comment on our podcast feed. Until next time we meet. Take some business risks because you never know what will pay off. And let us help you revolutionize your business with AI and. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34770550

BCR 137 - Paul Glover and Automated Agile 01/16/2025

BCR 137 - Paul Glover and Automated Agile Lee Today I'm talking with Paul Glover, from a company called Brando in the UK. And we're discussing automated agile support. Can you give us the elevator pitch about automated agile plays? PaulYeah. So automated agile is really a way of thinking. And all it really is, is on its understanding the AI can utilize you can utilize AI throughout the product delivery lifecycle. And in doing so, add productivity. But there isn't really a strong understanding of how to do that all the way through. There's individual use cases which are important. But it's about leveraging that rich context to produce, you know, great outputs. So what automated agile does is think about the whole product delivery lifecycle, and how you can get the most out of it utilizing AI. 00:01:00:17 - 00:01:26:13 Unknown So then if we look at the origin story of, automated agile, what challenges did you have bringing it to where it is now? Well, I think it's it's about, understanding for people. I think because it moves so quickly and that's overwhelming. So, what automated agile doesn't try and do is they use this tool, use this process, use this way of thinking. 00:01:26:15 - 00:01:48:02 Unknown What it does do is come up with, a way of thinking about that, to understand what drives the best performance out of each of these steps, and how do we create a structure that allows you to put new tools and new processes in? And I think as a concept, that's something that, you know, people, are kind of thinking about that in a use case specific, you know, sense. 00:01:48:02 - 00:02:06:21 Unknown Now, you see a lot of tools out there that will solve individual problems. But in, in terms of a whole workflow, you know, there are limited people out there really thinking about that and helping businesses. And that's really what this is automated agile about, rather than being a product is more around how do we help businesses understand what the next step forward is? 00:02:06:21 - 00:02:31:20 Unknown Because the Florida Neath them's changing at rapid pace. Yeah. Isn't it? Yeah. Star Trek and I'm thinking the holodeck in particular is there any similarity between the holodeck and automated agile. Yeah. Well, the holodeck theory is something I like to talk about a lot, you know? And and it probably rings true with, like, nerds and and people who watched Star Trek, but ultimately, it's all about, you know, you have an idea. 00:02:32:12 - 00:02:57:05 Unknown And then you have your product, and in between those two, there's a lot of friction, that, you know, is generally what I do for a living. And then that's, you know, what the product of your life cycle is? Where? It's in a in a holodeck in Star Trek. You walk into a room and you say, you know, give me, you know, 1920s London and it will and I that's really how software should be, you know, you should be able to speak to a tool and say, this is the product I want, and it shows that you straight away and then, well, I'll change that. 00:02:57:07 - 00:03:20:12 Unknown I'll update it. So in our tests that we've done, utilize in a, you know, a process with automated agile at its heart, we've managed to create prototypes, you know, instead of 90 minutes, you know, 75 minutes for one type of prototype. And what that does is put something in front of a customer and give them the opportunity to, see whether or not they want to make any changes to it. 00:03:20:14 - 00:03:40:22 Unknown And that's what we try to do. That's why we call it the holodeck theater. It's that how do we close down that friction as much as humanly possible to make the process, of customer feedback, and customer improvement, you know, as, as, as, immediate as possible because, you know, the, the primary measure progress is working software. 00:03:40:22 - 00:04:10:14 Unknown Right? So it's it's about how do we, keep those phases small and keep the a question that we're asking AI to complete as simple as possible. But yet make that forward progress more rapidly than we would be able to, using traditional agile methodologies. It reminds me then, because of this, you know, talking to the, the engine rather than, prompting it by typing, it's, do you remember you probably do a couple of years ago. 00:04:10:16 - 00:04:31:08 Unknown Yeah. Up until maybe last year, there was a big push by all of the senior tech people, you know, in Silicon Valley saying, you know, everyone will have to learn how to prompt write prompts and code. But, there was one CEO who said, no, you want, within 12 months, you won't have to do any of that. 00:04:31:08 - 00:04:56:18 Unknown The AI will do it for you. And I'm guessing that's, where automated agile is heading is that you don't need those technical skills. You just talk to your engine. And, it creates from there. Is that right? I've. I've got that right. I'm a business analyst originally. And business analysis. Yeah. I think comes from the place of anybody could do it. 00:04:56:20 - 00:05:15:01 Unknown But you hire a business analyst because they've got the skills to do it in a way which is lean, and not wasteful. And I think that that's all, prompt engineering is for me. I think anybody could go through 30 cycles of asking some, you know, an AI to produce something. And it turns out it's not quite right. 00:05:15:15 - 00:05:34:05 Unknown They could make sure someone has got that precision of language so that when they ask it a question, you get in a very specific answer at the back of it. And, you know, I like people who help it help itself. So I think, yes, you know, you certainly could get, the prompt engineering piece to be done, by AI. 00:05:34:05 - 00:05:50:05 Unknown And at some point in the future, there will be a level of understanding of the AI. So it will help somewhat with that. But you're never going to get to the point where precision of language doesn't matter. So I think, you know, maybe prompt engineering will change as a methodology about that precision is always going to be necessary. 00:05:50:07 - 00:06:09:23 Unknown Yeah, yeah. I mean, certainly with with the work that I do, if I write a prompt, and it could be a, you know, a large prompt if I, you know, type one up, I will then ask the, the alum that I'm talking with, to, reshape that prompt to make it tighter and more accessible to that, that engine. 00:06:10:10 - 00:06:27:07 Unknown And yeah, sometimes you just look at it and you go, that's a third the size of what I typed up. And it's, you know, and it works brilliantly. Yeah. And there's a whole industry, isn't there, around prompt tuning where, you know, you you might be a great create a great answer from a prompt. But is it token efficient? 00:06:27:09 - 00:06:47:00 Unknown You know, and I think once we get to that point. But, you know, really what we're doing is we're trying to take work away, from, the delivery life cycle to reproduce that productivity. And we, you know, we're seeing maybe 30%, increasing productivity off the back of this kind of methodology and thinking, so, you know, when you're doing that, you can you can pull that into creativity, really. 00:06:47:18 - 00:07:13:08 Unknown But, you know, in terms of, prompt engineering, definitely. You can utilize AI to help you with that. And, that's what we think across the whole product delivery lifecycle. It's just how how to get the most out of it. What benefit can I get right now for that. But then leads me to think about context. And I'd be interested to know why context is so critical in, in, AI in particular in automated agile. 00:07:13:08 - 00:07:45:18 Unknown Why is it why does it become smarter? Yeah. Well, it's about making sure you ask it that very specific question again. So I think in terms of, Artemis fragile, you know, one of the key fundamentals of it is you build a series of documentation which accurately and fully describes the products. Now, that would be contrary to, you know, you should use agile methodologies which say that you can't really think, understand what you want at the beginning of a projects because, who does, you know, you want to iterate, once you gather customer feedback. 00:07:45:18 - 00:08:18:04 Unknown Well, what automated agile tries to do, is it creates that 100%, understanding, of where your product is right now based on the information you've got right now. So you can build that product to 100% level and get that immediate feedback. Rather than spending weeks on your document, you know, you want to make sure that it can be done inside the call that you have the customer straight away, you know, and that's where, automated agile kind of flips some of these traditional methodologies on its head where, you know, documentation might not be as important as the people in the understanding in the room. 00:08:18:06 - 00:08:44:20 Unknown Well, when the reason for that is because of all the, time that you have to spend producing that documentation, it makes it, a wasteful action. Whereas when you're utilizing, things like AI processes, it'll produce that documentation immediately. I mean, you can check immediately. And then when you're asking the AI a question in the future, it's got all of this information that it utilizes alongside what you're saying to it, to then give you that better answer. 00:08:44:20 - 00:09:06:05 Unknown So it's this is where some of the prompt engineering, methodology is. And we're talking like, you know, you talk about single shot problems and stuff like that. And each of those will give you an answer. And that answer might save you 30%, 40% of the work. So what automated agile tries to do is build structures of information so that instead of that, 30% were aiming for 60% or 70%. 