Erik Deckers | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Bio

Author, speaker, social media expert, content marketing strategist.

• Owned a content marketing & social media marketing agency since 2009.

• Co-authored "The Owned Media Doctrine" (Archway Publishing, 2013).

• Co-authored "No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing" (Pearson, 2011).

• Co-authored "Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself" (Pearson, 2010; 2nd ed., 2012).

• Helped write Twitter Marketing for Dummies (Wiley, 2009).

• Professional writer with more than 1,700 published columns, articles, and reviews.

• Professional speaker with more than 250 speeches, presentations, and seminars.

• Six years of managing freelance writers.

• Five years of management experience of both salespeople and public information officers.

Current position (3)

President, Owner

Pro Blog Service

Newspaper Humor Columnist (syndicated)

Laughing Stalk syndicate

Professional Speaker

Erik Deckers Speaking

Degrees (3)

Communications, M.A. Coursework

Ball State University

1991 to 1992

College Student Personnel Administration, M.A.

Ball State University

1988 to 1989

Philosophy, B.S.

Ball State University

1984 to 1988

Presentations

Presentations (4)

Ten Professional Humor Writing Secrets

Humor lives in the gap between the ridiculous and the real. It's the humorist who can wedge themselves firmly in that gap and tell the rest of the world what they find. It's not a gift, it's not innate, it's something anyone can learn and use in their own writing.

Anyone who tells you otherwise should be poked in the eye.

If you thought that was funny, that's because there's a formula to humor writing. Many writers don't realize there is, and so they don't attempt it. But all the jokes you hear on TV or read in books or newspaper columns follow some part of the formula, and everyone had to learn it.

Long-time humor writer Erik Deckers will teach you how to crack the humor formula. He'll share ten secrets to finding humor in almost every situation (including the ones you're not supposed to), and the techniques professionals use to "write funny" without resorting to tired clichés, stereotypes, and old knock-knock jokes.

10 Professional Writing Secrets for Content Marketers

Professional writing isn't stuffy and overwrought. It's simple and elegant, and uses the best and fewest words to convey your ideas. If you want your writing to stand out, there are certain maxims to follow, otherwise you'll be lost in a sea of mediocrity and "meh."

You'll learn how to bend language to your will, how to break the rules we learned in 7th grade, and why words like "meh" can convey so much meaning.

Three takeaways:
1) How to eliminate needless clutter in your writing.
2) How to humanize your writing and not sound like a robot.
3) How to simplify complex ideas and processes in a few simple words.

8 Marketing Secrets We Can Learn from the Giants of Fiction

Too often, marketers refer to them as storytellers without actually ever telling a story. But a good story has a plot, conflict, and heroes and villains. These are all elements we can bring to marketing as well. Case studies and how to articles can absolutely benefit from a storytellers touch.

This talk covers 8 different fiction writing secrets that marketers — especially content marketers — can use to spice up their brand story, make it appealing to potential customers, and increase their overall participation and sales.

12 Steps to Improve Your Writing

It's frustrating for beginning writers who want to hone their craft, but aren't given much direction beyond "write every day," and "read a lot." Most so-called content marketing secrets are nothing more than "write good stuff," which is completely unhelpful. Wouldn't it be great if there was just one list of tips you could follow?

This session will look at different writing secrets professionals use to produce tight, interesting content and break them down into simple steps everyone can use to improve their own writing. We'll learn how to cut out unnecessary language and filler words, how to harness metaphors and similes to better understand complex ideas, and which grammar rules you should ignore.

We'll look at some unusual advice that every professional writer knows (and even does), why inspiration is the downfall of many writers, and one psychological trick that will cut years off your learning curve.

Past talks (11)

10 Personal Branding Secrets for Authors

Space Coast Writers Guild

Melbourne, FL

December 31, 2016

10 Humor Writing Secrets

Florida Writers Association

Orlando, FL

December 31, 2015

10 Personal Branding Secrets for Authors

Florida Writers Association

Orlando, FL