This session will identify and describe the actions companies and their leaders can take to safeguard their corporate reputations, and rebuild their reputations and restore their good names after a crisis.
Jon HarmonJon Harmon is a communications consultant and author. He founded Force for Good Communications, a consultancy offering services ranging from brand-building media relations to crisis communications. His book on crisis communications, Feeding Frenzy: Inside the Ford-Firestone Crisis, was published in October, 2009. Previously, Jon was vice president – Communication and Reputation at Navistar, a global manufacturer of commercial trucks and military vehicles.
Jon’s career includes 23 years at Ford Motor Company in virtually every aspect of public relations, including media relations, employee and dealer communications, governmental affairs, issues management, product promotion, crisis communications and communications strategy.
The Force for Good blog is centered on the conviction that reputation is a company’s greatest asset, and that doing the right things in terms of corporate social responsibility can lead directly to success in the market. The most effective means of protecting and enhancing reputation is a consistent dedication to “aspirational public relations” built on transparency, honesty, integrity and social responsibility.
Think of any great presenter—Steve Jobs, Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos—and it won’t take you long to figure out that they are also master storytellers. Storytelling is increasingly becoming a “must-have” skill for business leaders, but you still won’t find it on any MBA curriculum.
This webinar will give you a deeper understanding why story is such a powerful strategic tool and how it can be used in the business setting. We will show you a specific “before and after” example of how a case study was transformed into powerful case story for pitching new business. We’ll also give you some key tips on how to craft and use stories to make an impact in your next big presentation or business meeting.
“As an ex-newspaper reporter, I have always recognized the value of storytelling. This webinar helped provide a great framework for bringing people into the important strategic and cultural stories I need to be communicating.”
What You Will Learn:
- The neuroscience and psychology that proves why stories work
- Tips for transforming run-of-the-mill presentation content into powerful stories that engage audiences
- How storytelling can be used as strategic tool to build chemistry and trust with others
- How even data-driven presentations can benefit from the art of storytelling
- The difference between conventional storytelling and strategic storytelling for business purposes. Please bring your ideas and questions!
Who Should Attend
This webinar is primarily aimed at those in the early stages of implementing or learning about strategic business storytelling, although it will also help more advanced practioners to focus their efforts. It is especially suitable for:
- Small and mid-sized business leaders
- Corporate executives who are new to storytelling
Presented by:
Jane Praeger is a former documentary filmmaker and faculty member in Columbia University’s M.S. program in Strategic Communications and Communications Practice where she teaches presentation design and delivery, communications strategy, strategic storytelling and writing. She founded Ovid Inc. in 1992 to help people find their public voices. Since then, she has provided speech, presentation, media training and customized workshops, to corporations such as Nickelodeon, Coach, Estee Lauder, McKinsey & Company, Euro RSCG Worldwide, as well as other technology, entertainment, and consulting firms. On the non-profit side, she has worked with Open Society Foundations, Doctors Without Borders, Atlantic Philanthropies, The Ms. Foundation, Harvard University, Columbia University Business School, and many others.
Heather Thomas is a business builder who has clocked countless hours performing “on stage” in the presentation spotlight. She earned her stripes in the agency world, working at Agency.com, Modem Media and the digital agency Critical Mass where she built their Business Development and Corporate Marketing practice from the ground up, ultimately tripling their revenue. After crafting hundreds of high-stakes presentations to win clients such as Procter & Gamble, NASA and Dell, Heather joined Ovid in 2010 to pass what she learned about persuasive presentations to others. In addition to her work with Ovid, Heather runs Winsome, a business development consulting boutique. She is also an adjunct instructor at Columbia University where she teaches Masters students the art of strategic storytelling. Heather is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University.
This webinar by James E. Lukaszewski, one of America’s most thoughtful and visible crisis advisors, will take participants through a high level strategic discussion of the crucial elements of crisis readiness. Lukaszewski defines a crisis as, “a people-stopping, show-stopping, product-stopping, reputation-redefining and trust-busting event that creates victims and/or explosive visibility.”
While his initial response strategy discussion will focus around his five crucial steps to take during the golden hour of crisis, he’ll also talk extensively about readiness and avoiding the most predictable gaffs and problems that can torpedo even a well-designed and practiced response process.
Lukaszewski will talk about the readiness process, what leaders should be doing when crises occur, as well as how to prevent crisis; the crucial missing ingredients of most crisis plans; victim management; response triggers; what you do first; the ideal grand response strategy; how to forecast your greatest vulnerabilities; and how managers can recover their leadership and the organization’s reputation as they respond appropriately during these powerful events.