00:09:06:05 - 00:09:28:17 Unknown By giving that additional context of what we're trying to do to the AI when it produces that answer. So then let's let's bring it back into the front from, a conceptual theoretical into the real world. Could you, could you walk us through a typical day for, a team that's using, automated agile? Yeah. So I would say there's no team using automated agile right now in anger. 00:09:29:02 - 00:09:50:22 Unknown It's at the experimental, phase. So we've done, three tests on it so far. So the first test we did, was with a team of ten consultants. What we did with that is we tried to produce, a prototype, and that was very simply, ask it to produce, requirements documents, technical information, based on the feedback that we gave it. 00:09:51:15 - 00:10:10:13 Unknown And what that allowed us to do is produce a set of documents, which we can then add to what we call a ragged database, which is retrieval augments each generation. Now, in this scenario, we were utilizing Claude. Claude as a, is a ChatGPT type of a model. And and what we try to do, is utilize its project's functionality. 00:10:11:02 - 00:10:29:14 Unknown And that allows us to essentially add information into a database so that when we ask it future questions, it's got the context and information to give us an answer. So what we did is we produced, a product design and those requirements and technical documentation, we added it all into the RAC database so that we're asking it future questions. 00:10:29:16 - 00:10:52:20 Unknown It knows what to do. And then we ask it to produce a certain prototype, and then try to fix that. And we did that in about 75 minutes. That was stage one. Step two was like kind of build upon that because what it did is produce a lot of code, which, you know, isn't necessarily very readable. So the next stage was about, well, if we're asking it to produce these documents, I'm never asking it to produce code to what standards should it be doing now? 00:10:52:22 - 00:11:10:24 Unknown And one of the key things I see people talk about is we want it produces code that nobody can read. For example, is something I've heard frequently. Well, I'll only do that if you don't sell it not to. So it's about producing, a coding standard that it's happy to work to, and in an automated agile, what we want to do is make it highly modular. 00:11:11:13 - 00:11:28:06 Unknown And, each individual code file a single responsibility. And we do that because what we want to do is ask the AI the simplest possible question we can do, and then give it the best possible context we can do to answer that question. Well, so the second version of that, we did it with the same set of ten consultants. 00:11:28:19 - 00:11:49:21 Unknown And that produced, it took us a little bit longer, not 15 minutes. It was an hour and a half to produce a working prototype, but instead of it being a single Python file that did everything, it was a series of modular files. All were built to a set standard. And then what we could utilize that with then is there are code tools such as, you know, GitHub copilot common one book cursor is one that we're utilizing. 00:11:50:22 - 00:12:10:08 Unknown And what that cursor allows you to do is to take those files, put them inside, of cursor, and then put these files in a chat with cursor and say just build this and it'll just build it straight off the bat for you. Now, it was really key. And, in our second test that we saw is a bug came up. 00:12:10:22 - 00:12:28:00 Unknown And when you get that book, you try and understand what an automated Oklahoma does that book come from? Is it a process problem? Is it a requirements problem? And we found that it was a problem in the process because it was an error that wasn't written in our code documentation. So what we then do is update the code documentation. 00:12:28:00 - 00:12:51:01 Unknown And next time we run that process, that code will exist. So it becomes self-improving, gives you its own feedback and allows you to respond to that feedback. And that's what you lift it from 40 to 50% of time saved and productivity increased. Open up and up by continuously improving based on that feedback. That's I mean, the numbers that you've, you've given me so far, but that's impressive. 00:12:51:03 - 00:13:09:24 Unknown I mean, you know, different looks. Three, four months ago there was a big Google or about, ChatGPT. One and, you know, how it could reason and how it could learn from itself. And everyone was, you know, raving about that. But this quarter, in a way, takes it to the next level. Is that right? 00:13:10:01 - 00:13:44:20 Unknown Yeah, it's trying to it's trying to build a process which is self-improving. And you understand the weaknesses in that process. Based on the feedback that you're getting from your customer and from bugs, effectively bugs the feedback. And because that process is machine built and essentially built on top of statistical models, it allows you to do things like probability prompt in which is you ask a question instead of asking the one question, and get an answer, you'll ask exactly the same question 20 times, and then you coalesce those answers down. 00:13:44:22 - 00:14:06:04 Unknown And that gives you that kind of steady way of working, which you can then iterate, and improve upon. So if you find that your, code is being produced in a way which is unreadable, then give it a feedback, improve your documentation so that it doesn't get produced in that way. Test out successful that is and keep iterating that until it's producing something that you comfortable with. 00:14:06:06 - 00:14:20:16 Unknown You know, it's about taking responsibility for making sure that the AI produces the right data by giving it the tools to do so. And if you think about it, that's no different than humans. You know, we wouldn't get a group of humans and put them together into a process and just expect everything to work without some training and development. 00:14:20:20 - 00:14:28:12 Unknown How often I've been in enough companies to do this, but you're not supposed to. 00:14:28:14 - 00:14:54:23 Unknown The elephant in the room at the moment with AI is, if I'm being asked to do all the work, if AI is picking up, the slack and doing a whole lot of tasks, what happens to the people who, doing it before I have a right sized as, companies have always said for decades, or is this some other way of tapping into the brains and experience of those people? 00:14:55:00 - 00:15:13:02 Unknown Yeah, I think this is an important question, and I think it's one I get asked a lot by people. Look at CERN, you know, is I going to come to my job? And I think it will be companies where they will utilize some of these, processes in place and they will lose 30% of people, and I think that will be, the wrong thing to do. 00:15:13:04 - 00:15:38:06 Unknown Because really, if you look at what's happened with tech, you know, when Stack Overflow came out, when the internet came out, you know, these kind of jobs explode because what this is doing is, is increasing productivity. And when you increase productivity, you reducing the cost of implementing change effectively. And that change often has value. And every organization I have worked in has always had a backlog of value that she's three times as long as the people that have got to deliver it. 00:15:38:08 - 00:15:53:22 Unknown So I think you will find that companies will cut people and their competitors that don't, and use that extra productivity to innovate, and produce better experiences for the customer. I mean, how many, how many websites have you been on where it's been an experience, if that all this is really good compared with ones that you've hated, you know. 00:15:53:22 - 00:16:12:14 Unknown Well, you've now got more opportunity to be able to challenge, those, you know, original ways of working and, and fix those problems. So I think this is going to cause an explosion, in, technology jobs, they might not be exactly the same jobs because what automated agile does, he supports everybody in each one of their roles. 00:16:12:14 - 00:16:33:00 Unknown All of their roles are still important. They still, fulfill a specific need, and they'll just be able to produce them. I'll do them, more efficiently. So I think you might see some changes in jobs, but ultimately you're going to get, you know, much, bigger tech industry, I think, at the back of this. Totally agree with it. 00:16:33:00 - 00:16:51:09 Unknown I mean, one of the things that we do at Amigos is that we're very hot on on people focused AI so that, you know, if we go into a company, talk to the CEO, and you know, the, the elephant in the room, you know, are people going to go? And we always say to them, no, don't get rid of your people. 00:16:51:09 - 00:17:13:07 Unknown Keep them. Let them be more creative. Give them, you know, free rein to come up with a whole lot of stuff and listen to the youngest in the group, you know, set up teams, listen to the youngest rather than that the highest paid person in the room. And they and they will create an environment that will make your business sing because it's taking you in directions you wouldn't normally think of. 00:17:13:07 - 00:17:35:23 Unknown So, yeah, like you, I think, yeah. Keeping you staff and letting them be creative, is far more, intelligent thing to do. I yeah, I think so, because like anybody who's a tech professional who's worked in an organization could sit there and write to you about, like, themselves, things that they can see and improve inside the business, you know, help better ways of helping people work. 00:17:36:00 - 00:18:11:10 Unknown And they might get to a point where, you know, the business is so efficient that, they don't need as many people, anymore. But we're years away from that, I think, in the vast majority of businesses. So, yeah, I don't nothing to worry about. I would say in the short to medium term go back to the the late 90s and the early 2000s, before social media came around in and in 2004, I was building websites and using, you know, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and, you know, the websites like I will be talking websites a couple of minutes against the websites were pretty crude and pretty horrible.... /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34755540

