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The Trending Communicator

The Trending Communicator

By: Daniel Nestle
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In today's hyper-accelerated communications world, keeping up means juggling reputation, brand building, crisis management, storytelling, and more while adapting to new technologies like generative AI. The Trending Communicator, hosted by Dan Nestle, is your guide through this chaotic landscape. This podcast dives into the challenges of PR, communications, and marketing today, with experts sharing real stories and strategies for overcoming those challenges and more. It's the perfect resource for professionals looking to innovate, take risks, and stay ahead. Join us to make sense of today’s communications chaos, one insightful conversation at a time.Copyright 2025 Daniel Nestle Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • Judgment Is the New Advantage - with Bo Breuklander

    Judgment Is the New Advantage - with Bo Breuklander
    Apr 10 2026
    AI transformation isn't a strategy problem. It's a leadership problem. And until CEOs and boards stop asking for an AI strategy and start asking for a change management strategy, most organizations are going to keep spinning their wheels. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with Bo Breuklander, founder of Breuklander Communications, ProSci-certified change practitioner, and professor of PR and media writing at the University of Tampa. Bo spent 16 years in corporate communications, led digital communications at Jabil, moved into VP-level transformation work, and now runs People First AI workshops that document 100% confidence increases among participants. Dan and Bo get into why the comfortability gap matters more than the skills gap, what happens when people in the room are too afraid to admit they're already using AI, and why communicators are uniquely positioned to lead organizational AI transformation rather than waiting for IT to hand them a playbook. Listen in and hear about... Why random acts of AI are the new random acts of content and equally ineffective The explainability problem and why it connects directly to critical thinking in the classroom How to find your AI champions and ambassadors inside existing teams What entrepreneurial thinking actually looks like as a survival strategy for knowledge workers Why $20 a month might be the most important career investment a communicator can make right now Notable Quotes from Bo Breuklander "You have to ask people how they feel about it. And you have to listen to what they tell you." "Your job is not necessarily your value. I think it's really important for students to hear that, for younger professionals, for older professionals, for all of us." "Slow down enough to get the functional and the foundations right. Clarity is going to beat speed. Judgment is the new advantage." Resources and Links Dan Nestle Lilypath | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Bo Breuklander Breuklander Communications | Website The AI Comms Lab | Substack Bo Breuklander | LinkedIn Timestamps 0:00:00 Introduction: AI Transformation & Leadership Challenges0:05:48 [Speaker B]'s AI Journey & Focus at Brooklander Communications0:11:22 Addressing Human Factors in AI Workshops0:17:22 Individualized Nature of AI Adoption0:21:22 Students, Employees, and the Hidden Use of AI0:27:01 Are “AI Natives” Ready? Skills vs. Comfort0:34:11 Explainability, Critical Thinking, and Fact-Checking in AI Use0:42:08 Navigating Job Disruption and Entrepreneurial Mindset0:47:42 Practical Steps for Comms Pros: Quick Wins & Automation0:53:57 Using Prompting Frameworks and Moving to Advanced AI Use1:00:16 Investing in AI Learning—No Room for Victimhood1:07:22 Closing Advice: Slow Down, Clarity and Judgment as Advantages (Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Why AI Risk Is a Communications Problem Now - with Alec Crawford