Crisis situations present extraordinary threats to organization leadership and reputation. Much crisis readiness activity is geared toward managing the explosive media coverage that often occurs when crises erupt.
What you will learn:
- The five crucial steps to take during the golden hour after crisis erupts
- The seven crucial tests any readiness plan must pass to effectively manage crisis and recover your reputation
- The seven crisis response failure profiles and how to avoid them
- The four crucial things leaders need to do when crisis occurs
- The seven mistakes and gaffs leaders need to avoid
- A perfect response communicated poorly will always be remembered as a poor response
James E. Lukaszewski is the author of a dozen books and manuals on crisis management, being a trusted advisor, and overcoming various crisis situations. He’s a member of the Crisis Management and Business Continuation Council (CMBCC) of ASIS, and has served on several ASIS standard setting task forces, including Workplace Violence. Corporate Legal Times described Jim as, “one of 28 crisis experts who should be on your speed dial when all hell breaks loose.” PR Week describes him as, “one of 24 crunch-time counselors who needs to be at your fingertips when crises occur.” In 2013, Trust Across America listed him as one of the “Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior.” Jim’s clients will tell you that his strategy of doing things quickly, that are simple, sensible, constructive and positive is a powerful formula for success and reputation protection.
His latest book, Lukaszewski on Crisis Communication, What Your CEO Needs to Know About Reputation Risk and Crisis Management, released in March 2013, is now available at Amazon.com. You can follow James on Twitter and read hisCrisis Guru blog.
Hailed a “Celebrity CMO” by Forbes Magazine, and famous for his outspoken appearances on numerous television networks, Jeffrey Hayzlett is widely recognized as one of the most influential marketers of our time. He’ll talk to us about what he calls “The Mirror Test, ” the title of his new book and a new way to look at your company’s marketing and sales strategy. Hayzlett will share with you some of the newest ways to win with social media, redefine your elevator pitch and help you to transform your business. He has just lead one of the biggest iconic turnarounds of Kodak and is here to share how you can do the same for your business. Will your business be positioned to fog the mirror and grow in today’s new economy?
Learning Topics:
- How to give your business the mirror test and find out if it is really breathing
- Why and how you have to sharpen your elevator pitch
- How to win with social media
- How to really focus on your bottom line
Presented by:
Jeffrey Hayzlett is the bestselling author of the “The Mirror Test” on how you and your company must adapt or die. Speaking frequently around the world, his topics include business growth, communications, and marketing. Mr. Hayzlett also keynotes at events such as The Economist Marketing Summit, THE Conference on Marketing, the 140 Character Twitter Conference, CMO Summits, Mobile Marketing Forum, Digital Life Design Conference, Photo Marketing Association Conference, Direct Marketing Association Leadership Forum, and National Postal Forum. He is cited as a leading marketing expert in numerous books, magazines, and newspapers worldwide, and is a frequent television guest and commentator, having appeared on shows including CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Fox Business News, and NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump.
He has received numerous global marketing and business awards and honors, including the Frost & Sullivan Lifetime Achievement Award for marketing. He was named “Business to Business Marketer of the Year” by BtoB Magazine and “Direct Marketer of the Year” by the University of Akron Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. In 2008, Mr. Hayzlett was inducted into the College of Business Administration Direct Marketers Hall of Fame. In June 2009, he was awarded the prestigious “G.D. Crain Jr. Award for Marketing Excellence” and inducted into the BMA Hall of Fame at the Business Marketing Association’s annual conference. Previously, the U.S. Small Business Association named him “Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Mr. Hayzlett currently sits on the Business Marketing Association (BMA) board of directors and is a past chairman of BMA. He is a member of the advisory board of the CMO Council, chairman of the Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) Foundation for Marketing Education, a permanent trustee of the SMEI Academy of Achievement Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame, and a two-term past chairman of SMEI. He serves on Sales & Marketing Management Magazine’s 2009 Editorial Advisory Board. Mr. Hayzlett remains a trustee of Pi Sigma Epsilon National Education Foundation, an international sales and marketing fraternity.
Mr. Hayzlett has nearly 25 years of international marketing, sales, and customer relations management experience. He joined Kodak in April 2006 as Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of the Graphic Communications Group (GCG). In this role, he was responsible for leading all marketing activities for the business, including product positioning, segment marketing, branding, marketing communications, customer development, business research, marketing strategy, and business development activity. He became Chief Business Development Officer in September 2007 and was responsible for Brand Development and Management, Market Development, Corporate and Product Public Relations, Communications and Public Affairs, Corporate Sponsorships, Business Development, Corporate Relationships and Partnerships, and Marketing.