BCR 135 - Interview with Bruce Welsh of 6PR 01/08/2025

BCR 135 - Interview with Bruce Welsh of 6PR 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:33:10 Lee I am interviewed by six powers Bruce Welsh on the birth of Ireland. What I can do for both businesses and the individual, where I is going next. And what are some of the risks and benefits of IA. 00:00:33:12 - 00:00:52:13 Bruce - 6PR So back in 1983, the internet was born, I believe. And in those early days, we are all amazed at what we could do and find on the internet. It certainly meant that it was the death of the door to door encyclopedia salesman, that's for sure. However, I don't think then we thought how it would become part of our daily life, but it certainly has. 00:00:52:13 - 00:01:14:10 Unknown And, since then there's been the development of social media, a fun thing that's never going to be part of life, is it? And then again, we've we got into apps and now, you know, these days you can't get around without your phone, without the internet, without an app, without social media. It's become part of our lifestyle. And now here we go with another one called AI. 00:01:14:11 - 00:01:34:05 Unknown And we all know that it's artificial intelligence. How is it going to affect our lives? And interestingly, how is it going to affect business and the way we do things? As we mentioned earlier on, already, a news news team in a radio station in Poland is completely AI, helping us hopefully to catch up with all this technology. 00:01:34:05 - 00:01:57:19 Unknown We welcome to the catch up today. Lee Hopkins. Hello, Lee. How are you? Shut up on your face. Well, I guess at least, you know, you people in, in the technology will have a bit of a sense of humor, right? Let's start at the beginning, shall we? What is AI? Okay. Artificial intelligence has been around for a long time, but never hit the mainstream. 00:01:57:21 - 00:02:23:08 Unknown Now it's hit the mainstream, and it basically enables you to kind of do all the drudgery that, you would have had teams and teams of people doing. Now you can free up those teams to be far more creative. And all of the dull, boring stuff is taken care of by by computers. Okay. So what we're finding at the moment is a lot of people are using it for writing things. 00:02:23:08 - 00:02:44:13 Unknown They'll, you know, put stuff in and it's being used at this stage, with due respect to people to do it for a bit of fun where they, they can create a whole story. They created a song, even I've had one created by my, for myself by, hurricane. One of the people of right is here. He's he's written a whole song and had it produced, all done by computers. 00:02:44:14 - 00:03:06:04 Unknown Like the the person that singing is not a real person. The music musicians playing the the tune are not real. So, you know, the applications that we're seeing at the moment is, is more like the early applications of the internet in, in much more fun terms than actual productive terms. Well, yes and no. Yes. In terms of you can do some really fun stuff with it. 00:03:06:20 - 00:03:31:23 Unknown You know, you can write books, poems, sonnets, all sorts of stuff. You can create images of people that don't exist and put them into situations that don't exist. You know, it's good, fun stuff. But you're right in that there's a business application as well, and that business application is such that you can save your company lots and lots of dollars if you use the right tool in the right way. 00:03:32:04 - 00:04:04:12 Unknown But you and I probably go back to the 70s, Bruce and in the 70s there was a code or a word I should say that, computer programmers lived and died by, and that word was Geico garbage in, garbage out. And here in the in today's AI world, if you write a really bad prompt, which is the prompt is the instructions to the computer to do something, if you got a really bad prompt, you won't get any good results. 00:04:04:16 - 00:04:36:03 Unknown So if you went to, for example, ChatGPT and you could chat GPT cry me a novel. Well, I mean, GPT would go away and write you a novel, but you'd never even be able to give it to a friend to write because it would be just garbage. But if you tell ChatGPT or Claude or any of these writing tools to write me something, and you specify in a big, long prompt what exactly you want the who the characters are on, on all sorts of background material, it will go away and create use something far better. 00:04:36:09 - 00:04:55:02 Unknown So obviously more detail in more detail. So if we're talking about an application I've just thought of while sitting here, if I wanted a business plan written for a particular business, I could certainly put in all of the details that I had, whether that be in my head or what I had to research. And it will print out a fairly detailed, accurate business plan. 00:04:55:04 - 00:05:21:06 Unknown Is that what you're saying? Oh, absolutely. Go to ChatGPT, put in your parameters. And, you know, in the prompt, I'm just be amazed. That was 30s later you will have a business plan. Or if you want a marketing plan or a social media plan or whatever, it'll spit it out in about 30s and you could have a whole year's worth of content that, you know, but with Claude and ChatGPT and all these other tools, will will spit out and they bring it. 00:05:21:06 - 00:05:39:19 Unknown So how far do you see that's been around for many years? How long has it been around and how far down in the path of development of AI are we in? You know, I just said that there's a radio station in Poland using it for their news reports, but, you know, how far down are we? Is there still quite a way for development to go? 00:05:39:20 - 00:06:04:05 Unknown Oh goodness me, yes. In terms of of where it's come from, I guess, I mean, it's been in academia for since the 60s, but, in terms of how we can use it in the business world or in the social world, probably around about the time that social media, came into being for business, 2004. 00:06:04:14 - 00:06:33:07 Unknown You probably had the stirrings of AI as organizations tried to grapple with it and make use of it. Now, in those days, of course, it was only the big corporates with lots and lots of research dollars behind them who could spend the time coding and playing and figuring out what exactly what they wanted. Now it's reached the stage where the common man and woman can hop behind their, monitor, type of way and create something that just did not exist before. 00:06:33:09 - 00:07:00:07 Unknown But where it's going is even more fascinating because if you look at the two big players in this game, which was code, for writing, text, and chat or text that human beings enjoyed reading, ChatGPT, which was great at business stuff, the leap forward, every iteration upload, and every iteration of ChatGPT just pushed ten times. 00:07:01:11 - 00:07:24:21 Unknown Forward. Now we're at the stage where artificial intelligence can actually control your monitor and your mouse. So we can do things that it sees on your screen and chop and change and adjust and and you don't have to do anything. So what we're talking about that let's talk about AI and its use in, in the world so to speak. 00:07:25:13 - 00:07:50:21 Unknown There was a GP that won an award over here that was talking earlier on, and then of course the discussion went to went to Doctor Google and, you know, are they dangers they with these bots in relation to, misinformation. Oh yeah. Some some bots. Yes. I agree they are because they go to Google for information or they do their own search as they do, a search of the laypersons web. 00:07:51:02 - 00:08:29:17 Unknown But there are bots like consensus, consensus which search the databases, the academic databases, they've got access and so they can find up to the minute research that's being done by academicians. Nice word. And with that, good, good American word accommodations, by academics. And they can find the latest research and give you back answers. I mean, for example, now but radiographers, looking at so I'm having to retrain because AI is far better and far quicker than those with manual skills. 00:08:29:19 - 00:08:58:13 Unknown They've done tests with, humans. Looking at whether a GP, a real life GP or a bot gives better customer service and the bedside manner of bots completely wipe off the for the humans. But I guess it's one thing to always be safe is obviously get a second opinion if it might. If you're going to go down the bot process either on the introduce human intervention or alternatively get another bot. 00:08:58:13 - 00:09:22:10 Unknown So I guess, well, I mean, yeah, I mean there's no there's no harm in getting a second opinion from another bot because, I mean, even the bots themselves say, there's a disclaimer at the bottom of their web pages saying that, you know, this might not be 100% accurate, get a professional opinion. But, I mean, you can go to, perplexity, for example, and ask a query of perplexity and it will spit out something. 00:09:22:14 - 00:09:45:18 Unknown And then you go back and you ask perplexity, okay, you just written this for me. Go back and verify all the things you said. Give me the links, to the research, which, you know, backs that up, and correct any mistakes you've made, which you've made up, and it does. So, you know, second time round, it gives you a far tighter, more accurate response. 00:09:45:20 - 00:10:11:11 Unknown So on that note, you said that, obviously as it develops the costs comes down. It's getting more affordable for, using businesses like yourself to be able to help with, business out there that want to progress into the AI use world, I guess. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I mean, all these tools, cost may be maximum $300 us a year. 00:10:12:09 - 00:10:31:18 Unknown But I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a year long subscription. I would do it month by month, because this at the industry is growing so fast and new tools are being introduced all the time that micro specialize that if you lock yourself in for a 12 month contract, you could be just wasting money because something new and better has come out. 00:10:32:11 - 00:10:56:08 Unknown It's a it's an interesting field Monday. Yeah, absolutely. But it's an interesting field that, obviously we're going to grow into, as we have done with the internet and socials and, and and we'll get a better understanding as time goes on. But but I do thank you for your time today. Oh, gross. It's been a pleasure. 00:10:56:10 - 00:11:08:19 Unknown And we'll get a better understanding as time goes on. But but I do thank you for your time today. Oh, Bruce, it's been a pleasure. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34753665

