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Before I introduce today’s guest, I’d like to make a special announcement about this podcast: Write With Impact is now 8 years young!   Thank you to all of my guests who have shared their wisdom and experience so generously. I couldn’t have done this without you. And thank you to my listeners from around the world who have taken the time listen to one or more of the 80 episodes I’ve produced since April 2015. As you may know, since 2021 I’ve been conducting these interviews on video. So if you would like to watch these episodes head over to Write With Impact Academy, my learning community for writers hosted on Substack. Just go to writewithimpact.academy. You can also watch my interviews on my YouTube channel. Just search for Write With Impact. Okay, let’s dive into today’s episode. Since the roll-out in December of the powerful new AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, I’ve been trying to sort out what this new technology means for professional writers and editors like myself. One writer who has been thinking through the impact of ChatGPT is Jane Rosenzweig. Jane is the Director of the Writing Center at Harvard University, where she’s been teaching undergraduate and graduate students how to improve their writing for nearly 23 years. Jane has been sharing her initial impressions of ChatGPT on her Substack, Writing Hacks, published opeds in the Boston Globe, and even shared her thoughts in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, the nationally-broadcast TV program. I first spoke with Jane when she joined my podcast a year and a half ago to talk about her advice for writers. So I invited her back to help me parse through the implications of this new technology. She covers a lot of ground in our conversation. She examines how ChatGPT might impact t learn the process of discovering and articulating their own ideas and interests through writing, to how the use of ChatGPT to generate blog posts and even novels could potentially sever the human link between author and reader. Jane also shared some practical writing advice drawing on her experience teaching at Harvard, as well as her work with corporate clients. She talks about cutting repetitive language, removing words that weaken the impact of your message, being more selective about when you should use active versus passive verbs, eliminating what she calls “fake transitions,” and writing shorter and more impactful sentences. There’s a lot in here, and I strongly encourage you to listen through to the end. To watch a video of the complete conversation with Jane, head over to Write With Impact Academy, my learning community for writers, hosted on Substack. Just go to writewithimpact.academy, enter you email address, and you’re in. It’s free. And be sure to check out Writing Hacks, Jane’s excellent Substack about writing. You can find her at writinghacks.substack.com.

Robert Buday is one of the world’s most renowned experts in thought leadership publishing. Over the past 35 years, he’s helped professionals from a wide range of industries write bestselling books, publish more than 50 articles in Harvard Business Review, and author hundreds of articles for top-tier business publications. He recently codified everything he knows about thought leadership into an excellent new book, “Competing on Thought Leadership: How Great B2B Companies Turn Expertise into Revenue.” Bob joined me for an in-depth conversation where he breaks down thought leadership into its essential elements. He shares some of the frameworks and strategies he uses to help his clients develop their ideas into publications that build brands and attract new business. To find out more about Bob, his work for clients, and his new book, visit his website here. Watch a video of the complete conversation at Write With Impact Academy, my learning community for writers on Substack. Find me on LinkedIn here--let's connect and share ideas. If you enjoyed this episode and got anything out of it, please give Write With Impact a 5-star rating and a positive review.  Thanks for listening! Glenn

In this episode of Write With Impact I spoke with Robbie Abed and Troy Sandidge. Robbie is the founder and CEO of No Middle, a content creation agency that helps busy tech entrepreneurs create engaging content on LinkedIn. Troy Sandidge is the COO of No Middle and works with Robbie to turn their clients’ ideas into shareable content on LinkedIn. Robbie and Troy gave me an incredible insider’s view of how they work with clients to create and distribute engaging content. With just a 30-minute interview, they can help a busy tech CEO create enough content they can use for several months on LinkedIn. They share several valuable nuggets of advice that can help you hone your LinkedIn content creation and marketing strategy. To watch the video of the entire conversation, go to my learning community for writers at Write With Impact Academy, which is hosted on Substack. It’s entirely free. And if you learned something from this podcast, please share it with a friend or leave a positive review.  

If you’re currently writing a book, or you’re planning to write one, you’ll understand the complexities involved with writing, editing, designing, publishing, and marketing your book. You may have thought about getting the help of a book publishing coach or consultant to help guide you through the process. Jenn T. Grace can help: as Founder and CEO of Publish Your Purpose, she and her team help aspiring authors turn their dreams into published pages that have an impact on the world. Jenn joined me recently for a Writing Masterclass, where she shared some of her best tips for writing, editing, and marketing your first book. In our conversation, Jenn covered a lot of ground, from techniques to help you gain clarity around your target reader, to fighting imposter syndrome and staying true to your authentic voice, to building an audience of potential readers even before you’ve published your book.   To learn more about Jenn and how she helps authors, visit her website at publishyourpurposepress.com. This is a free excerpt from a longer Writing Masterclass, which you can find on Write With Impact Academy here (subscription required). Sign-up for lots of free content to help you become a better writer at Write With Impact Academy here.