    Why AI Risk Is a Communications Problem Now - with Alec Crawford
    Mar 27 2026
    You don't roll out AI. It's not an ERP system. And yet most organizations are still treating it like a procurement decision, reaching for governance frameworks and compliance checklists as if the real challenge is containment rather than comprehension. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with Alec Crawford, founder and CEO of Artificial Intelligence Risk Incorporated and host of the AI Risk Reward podcast. Alec built neural networks at Harvard in 1987, spent 30 years on Wall Street as a risk officer managing hundreds of billions, and now builds AI governance, risk, compliance, and cybersecurity platforms. Alec and Dan dig into what risk actually looks like when every employee has access to intelligence, why the crisis playbook most companies rely on is already obsolete, and how deepfake threats and shadow AI are reshaping the landscape for communicators and executives alike. Listen in and hear about... Why domain expertise becomes more valuable, not less, in an AI-enabled organization The context window problem and what it means for accuracy and trust Shadow AI, jailbreak attacks, and the real cybersecurity threats facing companies How deepfakes are already being weaponized against executives and brands Why communicators need to become AI risk experts, not just AI users Notable Quotes from Alec Crawford "Once you understand that, aha, light bulb moment, you can't ask ChatGPT to check its work. Typically, you might go to another model and say, hey, here's what ChatGPT said. What do you think? But you can't ask a model to check its own work." "The way to fix shadow AI is to give people at your company great AI that's better than they could get at home. The best models, connected to your corporate data, connected to your email, connected to anything you could dream you want to be connected to. Why would I now go use some other AI if I've got access to that?" "At this point they probably need somewhere between five and 10 seconds of a video like this to create a deep fake where they can say whatever they want and make you say whatever they want." Resources and Links Dan Nestle Lilypath | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Alec Crawford Artificial Intelligence Risk Incorporated (AIR) | Website AI Risk Reward Podcast AI Risk Reward | Substack Alec Crawford | LinkedIn Timestamps 0:00:00 Opening & Introduction to Alec Crawford, AI Transformation Mistakes0:07:13 AI Hallucinations, Research Pitfalls, and Due Diligence0:12:35 Importance of Prompting, Domain Expertise & AI Iteration0:18:32 Alec’s Journey: From Building Neural Nets to Institutional AI0:24:18 Limits of Large Language Models, Explainability, and AI Sentience0:29:04 Context Windows, Memory Limits, and AI Conversation Pitfalls0:35:42 AI Safety, Prompt Injection, and Corporate Guardrails0:41:09 Beating Shadow AI: Corporate AI Environments & User Adoption0:45:55 AI Agents, Agentic Workflow, and Financial Services Applications0:53:26 Crisis Communication in the AI Era: Risks & Recommendations1:01:30 Future of AI Models, Deepfakes, and Validation Technology1:05:39 Alec’s Book Announcement & Closing Remarks (Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Organic Isn't Dead, You Just Stopped Talking to People – with Dorien Morin-van Dam

    Organic Isn't Dead, You Just Stopped Talking to People – with Dorien Morin-van Dam
    Mar 13 2026
    People keep writing obituaries for organic content. And every time, communicators chase the paid shortcuts instead of doing the work. Now, as AI-generated content floods every platform, those who abandoned organic are realizing they have nothing to fall back on. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with Dorien Morin-van Dam, owner of More in Media and host of the Strategy Talks podcast, to dig into whether an organic-first philosophy can survive the AI era. With over 15 years of experience in community building and social media strategy—plus an Agile Marketing certification—Dorien has spent her career defending organic content not as nostalgia, but as strategy. From the early days of Facebook groups in Myrtle Beach to Reddit brand management and the community-first model flipping the old course-then-community approach on its head, Dorien and Dan explore what systematic approaches to content actually look like when everyone has access to the same generative tools. They dig into why brands that leaned too hard on AI are already feeling the reckoning, and why live content may be the last frontier that nobody can fake. Listen in and hear about... Why community is the ultimate expression of organic strategy The shift from course-first to community-first business models How community content is reshaping brand reputation and AI search visibility Why live content is the new competitive moat against AI The difference between being creative and becoming a creator Notable Quotes from Dorien Morin-van Dam "Anything that you don't pay for is organic. So if you're still talking to people, organic is not dead." "If you have a thought in your mind, you wake up at 4am and you think about something in your business—that is a LinkedIn post. That is something that AI can't do." "Creating something because you think it's a good business opportunity—creating a community around that, it's going to tank because you're not authentic." "That's the last frontier. You can't copy me live. You can make an AI avatar, but you're not going to have my thoughts live unless I'm there." "The worst strategic mistake that you can make is trying to be something that you're not. And that's the downfall—we're seeing people using AI improperly, and it's all crumbling down." Resources and Links Dan Nestle Lilypath | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Dorien Morin-van Dam More in Media | Website Strategy Talks | Podcast Dorien Morin-van Dam | LinkedIn Timestamps 0:00:00 Organic Content’s “Death” and Industry Shifts0:05:40 Early Days of Community Building and Facebook Groups0:12:27 Reddit Community Management and Brand Authenticity0:19:59 Evolution of Community Strategy and Content0:24:47 Starting and Growing Communities: Goals & Authenticity0:30:10 Brand Support, Community Catalysts, and Influencer Dynamics0:36:27 Community vs Followers; PR, Marketing, and Strategy Integration0:42:20 C-suite Ownership of Origin Story and Business Strategy0:49:28 Connecting Community Leadership with Target Audience0:56:08 Life Experience, Conflict Management, and Community Leadership1:00:28 Human Creativity vs AI; Going Live and Authentic Engagement1:06:40 Final Advice: Authenticity, Building Sustainable Communities (Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
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