BCR 134 - Gary Cooper, AI specialist copywriter, France 01/07/2025

BCR 134 - Gary Cooper, AI specialist copywriter, France Speaker 1 - Lee Gary Cooper's an AI lead regeneration and marketing specialist, and we like to think of him as a creative catalyst, a tactical thinker and an AI Weaver. Gary, tell us a little bit about your background? Speaker 2 - Gary Cooper Yeah, sure. I got about 30 years in the copywriting industry, and I started using AI when phrase came out and Quill bot about four or five years ago, and I got quite into the the technology behind it. So when they released chat, GTP and Claude Gemini, all of those, I was already prepared for what it did and the ways in which it could help me. So I've just adapted and followed on through the system. Really, I think that the building blocks of the initial AI products that came out were very useful because they gave you a foundation. I find now that people get very confused, because there is so much out there, whereas back in the day, there wasn't, and you could cope Speaker 1 2:14 with it. Yeah, I totally agree. I think, yeah, it's like that, that comment that you made on the wranglers group today about how sad it was that that woman, who he's, you know, got tons of experience and expertise, is going to stop publishing stuff, because what she thought was she was, you know, talking to lots of experts, but that's not what people really want now they there's so many people coming on board. They want beginners level information, not the expert stuff. The experts are already, you know, running with it. That's right. Speaker 2 2:52 Then I think that that's quite a rarefied atmosphere to teach to. I think that the thing about the teaching and the education is that the beginners are, if you like, where the money is for for people, and the people who are into AI, for the AI, aren't particularly interested in going, if you like, back to that level. So it's, it's kind of separating into two camps. I think it's quite sad in in many respects, because, for instance, with with her newsletter, it was really good because she gave you a different point of view and understood all of the the technical aspects of it, which gave you a completely different insight. You can't do that with beginners. Speaker 1 3:41 So hence agencies like ours that are able to sort of bring guidance and influence and avoid all the technical stuff that most leaders don't really want Unknown Speaker 3:54 to get their hands involved with. Speaker 2 3:57 Yeah, I agree. I think that the problem is that people who are new to aI have read all of the PR on it and think that it's capable of doing everything straight off. They don't realize that there are different models for different purposes, different prompts for different purposes. The stuff that you use for graphics is completely different from the stuff used for text. It's completely different from the stuff used for programming. And that causes, I think, the most confusion the idea of AI for me is not to replicate what I can do anyway I can write, and I have written for years, so it won't be replacing that. What I look for AI to do is to do the bits that I hope doing that all of the admin, all of the strategy planning, all of the spreadsheets and all of the stuff which takes me away from my writing. So it's creating time for me to do other stuff, Speaker 1 4:58 no matter how good. Claude is there's just that little bit of human element, the humanity of us, the soul of us, that goes into our own copy, and it can't be replicated in you know, no matter how good Claude is, for example, Speaker 2 5:13 I agree. No, absolutely. Gary, Speaker 1 5:17 you'd firm. You obviously don't have a French accent, you have an English accent. So how has your experience living in France now influenced your perspective on AI adoption in different cultural contexts? Speaker 2 5:30 France is an oddball. I know everybody thinks that, but it's particularly an oddball when it comes to this, because they're very cautious. They are not very quick to adopt this kind of stuff, and when they do, they go all in. So it's reached the point where I think that the interest has now been generated, and people are beginning to look at it over here. But the EU are very strict with their rules. They brought in the AI Act back in February, and like all the EU rules, it takes a time for people to assimilate it and then actually bring it into the workplace. So that's being looked at. I mean, I know that in the Nordic countries, they've already adopted AI for most things, for Finland, Norway, Sweden, they're all very up there with it. But France is lagging behind in it, and the French are naturally suspicious kind of people, and because most of the tech aspects of it are American based, they are a little bit reluctant to use it. I don't know if you remember years ago, they tried to get a French version of Google because they didn't trust Google and they couldn't make that work. So it's a strange country in lots of respects, from that point of view. And then, of course, there's the language. Language, the challenges of AI in multilingual environments is quite difficult. So international business, the lingua franca is usually English, which the French don't like. So there are lots of things which are quite difficult and challenging. I go back in my Speaker 1 7:29 in my brain box a little bit, and I try and remember there was something I heard somewhere, and it could be complete nonsense. No idea, but it was that somewhere, France has got a lot or French has got a lot less words in it than the English or British vocabulary. Yeah. And so that makes it difficult, if you, if you're like an engine of some sort, to understand what a particular word means in a phrase, if that you know word could have six or seven meanings. Speaker 2 8:01 That's right. For instance, if you go to the doctors, there's only one word for pain, whereas in Australia and English, English, you've got sharp pain, got dull pain, got throbbing. Pain doesn't exist in France, it just hurts in France, wow. Speaker 1 8:20 Yeah, stunning, yeah, that must make it so difficult for can you share a specific example of how you've successfully integrated AI into the copywriting processes that you've got, and what impact it's had on the results for you and and also, if you've done that for your clients? Yeah? Sure. Speaker 2 8:42 Off the top of my head, there's a company I work for in California who do podcasts and they research questions, which the AI can do for me in perplexity, I use to do that. So they'll give me a subject that they want to explore on the podcast. I will go into and ask it to provide me with 20 questions on that subject. I can then go into perplexity to research the background of those subjects, and it will give me links and references, I can then go into those links and references, and I set up a project in Claude specifically for these podcasts, where I can analyze articles from newspapers, or I can analyze transcripts from YouTube videos or other videos and get short summaries of them. So I can ask it for, say, 12, 2015, talking points from any particular article and a brief two paragraph summary and the link, and I can send that to the client so they've got everything in front of them. And. That used to take me perhaps a day, and I can do it in an hour and a half now, which is staggering the difference, because just physically looking up all of those references would take you a long time, yeah, and then reading through them and doing your own manual summary would take a long time. So that has saved me. I reckon that's all of that type of thing that saved me, perhaps three days a week in terms of work. Speaker 1 10:29 I do a lot of writing of books and things as well, and they because I trained in psychology, so I quite often write self help psychology books and whereas you know the research that you have to go through, going through the databases and everything you know manually and search term now, I just go to consensus the the app and type in, in English, what I want, and it goes away and finds All these references of journal articles that are absolutely on point, and it's just, and it's just like you spit it out in two minutes, whereas I'd be spending a week, you know, in the databases at university. So it's a godsend. Speaker 2 11:15 It is indeed, and for research on that level, it's a godsend as well. Oh, Speaker 1 11:21 yeah, because consensus spits out a summary of each paper as well. So and if it spits out papers 10 at a time, it will, at the top of the page, give you a condensed version or condensed summary of all 10 papers, of what those papers are trying to say and what they mean. And it's just like I could not do that in a week. It's Unknown Speaker 11:41 phenomenal. No, no. Exactly. Speaker 1 11:45 Another question, what do you see as the biggest misconception CEOs have about AI in business, and how would you address it? I Speaker 2 11:55 think there's a big worry from the point of view of CEOs as to whether this is going to replace the human elements and their workers completely, whereas I think that I see my job, if you like, as having to explain that the reality is that it's a tool to augment the jobs that we all do and enhance the human capabilities, not replace them, as we already said in terms of research and that kind of thing. It's a time saver. And, yeah, okay, if, if you are a researcher, you've got far more time to actually go in depth to a subject, because if you're on a deadline, the biggest problem is things get missed or ignored or forgotten. So this is a way of actually catching up with yourself and enabling you to get more work done in less time. The other thing, of course, is the complexity and the cost of implementing the AI solutions, because when you get onto very, very deep problems, company wide problems, strategies, all the rest of it, it can become very, very expensive, programming, that kind of thing, development, All of those things, deep computing power, yeah, it's not a plug and play solution. You also need training. You can't do any of this without learning how to do the work properly, knowing how to prompt properly, knowing how to prompt for the results that you want. And I can see that that would be a problem for CEOs, because the people will be off doing courses, and that's a time suck. What they need to look at is the long term for this, and realize that a week spent on a course may well save them a year during the course of that, or whatever. It's something that, if you like, it's an upfront investment in both cost and time for a company to gain in the long run. I remember Speaker 1 14:14 reading a Forbes article from about two or three weeks ago, and it was American focused, of course, because it's an American publication. But the The upshot was that if you want to earn phenomenally big money as a contractor, be a prompt engineer. And they were just like just piling in the money you buy your own island after a year, because it's the power of the prop. I mean, we I go back to the because I'm an old, you know person. I go back to the 70s. And I remember in the 70s, computer coders lived and died by a particular word, and that was called GIGO, G, I, G, O, garbage. In garbage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And. If you wrote, you know, appalling code garbage in, you get an appalling results. And as I say, I write books on in my spare time. And I am amazed by how many people come up to me, you know, when I've got a book, and they say, Oh, it must be really easy to write a book on artificial intelligence, because you just go to the, you know, chat GPT and say, write me a book. And you and I know that that's not how that happens. And so to bring it back to the example of, you know, a guy going on, a guy or girl going on, a one week workshop of learning how to prompt, if they come away knowing how to prompt for the result they you know, they want to get. Um, that's, you're quite right. That could save the company millions of dollars, yes, and especially if they put in little twists, like you taught me once, put in little twists about like, what is it about this topic that would surprise people, or what is it about this topic that most people don't know, putting little twists like that into the prompt suddenly takes you into a new area, and you go, Wow, I did not know that my client's probably going to want to know that. Okay, looking ahead, what emerging AI, technology or application, are you most excited about for its potential to transform business operations. Speaker 2 16:22 There are quite a few. I think customer service is one which I'm personally very excited about. The chat bots that we all know and love are a bit clunky and hot and you're going to like my bank yesterday, I'll go in and ask them something, and it will perhaps give me four or five options, none of which are the ones I want and none of which it can answer. And so I have to hang on to talk to a human and the whole thing was a complete waste of time. And what I love about the AI, natural language processing advantages that are taking place is that they can now they've reached the point when they when they get all the integrations together, where you can actually talk intelligently to if you like a person at the other end, which is actually an AI, and it will, using its artificial intelligence, actually be able to assimilate what you're asking rather and answer you. It will take into account all of its database of past things. So, for instance, you might phone up to ask about a particular paint that you ordered that came that was the wrong color, and the AI will look up its database. Oh, yeah, you wanted black. What have you got? I ended up with red. Okay. Well, look, send it back. We can get the White House to do you a credit note, and we'll get the other stuff dispatched off to you straight away, that kind of thing, very simple, but it's not the dumb type of answers that we've been used to. And the other thing that that brings on, of course, is the predictive analytics in the supply chain, being able to manage things like that. So keeping the just in time stock, very just in time that that process of the customer service could be linked directly to the warehouse so they know that they've got this paint going out, and they will have to reorder it without any human intervention whatsoever. It would just add it to the next order of the paint supplier. Very clever. And also, of course, the innovation and product development. That's another area which is just fascinating. I was reading a article about pharma company in Switzerland that are doing cancer research, and they can now simulate the effects of a drug on somebody's DNA, so that they can match the exact dosage and strength of the chemo that they're giving somebody to the cells of the cancer that's grown. And the accuracy is astonishing. So you don't get all of the side effects, but it's the most efficient way of doing it. They're also experimenting with gold nano particles because they've realized that you can heat the gold but it doesn't react with anything within the body, and the heat destroys the cancer cells without destroying anything around it. And the combination of these two treatments is supposed to be the results of phenomenon in on the AI simulation few years Speaker 1 19:53 ago, that was the Holy Grail for for pharmaceutical companies to be able to make a. A drug that is tailored exactly to you, too. So you know, your drug would be different from my drug, even though it's got the same name on the box. Speaker 2 20:09 Yeah. But again, it saves so much time and money on clinical trials, because they can go straight to the patient and try this out and, well, it's just mind blowing. The whole thing is mind blowing. Speaker 1 20:26 But, you know, to bring it back to the customer service stuff you were talking about earlier on, I can see a position where, as a customer, I go into my bank's website, I have a conversation with a person, a bot. That bot not only knows all the company's, you know, database, but it also has got me as well, my bank account, details, my transaction history and everything, so it can engage with me rather than it's just a generic please press one. Please press two. It's just like, okay, Lee, what do you want to do today? You've got this amount there, this amount there, if you do this, then that will trigger that result. And so you can make an informed choice, and you've not spoken to a single person Speaker 2 21:13 Exactly, exactly. One of the things that I'm working on at the moment is with dead leads lots of companies have 1000s of leads in their database that they'll never get around to approaching, simply because they don't have the staff do it. They it's very expensive to get call centers to ring and follow up on leads that are quite old. So, for example, if I have a company around to look at double glazing, so the panels, HVAC system, air conditioning, or whatever, I might want to get three quotes, four quotes, I might want to think about it, because it's more expensive than I thought. So the company will put that down on their their CRM or their spreadsheet or whatever they use, and it just goes into a computer file somewhere, and that's it. The AI can then come in and just say to them, fire an SMS message. Hey, look, three months ago, you've got a quote from us or an HVAC system. Are you still interested? And customer says, Oh, actually, yeah, I am. I'd like, you know, to follow that up, and the AI can make an appointment with the salesperson. Or if the guy isn't interested anymore, they'll just turn around and say, No. The AI will say, Well, okay, but this is our phone number, our email address. If there's anything we can help you with in the future, please get in touch. No human intervention. It's all done very quickly, by SMS. Within a minute, you've either eliminated that lead so it can be wiped from the database, or you can follow it up and it's a lead you wouldn't have been able to get to before. We're very strict. We don't bug people if they say, No, that's it. That's fine with this. There's no point in keep on following people up with stuff that they're not interested in. The idea is to very quickly eliminate people we don't want to follow those Yeah, yeah. Speaker 1 23:22 So it's kind of like a James Bond. You just go around eliminating people, Unknown Speaker 23:26 yeah, something like that. Speaker 1 23:29 How do you balance the efficiency then of AI assisted copywriting, um, with maintaining a new a unique brand voice for your clients and the human touch. How do you do that when you know things like GPT, the latest GPT one, when that goes you know, like with the ability of Claude, to be able to put you know English together, that'll be stunning, absolutely. Speaker 2 23:54 But as you said earlier, nothing replaces your I don't know what you'd call it, just your instinct as to how the tone of voice, the brand, all comes together, and what you'd like to put off, I tend to always use AI as a starting point. It's never my final product, not ever, because you do have to infuse the brand personality into everything, and you need to use your human editing skills to refine and personalize everything, both for you and the client. AI is just a tool, isn't it? Final Speaker 1 24:34 question, what advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitant to invest in AI due to concerns about ROI or implementation challenges. Speaker 2 24:44 I think the longer you wait, the worst it will be for you in terms of the amount of money you'll have to spend to... /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34753515