Alan McIvor is a headhunter based in Taipei at the Paul Wright Group. We met several years ago when he was just starting to build his clientele and presence on LinkedIn. Alan joined me recently for a LinkedIn Live video session where we exchanged tips for writing articles on LinkedIn. Alan has had a lot of success recently with several viral articles that have attracted tens of thousands of views and thousands of likes and shares. I asked Alan about his writing process, how he incorporates personal stories into articles that demonstrate his expertise, and how he crafts click-worthy headlines. He also shared some of his tips for writing outreach messages on LinkedIn. If you’d like to watch our entire LinkedIn Live session just go to my new learning community, Write With Impact Academy at writewithimpact.academy. Just enter your email to sign-up. And if you enjoyed this episode, or any other episodes of Write With Impact, I’d appreciate a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Follow Alan on LinkedIn here. And follow me, Glenn Leibowitz, on LinkedIn here.

This is an audio version of a post I published on Write With Impact Academy about the relevance of synchronicity, a concept introduced by Carl Jung, to my book writing process. Sign-up to Write With Impact Academy to start building your writing skills today.

Andrea Wilson Woods is an entrepreneur, patient advocate, speaker, podcaster, and author. She’s the CEO and Co-founder of Cancer University, a for-profit, social-impact, health-tech startup. Andrea is also the president and founder of the nonprofit Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association. Her bestselling book "Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days" is a medical memoir about raising her younger sister Adrienne from the age of eight until she died from liver cancer at the age of 15. Her book has won numerous prestigious writing awards. In 2020, her book went on to win the Writer's Digest Self-Published E-book Award as well as the Independent Press Award. Visit Write With Impact Academy to watch a video of the entire Writing Masterclass with Andrea.  

Pamela Wilson is the Founder of Big Brand System and author of the Master Content book series. Pamela and I spoke on this podcast several years ago when she was publishing her first book, Master Content Marketing: A Simple Strategy to Cure the Blank Page Blues and Attract a Profitable Audience. She later followed that book with another one, Master Content Strategy: How to Maximize Your Reach and Boost Your Bottom Line Every Time You Hit Publish.  Both have been top-rated, bestselling books on Amazon. Today, she helps mid-career professionals build successful online businesses with her Offer Accelerator program. You can find out more about Pamela on her website at www.bigbrandsystem.com. In this Writing Masterclass for Write With Impact Academy, I spoke with Pamela about how she writes and self-publishes books. She shares her writing process, from outlining, to thinking through the content of each chapter before writing it, to the power of deadlines. To watch a video of our interview just head over to my learning community for writers, Write With Impact Academy at writewithimpact.academy. Just enter your email to sign-up for more video and podcast Writing Masterclasses.

Decades ago, I wrote my college application essays, and then went through the process again—twice in fact—when I applied to two different graduate school programs. While things have changed over the years—the numbers of applicants have exploded thanks to the common app and the internationalization of the applicant pool—one thing has remained the same: the importance of writing well-crafted essays that tell your story in a compelling way, in a way that sets you apart from the thousands of other applicants also vying for a spot at the school of your dreams. To offer some advice on this topic, I sat down recently with Dr. Aviva Legatt. Dr. Legatt is the founder of Ivy Insight Group, where she advises high school and college students on getting into competitive colleges and graduate programs. She’s also the author of a brand new book, “Get Real and Get In: How to Get Into the College of Your Dreams by Being Your Authentic Self" (St. Martin's Griffin). In our conversation she explains how the college application process has changed over the years, and she shares some of the frameworks and tips she writes about in her book. To watch the video of our conversation, head over to my new learning community, Write With Impact Academy, and enter your email to sign-up. There you’ll find lots more free videos, podcasts, and articles with writing advice.

After picking up an MBA from MIT and pursuing a career in the corporate world, Paul decided to shift gears completely and explore a totally different approach to work and living. He documents his approach with raw honesty and insight that cuts through the BS in his weekly Substack newsletter, which he calls Boundless, and on his podcast, Reimagine Work. Head over to my new learning community, Write With Impact Academy, and watch a few video clips from my conversation with Paul to get a flavor for the kind of wisdom he shared around his approach to writing and storytelling. Of if you want to go really deep, watch the entire conversation, which I’ve posted there as well. It’s all free. Just head over to www.writewithimpact.academy, and just enter your email address to sign-up. We’re part of Substack’s growing community of writers and creators expanding the reach and impact of their art.

