Getting to grips with the ever-changing world of technology is the focus for a book by top communication guru and leadership counselor, Robert Dilenschneider.

The book, entitled 'Power and Influence: The Rules Have Changed', was being promoted by Mr. Dilenschneider on a trip to the Island last week.

He also plans to host a one-and-a-half day seminar in Bermuda twice a year for 300 to 400 top executives from telecommunications companies in the Fortune 200 from across the world, starting in Spring 2009.

The meeting will centre on the main topics of the day, such as international affairs, the economy and some of the social trends in life, with Jack Devine, the No.2 in the CIA, the former head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvey Pitt, and possibly Bill Emmott, editor of The Economist speaking at the event and the venue is yet to be confirmed.

Mr. Dilenschneider, who has written 14 books on communications, careers, and how to influence and succeed in life, including two best-sellers, said he was inspired to write the book because he noticed people were communicating in a completely different way from before and he wanted to better understand the new rules for doing so.

"I saw so much technology and bad stuff on the Internet that I said 'There has got to be a better way'," he said.

"I saw a lot of desperate people out there who were over 50 and were afraid to look at the keyboard and read words like Facebook and YouTube and did not know what to do, and I said 'I need a book to help these people'.

"My view of the book is really simply that technology has waded into everything and it has changed everything.

"You have got to have the most basic level of understanding and using technology and if you can do that you can be successful."

'Power and Influence' was first written in 1986, later became a best seller, being well-received in the US, and is now in its third edition, according to Mr. Dilenschneider, who has been visiting Bermuda since 1969. And he believes there are three key messages in the book, namely getting over the fear of technology in order to succeed, using the skill of penning a written note to good effect, and how a spouse can help their partner succeed.

"A lot of old people are scared that they cannot master technology, but they should not be," said Mr. Dilenschneider.

"But, there are some easy things to do to make you more effective - they have a better grasp of material and substance and put arguments together better than younger people because they have more experience.

"If you can put an argument, which they are very good at because they have been trained, you can be very successful.

"Technology is so powerful today that Facebook and YouTube really embodies the whole thing and things are constantly being reinvented.

"If you write a hand-written note today people pay attention - people who understand that and take the time to do that will be much more successful than those who do not.

"There is also a message for spouses and this is the way that your spouse can actually make a difference to help their partner."

Mr. Dilenschneider, who is the founder and CEO of The Dilenschneider Group, a public relations firm based in New York, and was also the former president and CEO of Hill & Knowlton Inc., as well as counseling some major corporations and professional groups around the globe, said the book is all about making people realise technology is here to stay and that they had better understand it to get ahead in the game, while it also has a number of applications for use in Bermuda and, indeed, for Bermudians.

"Bermuda has one of the highest standards of living in the world and its is important, I am sure, for Bermudians to maintain that," he said.

"To maintain that Bermudians need to keep ahead of the step of the rest of the world and I think this book will have messages to enable them to do that.

"I think it will tell Bermudians what is happening in the rest of the world and how to access it - it will tell the Bermuda Government how it can be part of the world scene.

"Bermuda, for many years, attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and I do not think Bermuda has gone in the last couple of years and I think there would be significant benefits if they attended the Forum.

"Bermuda could also play a big role in financial services globally, while tourism is extremely important in Bermuda for direct foreign investment, and the World Economic Forum might be impressed enough to decide to hold a meeting in Bermuda and bring world leaders there if they attended it.

"If the book does its job, it will get older people interested in technology and help younger people formulate better ways of arguments."

Mr. Dilenschneider's book costs $22.95 and book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.