BCR 133 - Mastering virtual communication: Engaging remote teams and clients 12/19/2024

BCR 133 - Mastering virtual communication: Engaging remote teams and clients **Key Takeaways:** * Learn the CONNECTION framework for virtual engagement, combining structured check-ins with personal connection moments to increase team collaboration by up to 26% * Implement proven digital body language techniques to bridge the virtual trust gap, addressing the 26% disconnect between employee productivity and leadership confidence * Master practical engagement strategies like the "3-minute rule" and interactive polling to achieve 48% higher meeting effectiveness scores Welcome to the Better Communication Results podcast, where I help you elevate your professional communication skills and make a bigger impact. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this is episode 133. In today's episode, I'm going to explore the essential skills for mastering virtual communication, particularly focused on engaging remote teams and clients effectively. As our professional world continues to embrace digital connections, understanding how to communicate virtually isn't just helpful—it's critical for business success. Microsoft's 'Work Trend Index Special Report' from 2022 revealed some fascinating insights about hybrid work. Their research showed that 85% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive. This disconnect highlights the importance of mastering virtual communication to bridge the trust and engagement gap. The first key principle we need to understand is the concept of "digital body language." This refers to how we communicate and interpret signals in the virtual space - everything from response times to message formatting and choice of communication channels. In virtual settings, we must deliberately create the engagement cues that happen naturally in person. Consider this practical example: when you're leading a virtual meeting, simple techniques can dramatically increase participation: Firstly, it's important to use participants' names, so too it's crucial to incorporate interactive elements like polls or short discussions; You want to break up long presentations with engagement points and encourage camera use when bandwidth permits. I also suggest also setting clear agenda points and timeframes. Another crucial aspect is managing "virtual distance." This isn't about physical kilometres, but rather the psychological distance that technology can create. To combat this, successful teams implement structured check-ins that combine task updates with personal connection moments. Let me share a practical framework that I call the "CONNECTION" method for virtual engagement. Firstly, have clear expectations for communication norms, then organize meeting structures that have defined outcomes. You want to ensure you have nonverbal engagement through virtual cues, and there are nNarrative elements to maintain attention. Please have enthusiastic vocal variety, along with a concentrated focus on one task at a time. Ensure you have effective time management with built-in breaks. Make sure you have interactive elements throughout, and an opportunity for asynchronous follow-up. And finally, It is important to have ready networks of support through multiple channels. For additional reading on this topic, I recommend exploring "How Virtual Work is Changing Business Communication" from the M-I-T Sloan Management Review. Also, there's Harvard Business Review's articles on remote work and virtual teams, and finally I recommend you read Gallup's State of the Global Workplace reports which include insights on remote work communication. And that's it for today. Thanks for tuning in to the Better Communication Results podcast. I'm Lee Hopkins, reminding you that great communication is the foundation of professional success. Until next week, keep communicating with PASSION! [End of Episode] Additional References: 1. Microsoft Work Trend Index 2023: microsoft.com/worklab 2. McKinsey Global Institute Report: mckinsey.com/featured-insights 3. Cisco Hybrid Work Study 2023: cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/hybrid-work /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34208170

BCR 132 - The art of persuasive presentations: captivating your audience 12/12/2024

