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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
  • AI Debates The Future of Comms - with NotebookLM

    AI Debates The Future of Comms - with NotebookLM
    Dec 31 2025
    **NotebookLM HAS TAKEN OVER THE TRENDING COMMUNICATOR. AGAIN.** Generative AI is shaking up the world of communications—and the debate is on. In this special takeover episode of The Trending Communicator, Abel and Iris weigh the promise and pitfalls of AI adoption for comms professionals. Is AI truly a strategic superpower, or does it risk eroding hard-won wisdom and trust? Our hosts tackle big questions about originality, efficiency, brand voice, and the critical role of human judgment. From allegations of “AI slop” to the growing expectation that professionals must adapt or become obsolete, Iris and Abel challenge each other—and the industry—to find balance between bold innovation and ethical responsibility. Whether you’re in the excitement camp or a skeptic, this episode delivers sharp insights, real-world examples, and a call to lead with empathy and rigor as AI rewrites the rules of communication. Listen in and hear about: How generative AI is transforming communication strategy and the debate over its real value Why AI-created content risks diluting professional wisdom and brand trust Ways communicators are leveraging legacy content to maintain originality with AI Ongoing concerns about AI amplifying existing flaws and spreading "AI slop" The evolving role of communicators as quality filters in an AI-driven workflow Challenges organizations face with AI adoption, from poor change management to role uncertainty Leadership’s new responsibility to use AI as a strategic partner while preserving empathy and judgment Timestamps 0:00:00 Podcast Takeover & Introduction0:00:26 GenAI and the Big Debate in Comms0:00:38 Does Generative AI Add or Destroy Value?0:01:06 Risks, Disruption & Trust in AI Adoption0:01:25 Augmentation vs. Automation—Strategic Value0:02:13 AI Hype & Human Element Concerns0:02:39 AI Slop, Trust Issues, and Expertise Erosion0:03:24 Strategic Upside: AI as Enabler0:04:05 Human Judgment as the Quality Filter0:04:40 Speed vs. Quality & Distinctive Human Insight0:05:03 Changing Roles: Prompting, Critiquing, Synthesizing0:05:31 Institutional Readiness, Ethics, Trust & Systemic Risks0:06:43 Empathy & Perspective: Irreplaceable Human Advantages0:07:06 AI for Reputation Management, Context, & Scale0:07:32 Ethics vs. Efficiency: Risks in Sensitive Fields0:08:04 Senior Communicators, AI as Validation & Infrastructure0:08:41 Broadening Strategic Functions; AI as Audience0:09:14 Organizational Readiness & Leadership Challenges0:10:01 Leadership Opportunity: AI as Strategic Sparring Partner0:10:52 Human Wisdom & Navigating Disruption0:11:36 Closing Remarks & Podcast Outro Audio generated by NotebookLM, based on the transcripts from all episodes of The Trending Communicator in 2025. Notes and timestamps generated by Castmagic. Intro and outro music generated by Suno. Outro voice generated with Elevenlabs. Graphic depiction of Abel and Iris generated with Gemini (Nanobanana); any similarity to any individual, living or dead, is unintentional. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    14 mins
  • AI Transformation, or AI Theater? - with Anne Green

    AI Transformation, or AI Theater? - with Anne Green
    Dec 12 2025
    Companies love to talk about AI transformation. They've created policies, distributed tools, checked boxes. But behind closed doors, overwhelmed employees are phoning it in with AI slop, leaders can't tell the difference, and the workforce is too exhausted to learn anything new. That's not transformation. That's theater. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle welcomes back Anne Green, CEO of G&S Integrated Marketing Communications Group and host of the Building Brand Gravity podcast. Anne brings a rare perspective—she's orchestrated one of the industry's most successful agency transformations while navigating this AI identity crisis firsthand. Having built Cooper Katz from startup to acquisition, then taken the helm at G&S and expanded it through strategic acquisitions, she's seen transformation from every angle. Anne and Dan cut through the AI hype to examine what's really stalling adoption: a workforce stretched too thin to experiment, psychological bandwidth at zero, and the uncomfortable reality that AI doesn't automatically make anyone smarter—we have to fight for it. They explore why agencies may be better positioned to crack this code, what the dot-com bubble can teach us about today's AI valuations, and why the talent pipeline conversation keeps shifting from entry-level to mid-level to senior without anyone knowing who's actually at risk. Listen in and hear about... Why AI acts like a "personality intensifier"—making good workers better and mediocre workers worse The workforce conundrum: people too overwhelmed to upskill, yet facing existential pressure to adapt What agencies are doing differently that corporate teams are missing Why "showing your work" on AI builds trust while hiding it destroys it Anne's mantra for surviving this moment: "Hold less tightly. Unclench." Notable Quotes from Anne Green: "The biggest thing is from the upskilling side, this is a very complex people transformation moment. And we are really crap in this society at upskilling people. We're not good at it." [00:11:32 – 00:11:49] "AI doesn’t automatically augment our intelligence. We have to fight for it and we have to build it and we have to embrace it. But it is a journey." [00:18:49 – 00:19:02] "There is, especially at this moment, a beauty of the beginner’s mind, that person who’s coming in with curiosity and freshness..." [00:57:00 – 00:57:40] "Hold less tightly, unclench the hands and open up the palms. That’s the last thing I’d offer, folks. Hold less tightly." [01:04:38 – 01:04:47] Resources and Links Dan Nestle Inquisitive Communications | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Anne Green G&S Integrated Marketing Communications | gscommunications.com Building Brand Gravity Podcast | Apple Podcasts Anne Green | LinkedIn Timestamps 0:00:00 AI Transformation Hype and Restrictive Corporate Policies0:06:43 Corporate Struggles with AI Adoption and Change Management0:12:26 Bubble vs. Real Change—Comparing Dot-Com Era to AI Revolution0:19:04 AI-Augmented Skills—Best and Worst Amplified0:25:56 Human/Machine Symbiosis: How AI Changes Us0:30:01 Freedom to Innovate: Builders, Use Cases, and Organizational Constraints0:35:10 Overworked Workforce, Layoffs, and AI’s Impact on Talent Strategy0:42:11 Talent Displacement, Business Model Evolution, and Pipeline Changes0:48:25 Rethinking Comms Career Tracks with AI Integration0:54:02 Entry-Level Realities: Training, Context, and Curiosity1:01:16 Importance of In-Person Collaboration in the Age of AI1:04:00 Leading Through Change—Kindness, Grace, and Adaptability1:05:48 Wrap-Up, Final Thoughts, and Podcast Promotion (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 8 mins
  • Stop Treating AI Like an ERP Implementation - with Chris Gee

