Sam Diaz is a Senior Vice President of Digital Content at Burson, a role that draws on his background as both a longtime technology journalist and a corporate communications professional. He works across the agency’s full client portfolio, with an emphasis on technology companies, developing content strategies for brands and executives. He also counsels senior and C-suite leaders on thought leadership efforts to elevate their professional brands and position them for media engagements.
I got to know him over the past few years because we had similar roles within PR agencies. I admire his ability to juggle client and agency demands and deliver powerful, strategic content programs year after year.
Sam’s also a former journalist, so that might be another reason we get along so well. He has been a reporter, editor, blogger, podcaster, and video and radio personality for ZDNet, The Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, and Fresno Bee. In those roles, he covered emerging consumer and enterprise technologies, as well as Silicon Valley giants like Google, Facebook, Apple and Twitter.
Sam is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion initiatives and is a lifetime member and past financial officer of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He has served as Vice President of the Hispanic Public Relations Association’s Silicon Valley chapter and is active with Burson’s Hispanic/Latino Employee Resource Group.
I was excited to catch up with Sam this fall to talk about the role of content and the craft of creating it.
This is the latest in a series of interviews I'm doing with top content creators, editors, and writers. To get these posts in your inbox as they appear, subscribe now!
Dylan Tweney: Sam, let’s start with an overview. What type of content are you working on these days?
Sam Diaz: My focus is on thought leadership and strategy, primarily for C-suite executives. I work on big-picture, long-form content, but I also collaborate with clients on web content strategy, video scripting, keynote speeches, and more. My sweet spot, though, is executive-level content that addresses broader industry trends rather than individual products.
Dylan: How do you navigate finding the right voice when working with executives or brands?
Sam: You know, the funny thing about voice is that we all change our voice a little, depending on who we're speaking to. Think about how you might explain something to a child vs. a colleague and the tone of voice and language you would use for each of them. So the first thing you need to figure out is who your audience is and what your publication is.
Beyond that, go back and ask yourself: What’s the purpose of this piece of content? Does it explain how something works or is it informing the audience about something, like a new product or service? That also impacts your voice.
Once you’ve got that, you sprinkle in some anecdotes or analogies to add some personality.
“The funny thing about voice is that we all change our voice a little, depending on who we're speaking to”
Dylan: Clients often cite “voice” as an issue when they’re dissatisfied. How do you handle that?
Sam: You’re right; it’s rarely about voice. Usually, it’s messaging. I focus on clarifying the key takeaways: What do you want the audience to understand or feel?
Messaging and voice are connected, but if you try to leapfrog over the messaging exercise, you're doing yourself an injustice when it comes to content.
Here’s an analogy. You can swim anywhere in the pool. This is your business and your industry, and you could go anywhere, because you know it. But what are your swim lanes? If you haven’t figured that out, you’re not going to get to the finish line, no matter how well you swim.
Without clarity on where you’re an authority, your messaging can feel scattered.
I often ask clients, if you had to list the three takeaways, three things you want readers to take from this piece, what are they?
Dylan: How do you handle endless revisions and “approval hell” with clients?
Sam: It starts with setting the tone early. I label first drafts clearly, like “Here’s my initial take—feedback welcome,” and I might even highlight areas where I think more input is needed. This encourages collaboration rather than criticism.
If they’re giving me feedback on a draft, I ask them: can you give me specific examples of where you think I'm off the mark?
Certainly, things can spiral with edits and approvals. When I make edits, I often highlight parts of the content that are there for a reason, maybe because it’s a reference that will resonate with the audience or it’s a piece of insight that advances the greater objective. And when something is written in a specific way because of the publication’s guidelines, it’s good to point that out, too. That’s a diplomatic way of guiding rather than pushing back.
Dylan: What about interviewing subject matter experts? Any tips on how to get the most out of sourcing calls with execs?
Sam: I like to ask them to explain things as if I’m four years old—it forces clarity. I also use analogies to help make sure I have a solid understanding of the complexities of what we’re discussing, so that I can explain it to the audiences. For example, I often compare internet infrastructure to traffic jams because most people can relate to and visualize traffic.
It’s crucial to put subject matter experts at ease. I stress that nothing gets published without their review, so that they feel safe speaking freely. Establishing rapport helps capture the authenticity within their voice.
Dylan: How have you been working with AI? Any advice on how to integrate AI into your workflow?
Sam: A bit. I do use some online AI tools to organize notes and transcripts or pull takeaways from calls, which is a huge timesaver. However, I don’t rely on AI for writing. AI can miss the nuances that come with wordsmithing. If you use AI to draft, you still need to edit it rigorously. It’s a tool, not a substitute for craftsmanship.
“Writer’s block is a very real thing. But deadlines are even more real.”
Dylan: In the kind of work that we do, effective collaboration is so critical to getting a good result. How do you foster effective teamwork?
Sam: Clear roles are essential. If someone is drafting, I wait until they’re ready for my feedback. And then, what's my role? To polish it, to clean it up, to tighten it? Or sometimes, blow it up. But if I ever get to point where it needs blowing up, I am more likely to inject comments throughout. If it needs that much work, I feel like I owe the original writer some feedback so that they can polish their own skills for the next one. I can certainly offer some suggestions, and if I want to rewrite something, I want to give them a reason why.
My role is to not undercut anyone as they’re writing. And I think it’s really, really important for everybody to know their role.
Also, writing is a thinking process. It’s different for everyone. Find the time that works for you. I was a newspaper guy, so I got to where I could churn out a story in a couple of hours under deadline pressure, but not everybody has that experience. Some people work best early in the morning or late at night. I try to accommodate that.
Obviously, writer's block is a very real thing, so no one should beat themselves up over it. But deadlines are even more real. I consider deadlines to be pretty sacred. So if a deadline is going to be blown, there should be good reason, more than “I wasn't feeling it yet.”
Dylan: Sam, this has been a great conversation. Here’s one final question before we wrap: What’s the one thing people most misunderstand about content?
Sam: People underestimate its value. Content can educate. It can inform, it can entertain, it can enlighten. We engage with content all day, whether it's social media posts, or an anchor on the news, or something that we're reading.
We engage with content without any real thought about what goes into creating it. I use words like entertain, engage, and enlighten because I think a really good piece of content does all of that. But good content doesn't just come out of thin air. It's a craft. It's an art. It's a science. It's a little bit of everything.
I’ve been edited at mainstream newspapers and that process is so rigorous. They pay close attention to the nuances of every word. They ensure the information is as accurate and reliable as possible. It’s a lot of work. So when that whole “fake news” thing gets thrown around, it’s so frustrating, because I know that so much work goes into delivering the news.
If we became a little bit more sophisticated with the way we engage with content, maybe there might be a bit more respect for the process of creating it.