BCR 132 - The art of persuasive presentations: captivating your audience Welcome to the Better Communication Results podcast, where we help you elevate your professional communication skills and make a bigger impact. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this is episode 132. In today's episode, we're going to explore the art of persuasive presentations and discover how to truly captivate your audience. Whether you're pitching to investors, presenting to the board, or delivering a keynote speech, the principles we'll discuss today will help you deliver presentations that not only inform but inspire action. Let's start with a striking statistic from a 2023 Gallup workplace study: 75% of professionals report experiencing anxiety before important presentations. Yet, the most successful leaders consistently rank presentation skills among their most valuable assets. Today, I'll share three research-backed strategies that can transform your presentations from merely informative to genuinely persuasive. First, let's talk about the power of story structure. Dr. Paul Zak's research at Claremont Graduate University has shown that narratives trigger the release of oxytocin in our brains, making us more empathetic and connected to the speaker. When crafting your presentation, think of it as a three-act story: the setup, the conflict, and the resolution. For example, when Telstra's CEO Vicki Brady presented their digital transformation strategy in 2022, she began with a day in the life of a frustrated customer, highlighted the challenges of legacy systems, and then revealed how their new initiatives would revolutionize the customer experience. This narrative approach led to unprecedented stakeholder buy-in. The second key principle is what I call "the power of three." Research from the University of Sydney's Business School suggests that audiences remember information best when it's grouped into three main points. This isn't just about organization—it's about cognitive load management. When presenting complex data or proposals, break your content into three clear sections, each supporting your core message. The University of Melbourne's recent study on presentation effectiveness found that speakers who used this structure had 65% higher audience retention rates. Finally, let's discuss the most overlooked aspect of persuasive presentations: the strategic use of silence. Dr. Sarah Mitchell from the University of Queensland found that presenters who incorporated deliberate pauses—particularly after key points—saw a 40% increase in audience engagement. These moments of silence aren't just breaks; they're opportunities for your message to resonate. Here's a practical tip you can implement immediately: Before your next presentation, identify your three most important points. Then, practice delivering each with a deliberate five-second pause afterward. This simple technique allows your audience to process and internalize your message, making it significantly more persuasive. For additional reading on this topic, I recommend: - "Talk Like TED" by Carmine Gallo (2014) - "Resonate" by Nancy Duarte (2013) - Dr. Paul Zak's paper "Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling" in the Harvard Business Review (2014) And that's it for today. Thanks for tuning in to the Better Communication Results podcast. I'm Lee Hopkins, reminding you that great communication is the foundation of professional success. Until next week, keep communicating with PASSION! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34207985

BCR 131 - Truly effective communication 12/11/2024

BCR 131 - Truly effective communication Welcome to the Better Communication Results podcast, where we help you elevate your professional communication skills and make a bigger impact. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this is episode 131 In today's episode, we're going to explore how every business professional, even those without formal communication training, can deliver truly effective communication with customers and clients. Strong communication isn't just for the extroverts or the natural public speakers among us. It's an essential skill that anyone in a client-facing or customer-oriented role can and should develop. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Maybe you're an engineer, not a salesperson, and you don't consider yourself to have the gift of the gab. Or perhaps you're in accounts, not Marketing, and you're wondering how you're supposed to communicate at that level. The truth is, effective communication isn't about grand oratory or intrinsic charisma. It's about connecting authentically, understanding your audience, and conveying your message in a clear, compelling way. Too often, professionals in technical or specialised roles default to jargon-heavy, internally-focused communication. They get caught up in the minutiae and forget that their clients and customers don't really care about the technical details. What they want to know is how your offering solves their problems and improves their lives. So the key is to approach every interaction by keeping your audience at the centre. Ask yourself, "What does my audience need and want to hear?" So the first principle of effective communication is to always keep your audience at the forefront. Far too often, I see professionals default to jargon-heavy, internally-focused communication. But your clients and customers don't care about the technical minutiae, they want to know how your offering solves their problems and improves their lives. So approach every interaction by asking yourself, "What does my audience need and want to hear?" Secondly, focus on active listening. Too many people are just waiting for their turn to speak, rather than truly hearing what the other person is saying. Make a conscious effort to understand their perspective, concerns, and objectives. Asking thoughtful questions and paraphrasing back what you've heard demonstrates that you're engaged and invested in the conversation. And thirdly, embrace the power of storytelling. People are hardwired to respond to narratives, not just bare facts. So rather than launching into a data-dense presentation, consider framing your message as a story. Use vivid details, dialogue, and a clear narrative arc to make your points more memorable and impactful. Now, let's talk about some practical strategies to improve your communication, even if public speaking fills you with dread. The first is to prepare thoroughly. Research your audience, anticipate likely questions or objections, and develop clear, concise talking points. The more familiar and comfortable you are with the material, the more naturally it will flow. Secondly, practise, practise, practise. Whether it's role-playing with a colleague or recording yourself, the more you can rehearse your communication, the more poised and confident you'll be. And don't forget to pay attention to your body language and tone of voice, these nonverbal cues are just as important as the words you choose. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for feedback. Reach out to trusted peers or mentors and ask them for their honest assessment of your communication style. Where are your strengths? What areas could use improvement? Implement that feedback, and continually work on refining your skills. I can't rate Toastmasters highly enough and believe everyone should seek out their local group and join. They are brilliant at giving you positive feedback and helping you grow as a communicator. It's also worth noting that effective communication isn't just about the one-way delivery of information. It's a two-way dialogue, where you're actively listening and responding to your audience's needs and concerns. So be prepared to pivot your approach if you sense you're losing their attention or missing the mark. Remember, effective communication isn't just for the select few, it's a learnable skill that can be honed by anyone. By keeping your audience top-of-mind, actively listening, and incorporating strategic storytelling, you can elevate your interactions with customers and clients, regardless of your role or background. So the next time you have an important meeting, presentation, or client conversation, approach it with intention and a genuine desire to connect. Your communication prowess just might become your secret competitive edge. That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in to the Better Communication Results podcast. I'm Lee Hopkins, reminding you that great communication is the foundation of professional success. Until next week, keep communicating with PASSION! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34197165

BCR 130 - The art of strategic storytelling in business 12/04/2024

BCR 130 - The art of strategic storytelling in business Title: The art of strategic storytelling in business Host: Lee Hopkins Key Takeaways: Storytelling is a powerful tool for business communication, but it requires intentionality and skill Start with a clear purpose - what are you trying to achieve with your story? Make an emotional connection by tapping into your audience's pain points, aspirations, and experiences Structure your story strategically, with a clear narrative arc to guide your audience Use "showing" techniques like sensory details and dialogue to make your story more vivid and immersive Welcome to Better Communication Results, the podcast that helps you elevate your professional communication and make a bigger impact. I'm your host, Lee Hopkins, and this is episode 130. Today, we're exploring the art of strategic storytelling in business contexts. Storytelling is a powerful tool that can transform how you engage your audience, whether that's clients, investors, or your own team. But it takes skill and intentionality to wield it effectively. So, what makes for strategic, impactful business storytelling? Let me dive in and share some insights. First and foremost, strategic business storytelling starts with a clear purpose. You need to be intentional about the story you want to tell and how it will serve your objectives. Are you looking to inspire action? Build trust and credibility? Simplify a complex concept? The specific goal should shape every element of your story. Next, focus on crafting a narrative that resonates emotionally. The most memorable stories don't just inform—they evoke feelings. Think about the pain points, aspirations, and values of your audience. How can you craft a story that taps into their experiences and motivations on a deeper level? For example, let's say you're pitching a new product to a team of busy executives. Instead of just listing features and benefits, you might share the story of a customer who was struggling with a problem—one your product elegantly solves. Bring that customer's challenges to life through vivid details and authentic dialogue. Then, show how your solution transformed their situation. This narrative approach can be far more impactful than a dry, analytical presentation. Of course, strategic storytelling in business also requires careful structure. Your story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end—with a compelling hook to grab attention upfront and a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impact. This narrative arc helps guide your audience through your message in an intuitive, memorable way. And don't forget the power of showing, not just telling. Weave in sensory details, dialogue, and visual elements that bring your story to life, rather than simply reciting facts. This makes your message more vivid and immersive for the listener. Ultimately, the art of strategic business storytelling is about balancing calculated intention with creative expression. It's about tapping into the universal human love of stories to forge deeper connections and move your audience to action. When done right, it can be a potent competitive advantage. So, the next time you need to communicate something important in a business setting, consider how you can transform it into a strategic, impactful story. Your audience will thank you for it. And that's all the time we have for today. Thanks for tuning in to Better Communication Results. I'm Lee Hopkins, reminding you that thoughtful, purposeful storytelling can elevate your professional impact. Until next time, take some communication risks, because you never know what will take off, and communicate with passion! /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34196145

BCR 129 - The strategic silence: Using purposeful pauses to enhance executive communication 11/28/2024