I recently sat down with Amy Blaschka for a special Writing Masterclass for Write With Impact Academy.   Amy is a social media ghostwriter and storyteller, helping busy clients craft compelling content that people want to click and share.   She also writes prolifically under her own name on LinkedIn and as a Forbes Leadership Contributor.  This year she launched a newsletter on Substack she calls, “Illuminate Me”, which you can subscribe to at amyblaschka.substack.com.   In her Writing Masterclass, Amy shares some of the strategies she uses to help her clients turn their ideas into clickable and shareable content, as well as some of the strategies she uses to consistently generate the excellent content she publishes under her own name.   Subscribe to Write With Impact Academy, hosted on Substack, and begin your journey to becoming a better writer.

Andrea was a correspondent for CNN before entering the nonprofit sector.  Today, Andrea is Founder of College2Career Academy, and helps confused college students, new grads, and young professionals build meaningful careers they'll love. Andrea is also the host of Time4Coffee, an Apple Top 100 podcast where she interviews successful professionals across different industries. She was named by LinkedIn as one of the top providers of career advice.

Jane Rosenzweig is the Director of the Writing Center at Harvard College, where she has taught thousands of undergraduates how to improve their writing skills for the past two decades. Prior to Harvard Jane was an editor at The Atlantic. Jane holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in fiction from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Earlier this year, Jane launched a newsletter on Substack called “Writing Hacks” where she shares some of the tips and techniques she teaches in her classroom. You can sign-up at writinghacks.substack.com. One more thing: this episode is just an excerpt from a much longer conversation we had. To listen to the entire conversation, go to writewithimpact.academy and subscribe.

Richard Rys, Editor of Wharton Magazine, helps address common writing challenges, from choosing a topic, to outlining your story, to writing the first draft.  This is an excerpt from a longer conversation you can find on Write With Impact Academy, a new learning community hosted on Substack dedicated to helping you become a better writer. Subscribe here.

Two years ago, after writing an article on LinkedIn consistently every week for nearly five years, I hit the pause button. Here's my story about why I stopped, and why I've decided to start writing again. Here's how I'm rediscovering the joy of writing. Subscribe to the Write With Impact newsletter on LinkedIn  Subscribe for the latest writing, podcasts, and resources from Write With Impact Subscribe to Write With Impact on Apple Podcasts

In this episode I chat with James Crabtree, a journalist and author of the new book, Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age. The Billionaire Raj charts the rise of the new billionaire class behind India’s rapid economic rise. In this eloquently-written page-turner, James combines on-the-ground reporting, rigorous economic research, and vivid storytelling as he brings to life the fascinating yet not very widely-known tale behind the world’s second most populous nation. Before writing his book, James was the Mumbai bureau chief for the Financial Times. He’s currently an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, where he teaches courses on leadership and political communication. Since it was published in July, Billionaire Raj has received several glowing reviews by top-tier media. Along with just a handful of newly published books, Billionaire Raj was short-listed for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. It was also recently named by Amazon as one of the 100 best books of 2018. In our conversation, James explains the process he followed as he wrote his book, from 4 am writing sessions at a coffee shop across the street where he lives in Singapore, to his “a-ha” moment while doing laps in the swimming pool, a pivotal event that led to the three-part structure he eventually adopted for his book. James also explains how he balances research with writing, why having memorable characters matters, and why he rewrote his prologue 100 times before he felt it was ready for publication. You can find the show notes to this episode with links to James’s website and his book on Amazon over at writewithimpact.com/episode66 If you’re interested in reading more of my writing, head over to LinkedIn at writewithimpact.com/linkedin. There you’ll find my essays on writing, professional development, and a range of other topics. It’s because of the support of readers like you that I’ve been named a “Top Voice” by LinkedIn’s editorial team for the past four years in a row. So thank you!

Today I’m pleased to share a conversation I had recently with Dr. Simon Targett, the co-author with John Butman of the new book, New World, Inc.: The Making of America by England’s Merchant Adventurers. Dr. Targett holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. He was a  journalist and editor with the Financial Times for over a dozen years, and later headed up the publishing arm of Boston Consulting Group before founding Thinking Cap Communications, a London-based strategic thought leadership and reputation management consultancy. Soon after its publication in March by Little, Brown and Company, New World, Inc. was named a “Best History Book of the Month” by Barnes and Noble. New World, Inc. tells the story of English merchant adventurers in the 16th and 17th centuries. In their search for China, where they hoped to trade woolen cloth, England’s chief export at the time, for China’s silk and other luxuries, they ended up establishing trading outposts and colonies in America. These adventurers, backed by a new breed of investors in England, were the earliest founders of America; not the Pilgrims, as the widely accepted narrative goes. This meticulously researched, well-written, and beautifully designed book tells the fascinating and largely untold story of the earliest days of globalization, of innovation and entrepreneurial risk-taking, and of the creation of some of the earliest venture-financed companies in the world. In our conversation, Dr. Targett explains the process he and John went through to research and write the book. He tells how they prepared their book proposal which led to a bidding war for their manuscript and eventually a book deal with a major publisher. And he offers advice for writers seeking to take on large non-fiction, “big idea” book projects like theirs. You can find links to the book and information about Dr. Targett over at writewithimpact.com/episode65.