    Stop Treating AI Like an ERP Implementation - with Chris Gee
    Dec 1 2025
    Companies keep approaching AI the way they approached every other tech rollout: install it, train on it, expect immediate returns. But AI isn't software. It's imperfect by design, doesn't follow a predictable implementation curve, and the gap between what leadership promised the board and what's actually happening is becoming a serious problem. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with Chris Gee, founder of Chris Gee Consulting and strategic advisor to Ragan's Center for AI Strategy. Chris has survived four career reinventions driven by technological disruption—from watching his graphic design degree become obsolete the day he graduated to now helping organizations navigate the shift to agentic AI. His motto, "copilot, not autopilot," frames the entire conversation. Chris and Dan dig into why AI adoption is stalling—because companies are treating transformation like a switch to flip rather than a capability to build. They explore the parallel to 1993's Internet boom and why the adoption curve is right on schedule despite executive frustration. The conversation gets practical: Chris shares how he built an AI agent named "Alexa Irving" for client onboarding, and they tackle whether doom-and-gloom predictions from AI CEOs are helping or hurting the people who actually need to use these tools. Listen in and hear about... Why the adoption curve for AI mirrors the early Internet The $17 trillion argument against AI replacing all jobs (hint: someone has to buy things) How prompting skills aren't going away Building agentic AI with guardrails: Chris's "Alexa Irving" experiment Why "copilot, not autopilot" is more than a slogan—it's a survival strategy The skills gap nobody's addressing and why we need more brains who understand AI, not fewer Notable Quotes "My motto is copilot, not autopilot. I wholeheartedly believe that we are going to make the most progress using AI in tandem—where humans focus on the things that we do well and we use AI for the things it does better than we do." — Chris Gee [04:19] "17 is $17 trillion—that's what the American consumer spends per year. 70 is the percentage of US GDP that represents. And zero is the amount of money that AI chatbots, LLMs, and agents have to spend." — Chris Gee [23:57] "Your ability was never simply in your ability to string together words and phrases, but to translate experiences or emotions and create connection with other humans." — Chris Gee [36:44] "It's not thinking and it never will be thinking. So if we understand that, then we understand it won't be thinking like a human." — Chris Gee [1:07:00] Resources and Links Dan Nestle Inquisitive Communications | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Chris Gee Chris Gee Consulting | chrisgee.me Chris Gee | LinkedIn The Intelligent Communicator Newsletter | chrisgee.me (sign up on website) Timestamps 0:00:00 AI Transformation: Hype vs. Reality in Communications0:06:00 Human Touch vs. Automation in Service Jobs0:12:40 Early Career Transformation & Adapting to Technology0:18:00 AI Adoption Curve: Early Adopters and Laggards0:23:30 Tech Disruption, Job Fears, and Economic Impact0:29:10 Prompting and Obstacles to AI Adoption0:34:45 Redefining Skill Sets & Human Value with AI0:40:45 Efficiency, Productivity, and Creativity with AI Tools0:46:20 Rethinking Work: Flexible Schedules & Four-Day Weeks0:51:39 Practical AI Use Cases: Experiment and Upgrade0:55:11 Agentic AI: Autonomous Agents and Guardrails1:01:29 Autonomous Agents: Oversight, Guardrails, and Risks1:08:15 AI Is Imperfect: Why Human Judgment Remains Essential1:14:16 AI Quirks, Prompting Challenges, and Adoption Friction1:19:41 Wrap-Up: Finding Chris Gee & Newsletter/Prompt Suggestions1:21:18 Final Thoughts & Episode Closing (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 23 mins
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