BCR 129 - The strategic silence: Using purposeful pauses to enhance executive communication SHOW NOTES BCR 129: The Strategic Silence EPISODE OVERVIEW Strategic silence is a powerful tool in executive communication. Learn how purposeful pauses can enhance your leadership presence and improve your communication effectiveness in high-stakes business situations. KEY TOPICS COVERED - Why strategic silence matters in executive communication - The three pillars of strategic silence - Practical applications in board presentations - Implementation strategies for virtual meetings - Real-world example from a Melbourne boardroom - Steps to begin implementing strategic silence CONNECT WITH LEE Website: LinkedIn: Bluesky: Email: G'day and welcome to the better communication results podcast. Today's edition, 129. Lee Hopkins here and today we're diving into something that might seem counterintuitive for business leaders—the strategic use of silence in executive communication. Throughout my years working with executives in both Australia and England, I've observed that the most impactful leaders master what I call "purposeful pauses." This isn't about awkward silences or hesitation—it's about strategic moments of reflection that enhance your message's impact. Let's explore why this works. When we communicate in high-pressure business situations, our natural tendency is to fill every moment with words. Watch any parliamentary question time and you'll see this in action—rapid-fire responses that often generate heat but little light. The power of strategic silence operates on multiple levels in business communication. First, it demonstrates confidence. When you're secure in your position and expertise, you don't need to rush to fill every moment with sound. Think about the most respected board chairs you've encountered—they typically employ measured, thoughtful responses rather than rapid reactions. Second, strategic silence creates space for clarity. In my work with executives, I've seen how taking even a brief moment before responding allows for more structured, impactful communication. It's like the difference between a hastily written email and one you've taken a moment to review—the quality improvement is immediately apparent. Third, purposeful pauses command attention. In our current business culture, where instant responses are often expected, deliberate moments of reflection stand out. They signal to your audience—whether it's your board, your team, or the media—that what you're about to say deserves consideration. Let's consider how this applies in everyday business situations. During high-stakes negotiations, strategic silence can be particularly powerful. When someone makes a proposal, taking a moment before responding gives you time to process and signals that you're giving their ideas serious consideration. In board presentations, these strategic pauses serve multiple purposes. They give your audience time to absorb complex information. They allow you to gauge reactions and adjust your approach. Most importantly, they demonstrate a level of executive presence that enhances your message's credibility. Here's an interesting observation from my consulting work—the most effective pauses often come with nonverbal cues that enhance their impact. For example, when you're delivering quarterly results to stakeholders, maintaining steady eye contact during a pause can reinforce confidence in challenging numbers. I was recently in a boardroom when a CEO masterfully handled a series of difficult questions about market volatility. Instead of jumping to defend the company's position, she employed brief, purposeful pauses before each response. The effect was remarkable—it shifted the entire tone of the meeting from confrontational to collaborative. Let's make this practical. How can you implement strategic silence in your communication? Start small. In your next important meeting, try taking a deliberate pause before responding to questions. Not a lengthy, uncomfortable silence—just a moment to gather your thoughts. Think of it like wine tasting. Just as a sommelier takes time to appreciate the bouquet before commenting, give yourself permission to fully process information before responding. You'll likely find your responses become more measured and impactful. For virtual meetings—which we're all quite familiar with now—strategic silence becomes even more crucial. The natural rhythm of in-person communication is disrupted online, making purposeful pauses essential for clear communication. Here's a straightforward approach to begin with: Before your next important virtual meeting, practice taking a single breath before responding to questions. It's brief enough to feel natural but long enough to create that moment of reflection. As you become more comfortable with strategic silence, you can expand its use. During presentations, try pausing briefly after key points. In negotiations, use silence thoughtfully to create space for others to reflect on proposals. Remember—this isn't about creating artificial delays. It's about giving yourself and others the gift of reflection time, leading to more thoughtful, impactful business communication. I've seen this approach transform executive communication styles across various industries, from mining in Western Australia to fintech in Sydney to facilities management in London. The principles remain consistent—strategic silence enhances leadership presence and communication effectiveness. And that's it for another podcast. Join me next week when we'll explore the art of strategic storytelling in business contexts. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/34194075

BCR 123 - Deep Dive book review: Living with Bipolar II 11/01/2024

BCR 123 - Deep Dive book review: Living with Bipolar II This podcast episode reviews the main themes and key takeaways from excerpts of "Living with Bipolar II" by Lee Hopkins. Overall Theme: The book serves as a comprehensive guide for individuals living with Bipolar II, aiming to provide understanding, management strategies, and encouragement for a fulfilling life despite the condition. Key Chapters and Themes: Chapter 1: What is Bipolar II? Differentiates Bipolar II from Bipolar I, emphasizing the presence of hypomanic (milder elevated mood) episodes in Bipolar II, contrasting with the full-blown manic episodes in Bipolar I. Highlights the severity of depressive episodes in Bipolar II, often exceeding the time spent in hypomania. Introduces the concept of bipolar disorders existing on a spectrum, with Bipolar II falling between Bipolar I and Cyclothymia. Emphasizes the uniqueness of each individual's experience with Bipolar II. “Bipolar II, on the other hand, is characterized by hypomanic episodes. Think of hypomania as mania’s milder cousin—it’s an elevated mood, but not to the extreme degree seen in Bipolar I.” Chapter 2: A brief history of bipolar disorder diagnosis Traces the history of Bipolar Disorder diagnosis from ancient Greek descriptions of “mania” and “melancholia” to the 19th century when Jean-Pierre Falret described "circular insanity." Highlights Emil Kraepelin's pivotal work in the late 19th century formally describing “manic-depressive illness," distinguishing it from schizophrenia. Acknowledges Karl Leonhard's contribution in proposing the spectrum of affective disorders. Celebrates the identification of Bipolar II as a distinct diagnosis, leading to improved understanding and treatment for those previously misdiagnosed. Charts the evolution of treatment from ineffective historical practices to the breakthrough discovery of Lithium’s mood-stabilizing properties in 1949. "The identification of Bipolar II was a game-changer. It acknowledged that not all bipolar disorder involves full-blown mania. It was like realizing that not all dogs are large and boisterous—some are small and yappy, but no less dog-like for it." Chapter 3: Symptoms and cycles Delves into the distinct experiences of hypomania and depression, outlining common symptoms for each phase. Hypomania is characterized by increased energy, decreased sleep, heightened productivity, racing thoughts, increased sociability, and impulsivity. Depressive episodes manifest through persistent low mood, loss of interest, sleep and appetite changes, difficulty concentrating, feelings of worthlessness, and fatigue. Introduces the concept of "mixed episodes" where symptoms of both hypomania and depression occur concurrently, increasing the risk of impulsive behaviours. Discusses "rapid cycling" where individuals experience four or more mood episodes within a year. Underscores the importance of tracking moods to identify patterns and triggers. "Hypomania is like that friend who suggests “just one quick drink” on a Tuesday night, and before you know it, it’s 2 am and you’re planning a spontaneous trip to Vegas." Chapter 4: Managing hypomania Acknowledges the allure of hypomania, with its surge in productivity, creativity, and energy, which often masks its potential downsides. Cautions against the risks of unchecked hypomania, including poor decision-making, relationship strain, sleep deprivation, irritability, and potential for harmful consequences. Provides practical tools for grounding during hypomanic episodes: Mindfulness and meditation to increase self-awareness. Establishing a regular sleep routine to counteract sleep deprivation. Engaging in physical exercise to channel excess energy. Implementing mood tracking to identify patterns and triggers. Creating a structured schedule to combat impulsivity and disorganization. Leaning on social support as an early warning system for escalating hypomania. Avoiding stimulants like caffeine and alcohol that can exacerbate symptoms. Chapter 5: Navigating Depression in Bipolar II Emphasizes the profound and pervasive nature of Bipolar II depression, highlighting its characteristic feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, and lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Explores lesser-known aspects of Bipolar II depression, such as: Impacts on sensory perception, with a dulling of senses contributing to disconnection from the world. Presence of physical symptoms like aches, pains, gastrointestinal issues, and heaviness in limbs, often misdiagnosed as separate medical conditions. Discusses gender differences in Bipolar II depression, highlighting that women tend to experience more depressive episodes and fewer hypomanic episodes compared to men. Outlines evidence-based coping strategies, including medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, and social support. Chapter 6: Medication in Bipolar II: A balanced approach Acknowledges the crucial role of medication in managing Bipolar II for many individuals. Discusses mood stabilizers as the foundation of treatment, highlighting Lithium, anticonvulsants, and atypical antipsychotics as commonly prescribed options. Advises caution with antidepressants due to their potential to trigger hypomanic episodes in Bipolar II. Stresses the importance of personalized treatment plans developed in consultation with a healthcare professional. Chapter 7: Therapy options Explores various therapy options beneficial for managing Bipolar II: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps identify and modify negative thought patterns and behaviours contributing to mood swings. Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT): Focuses on stabilizing daily routines and improving interpersonal relationships to regulate mood. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): Useful for managing intense emotions, improving distress tolerance, and enhancing interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Cultivates present-moment awareness through meditation and body awareness techniques to reduce stress and improve mood regulation. Light Therapy: Beneficial for individuals experiencing seasonal patterns in their mood episodes, particularly depressive episodes during darker months. Emphasizes the importance of finding a therapist who is a good fit and establishing a strong therapeutic relationship. Chapter 8: Self-care and lifestyle strategies Highlights the critical role of self-care in managing Bipolar II: Exercise: Regular physical activity can stabilize mood, reduce stress, and improve sleep. Sleep: Establishing good sleep hygiene is crucial for mood regulation. Nutrition: A balanced diet can support mood stability and energy levels. Stress Management: Techniques like mindfulness, relaxation exercises, and engaging in enjoyable activities are essential for managing stress. Chapter 9: Relationships and social support Underscores the importance of open communication with loved ones about Bipolar II. Provides guidance on building a strong support network and managing relationship strain. Offers strategies for navigating relationships with partners, family members, and friends. Chapter 10: Work and study with Bipolar II Discusses strategies for managing productivity and deadlines, acknowledging the challenges of fluctuating energy levels and motivation. Offers tips for creating a supportive work or study environment and communicating with colleagues or educators about Bipolar II. Chapter 11: Finding purpose and meaning Explores the importance of pursuing passions and interests while maintaining mood stability. Encourages reclaiming identity beyond the Bipolar II diagnosis and finding meaning in the lived experience. Emphasizes the importance of balancing ambition and self-care. Chapter 12: Building your support network Discusses the benefits of support groups, both online and in-person. Provides information on finding local and national support organizations. Highlights the value of connecting with others who understand the challenges of living with Bipolar II. Chapter 13: Preparing for the future Addresses long-term considerations for living with Bipolar II, including: Navigating life changes like relationships, parenting, and aging. Financial planning and managing potential employment fluctuations. Maintaining a proactive approach to self-care and treatment. Overall Impression: The book provides a compassionate, insightful, and practical guide to understanding and managing Bipolar II. It combines medical expertise with relatable anecdotes and humour, creating a supportive and empowering resource for individuals and their loved ones. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/33693512