Today I’m pleased to share a conversation I had recently with Syd Goldsmith. Syd is the author of the new book, Hong Kong on the Brink: An American Diplomat Relives 1967's Darkest Days, published by Blacksmith Books. In 1967, Syd was stationed in the American Consulate General in Hong Kong, still a British colony at the time. This was an extraordinary moment in history: China was in the grips of the Cultural Revolution, which was rapidly spilling over into Hong Kong. In his book, Syd gives us an armchair view of his life and work as a diplomat at the very center of a dangerous political storm. The South China Morning Post calls it “an informative, engaging read filled with vivid historical detail.” This is Syd’s third book and his first memoir. His previous two books were novels, one of which was a finalist for the Lupton New Voices in Literature Award. Two of his three books have been acquired by traditional publishers. While he currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan, Syd continues to maintain active ties to the writing community in the US. He has attended writing workshops at the University of Iowa, the Maui Writer’s Festival, and at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York.  He’s active in the Literary Arts Center there, and has served as vice chairman of the Writers’ Center. In our conversation, which we conducted in person in Taipei, Syd shares how, despite never considering himself a writer for many years, he eventually became a published author. He explains why it’s never too late to publish your first book: He published his first novel at the age of 68, and his latest book at the age of 79. He underscores the importance of getting honest and critical feedback on your writing. He talks about the value of attending writer’s conferences, and he shares the story of how he found his agent at one of them. He describes the process he went through to pitch his book and land a publishing contract within just 9 days. And he gives us a peek into his own writing process—a question I like to ask all of my guests on this podcast. For more information about Syd, to find out how to reach him, and to purchase his book on Amazon, go to writewithimpact.com/episode64.   *The link to Syd's book on Amazon is an affiliate link, which means I earn a nominal commission on sales, at no additional cost to you.

I had the great pleasure to chat once again with Mark Vanhoenacker. Mark is a Senior First Officer for British Airways. He flies the Boeing 747 to major cities around the world. When he’s not hurtling through the air 35,000 feet above the earth, Mark writes for The New York Times, the Financial Times, Wired, and the Guardian. He’s also the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot, which he published three years ago. A huge international bestseller, the book has been translated into a dozen languages. I interviewed Mark back in 2015 shortly after his book was released. I would encourage you to go back and listen to that episode over at writewithimpact.com/episode23. In this conversation, I chat with Mark about his new book, How to Land a Plane. It’s a very different book from Skyfaring, which was a poetic meditation on the wonders of flying. In just 58 pages, How to Land a Plane teaches you the essentials of landing just about any type of aircraft. With his signature humor and poetic flair, Mark takes a complex topic and spells it out in language that anyone can readily understand. You can order the book by going to the show notes to this episode over at writewithimpact.com/episode63.  Or visit Mark’s website at skyfaring.com.    

Mei Fong is a journalist with more than a decade of reporting in Asia, most recently as China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, which is where she was working when I met her several years ago in Beijing. Her stories on China’s transformative process in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics formed part of the package that won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, an honor she shared with her colleagues at the Journal. Her work has also won awards from Amnesty International, New York’s Society of Professional Journalists, and the Society of Publishers in Asia. Mei appears regularly as a China commentator on NPR, CBS, CNN, and PBS. She has taught at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and at Shantou University in China.  And she is currently the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America, a think-tank in Washington, DC. Last year she published her first book, One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment. The book recounts the history and after-effects of China’s one-child policy, the country's longest-running and most radical social experiment. Through a combination of in-depth research, on-the-ground reporting, and vivid storytelling that draws on her time as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in China, One Child explores the far-reaching social and economic impact of the policy. In our conversation, Mei explains how she got the idea for the book, how she meticulously conducted the research that went into it, and the process she went through to pitch it to publishers, write it, and edit it. She also shares some inspiring and very practical advice for writers, and she reveals her favorite writing craft book—which happens to be one of my favorites as well! For more information about Mei, and to find a link to her book on Amazon, just head to writewithimpact.com/episode62.  You can also learn more about Mei on her website at meifong.org.