9 Experts on How AI Impacts Communication

Who has all the answers when it comes to AI? In my view: no single person.

Which is why I asked not one, but nine thought leaders about the impact of AI on all aspects of communications.

But before we get into AI a quick update.

Message Machine becomes Speak Like a CEO

Today, we are rebranding the newsletter from Message Machine (the name of my last book) to Speak Like a CEO (the name of my popular podcast). We also updated the look and feel of the podcast and created a new logo and visuals.

This has two reasons:

First, the newsletter and the podcast have the same mission – to help you master leadership communications – and should therefore live under the same brand.

Both grow fast, and I believe that this rebrand will help us reach more people, which in turn allows me to bring you even more exclusive and exciting content, 100% free.

Secondly, we launched the podcast in 2018. After five and half years, we wanted to create a new visual identity that reflects where we are in 2024 as well as our ambition for the coming years.

I am curious to hear what you think, so please hit reply and share your impressions with me. I guarantee that I will answer personally.

Three Ways I Can Help You

Book your free clarity call for 1:1 CEO coaching with me here.

A New World Order

Back to AI and what it means for you. The nine thought leaders I spoke to are world-renowned CEOs, business school professors, company builders and crisis communications experts.

With their combined expertise, my aim is to give you the most complete and actionable overview on the topic in this two-part special of my podcast Speak Like a CEO.

This is not about the hacks or prompts of the day but about understanding what will happen to the way we talk to each other, communicate with our teams, what to do in a crisis and much more.

So let’s hear from the experts. Our all-star line-up this week:

Matt Abrahams is one of the world’s leading communications experts. As a lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, he instructs future leaders in strategic communication. Matt is also the host of the popular podcast ‘Think Fast, Talk Smart’ and the author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter.

Matt’s key insight: Connection! Tools like AI can help us but there is something fundamental about being humans. When we tell a story, our brainwaves sync up, something that AI won’t be able to replicate any time soon. So lean into your ability to connect, empathize, and understand.

Simon Lancaster is an expert on the language of leadership and one of the best speechwriters in the world, author of several books, and multiple TedX speaker, Simon knows all the secrets to captivate an audience with words.

Simon’s key insight: Use ChatGPT to help you draft your speeches and presentations, In a one-hour timed test, ChatGPT can produce better speeches than a speechwriter with 10+ years experience. But don’t ask it for jokes.

Our third expert is my close friend Bettina Hausmann. As a truly international executive coach, she has worked with CEOs, board members, and policymakers from over 100 countries to help them develop their signature presence, master the media, and manage crises.

Bettina’s key insight: AI has a huge impact on crisis communications. Thanks to deep fakes and auto-translated memes that go global in hours, AI makes crises more likely. But LLMs are also an opportunity as they allow us to respond faster to crises - provided we know how.

Our last guest is Arne Schepker, the visionary CEO behind language-learning powerhouse Babbel. The company has become synonymous with language mastery. With millions of subscribers and over 16 million users so far, Babbel has revolutionized the way we learn languages.

Arne’s key insight: Use AI to learn and master a foreign language faster than ever. But be careful which tool you use. Apple and Google’s speech recognition tries to guess what you want to say, whereas for language learning we need feedback, which the language learning specialists provide.

Listen on Spotify and Apple:

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How to Pitch Anything

Most pitches are unsuccessful. The main reason pitches fail? A fundamental disconnect between those who pitch and the audience. This week's book recommendation is Oren Klaff's “Pitch Anything”. Oren Klaff has raised more than $400m with the method outlined in his book.

He shows how you can avoid the disconnect between your message and the receiver to ensure your pitch is successful. The trick is to understand how the brain works. Our brain has developed in three stages:

1. The reptile brain
2. The midbrain
3. The neocortex.

The problem is that the pitcher create a message in their neocortex and send it to the receiver, who receive it through their reptile brain. In order to reach your audience, you need to appeal to their reptile brain by making your pitch exciting and out of the ordinary.

Interested to learn more about how you can nail your next pitch? Check out this detailed post I made about it here.

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Have an inspired weekend!

Best,

Oliver