BCR 122 - The AI Scribe (book review) 10/15/2024

BCR 122 - The AI Scribe (book review) The AI Scribe is a comprehensive guide that navigates the brave new world of artificial intelligence in writing. With a blend of expert insights, practical advice, and a dash of humour, this book addresses the fears and uncertainties faced by writers and novelists in the age of AI. The author explores the evolution of AI in writing, from basic spell-checkers to sophisticated language models capable of generating human-like text. He delves into the current capabilities and limitations of AI writing tools, examining their applications across various genres, including journalism, creative writing, academic research, and content marketing. Far from spelling doom for human writers, the book argues that AI presents new opportunities for collaboration and creativity. It offers practical tips on choosing the right AI writing assistant, integrating AI into one's workflow, and maintaining the human touch in an increasingly automated landscape. The author emphasises the importance of ethical considerations, addressing issues of transparency, bias, and intellectual property rights. Looking to the future, the book explores emerging trends in AI writing technology, from hyper-personalised content to multimodal AI that can generate text, images, and audio simultaneously. It paints a picture of a future where human creativity is augmented, rather than replaced, by artificial intelligence. Throughout, the author reassures writers that their uniquely human skills—emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and the ability to create deep, nuanced narratives—will become more valuable than ever. He encourages writers to embrace AI as a powerful tool that can free them to focus on the aspects of writing they love most. With a mix of expert interviews, case studies, and practical exercises, 'The AI Scribe' provides a roadmap for writers navigating the AI revolution. It's a call to action for writers to adapt, innovate, and thrive in an AI-augmented future, rather than fear it. As the author quips, "AI might be able to generate a technically perfect sonnet, but can it capture the bittersweet ache of unrequited love or the joy of a perfect cup of tea on a rainy day?" This book is a reminder that while AI may change how we write, the power of human storytelling remains irreplaceable. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/33463832

BCR 121 - Public speaking: The magic of mirroring 07/18/2024

BCR 120 - Persuasive websites: The power of stories 07/17/2024

BCR 120 - Persuasive websites: The power of stories G'day! Today, we'll uncover the hidden persuasion technique of using stories to captivate your website visitors. Stories have the unique power to enchant, entertain, and convince. Let's explore how you can harness this power to make your website more engaging and effective. ========= 1. **Relatable Stories**: - Create stories that your audience can easily relate to. Understanding their pain points, desires, and experiences will help you craft stories that resonate deeply with them. - Use scenarios that mirror the everyday challenges your visitors may face and show how your product or service can solve these issues. - Example: If you’re selling a fitness product, tell a story about someone who struggled with finding time for exercise and how your product helped them integrate a quick workout into their daily routine. 2. **Case Studies**: - Use case studies to provide in-depth examples of how your product or service has successfully helped others. - Ensure these case studies include specific details such as the problem, the solution you provided, and the measurable results. - Example: "Jane was able to increase her website traffic by 50% after using our SEO services. Here’s how we did it.” 3. **Visual Storytelling**: - Incorporate images, videos, and infographics to support your stories. Visuals can make your stories more compelling and are often more memorable than text alone. - Use high-quality, relevant images that enhance the narrative and help the viewer visualize the story. - Example: Use a time-lapse video to show the transformation of a space using your interior design services. 4. **Customer Reviews**: - Gather and display testimonials that tell a story from your customer's perspective. These narratives can be incredibly persuasive as they provide social proof. - Include testimonials that highlight various aspects of your product or service to give a well-rounded view. - Example: “I was sceptical at first, but after trying the product, I noticed a significant improvement in my skin texture within a week!” 5. **User-Generated Content**: - Encourage your audience to share their own stories and experiences with your product. User-generated content can be a powerful tool for building community and trust. - Create campaigns or hashtags that incentivize customers to share their photos and stories. - Example: Ask customers to share their before-and-after photos using your fitness equipment with a specific hashtag, and feature these stories on your website. Conclusion Stories are a powerful way to connect with your audience on a deeper level. They can transform a mundane product description into a captivating narrative that your visitors will remember. Incorporate these storytelling techniques into your website, and you’ll likely see a boost in engagement and conversions. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/32177492

BCR 119 - How to persuade on video: The power of body language 07/17/2024

BCR 119 - How to persuade on video: The power of body language G'day! Today, I'm going to dive into the power of body language and how to use it to persuade your audience when presenting on video. If you want to make a strong impression and truly connect with your audience, mastering your body language is essential. Stick around and let's explore these powerful techniques together, or watch the over on YouTube. 1. **Maintaining Eye Contact**: - Make sure to look directly into the camera, as this simulates eye contact with your viewers. This creates a sense of connection and makes your audience feel as if you are speaking directly to them. - Avoid shifting your eyes around too much, as this can make you appear distracted or untrustworthy. Practice focusing on the camera lens as if it's a person you are speaking to. - Use sustained eye contact during key moments to emphasize your points and show confidence in what you're saying. 2. **Use Gestures**: - Hand movements can greatly enhance your presentation by adding emphasis and illustrating your points. Use open palms and natural gestures to appear more approachable and genuine. - Avoid overdoing the gestures. Instead, ensure they are purposeful and not just random movements. Also, keep hand gestures in the camera frame to maintain visibility. - Practice using iconic gestures that match your speech, such as hands apart for "big" or touching fingertips to convey precision. 3. **Facial Expressions**: - Let your facial expressions match the tone and content of what you’re saying. A smile can convey warmth and approachability, while a serious expression can emphasize the importance of a point. - Practice in front of a mirror or record yourself to see if your expressions are aligning with your message. This feedback can help you make adjustments. - Avoid a monotone expression. Dynamic facial expressions keep the audience engaged and show that you are passionate about your topic. 4. **Posture**: - Good posture is non-negotiable. Sit or stand up straight to project confidence and authority. Slouching can make you appear disinterested or unsure. - Practice maintaining a relaxed yet upright posture. This balance helps you appear both confident and approachable. - Pay attention to your shoulders; keep them relaxed and avoid pushing them up towards your ears, which can indicate tension. 5. **Movement**: - Incorporate small movements into your presentation to avoid appearing stiff and robotic. This can include shifting your weight slightly or moving your hands. - Ensure movements are controlled and purposeful. Avoid excessive swaying or pacing which can be distracting to viewers. - Use your body to punctuate points. For instance, a small step forward can emphasize an important statement, making your message more impactful. Conclusion Remember, body language can be your secret weapon in persuading your audience on video. Practice these tips regularly, and you'll see a significant improvement in how your message is received. Your audience will connect with you on a deeper level, making your presentations more engaging and effective. /episode/index/show/5531d7bf-2c7a-4f81-a565-bc1512fffd0b/id/32177437