Webinar excerpt … Jeffrey Hayzlett on …
Business Transparency (3 min.)
Business Transparency (3 minutes)
Two areas of advice for professional marketers and communicators (1.5 minutes)
Jeffrey Hayzlett on Digital Life by Shelly Palmer
Too many companies – including some who should know better – still think that you have to choose between making money and making sense. You don’t.
Gil Friend, President & CEO, Natural Logic
A systems ecologist and business strategist with nearly 40 years experience in business, communications, and environmental innovation, Friend combines broad business experience with unique content experience spanning strategy, systems ecology, economic development, management cybernetics, and public policy. Tomorrow magazine called him “One of the country’s leading environmental management consultants—a real expert who combines theoretical sophistication with hands-on, in-the-trenches know-how.”
Friend is Adjunct Faculty at Presidio Graduate School, and guest faculty at California College of the Arts. He lectures widely on business strategy and sustainability issues and writes The New Bottom Line, offering strategic perspectives on business and environment. Friend is author of the acclaimed book The Truth About Green Business.
Activating Companies for Good: The Trojan Horse of Social Responsibility
How companies are innovating new ways to connect people, planet and engagement.
Judah Schiller, Co-founder and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi S, North America
Presented at:
COMMUNICATING SUSTAINABILITY 2010: Integrating Social Responsibility Into Your Organization’s DNA
How effective CEO presentations can help companies rebound during an economic downturn
When a company’s earnings and stock price are on the rise, it may not be critically important how well a CEO performs behind a lectern, in front of cameras and microphones, or at a hearing table. But as earnings and stock price head south, a CEO’s ability to inspire confidence through speeches and presentations can prove essential to a company’s ability to survive and recover. CEOs who communicate well can, at the very least, buy the time needed to put an effective turnaround strategy in place.
With the economy battered by the credit crisis, high fuel prices, and other maladies, growing numbers of corporate leaders face the challenge of finding ways to inspire key audiences who are both very worried and extremely important—employees, analysts, stockholders, regulators, and the press.
This webinar offers some very specific, hands-on advice how CEOs should communicate during tough times. The advice is based on the experience of key CEO’s who have been there and done that –Former CEOs Lee Iacocca of Chrysler and Champ Mitchell of Network Solutions, Jack Welch of GE, as well as current CEOs John Chambers of Cisco Systems and Brightpoint’s Robert Laikin. All used first-person communications effectively to turn companies around or dramatically boost their performance.
Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy once said, “Communication needs to be a core competency of any business. It starts with the CEO.”
You Will Learn How CEOs Can:
- Make communication a priority.
- Be proactive, not reactive
- Handle problems and mistakes.
- Develop and present a recovery plan.
- Match their presentations to their audience
- and much more
Presented by:
Dr. Jeff Porro, Ph.D. has written “first-person speeches” and provided communication strategies for the CEOs of Sodexo, Eastman Chemicals, the McGraw Hill Companies, Office Depot, the COO of General Mills, as well as for diplomats such as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and other government leaders, and presidents of some of the nation’s leading trade and professional associations. He helps corporate, government and nonprofit leaders take their visions to a new level, moving key audiences with speeches that engage minds, open eyes, touch hearts and awaken the spirit. In addition to offering his expertise to world and business leaders, he has extended his skills to the world of entertainment. Dr. Porro discovered and researched the true story of a Jim Crow-era African American college debate team, and helped turn it into the 2007 feature film The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington.
As head of Porro Associates, LLC, Dr. Porro draws on his background as a research scholar and a Washington policy analyst to weave persuasive arguments. At the same time, his creative writing has given him the skill and empathy to capture a speaker’s voice and evoke the speaker’s passion. Dr. Porro holds a Ph.D. in political science from U.C.L.A..
Robert Laikin, founder of Brightpoint, has served as a member of Brightpoint’s board of directors since its inception in August 1989. Mr. Laikin has been Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since January 1994. Mr. Laikin was President of Brightpoint from June 1992 until September 1996 and Vice President and Treasurer of Brightpoint from August 1989 until May 1992. From July 1986 to December 1987, Mr. Laikin was Vice President, and from January 1988 to February 1993, President of Century Cellular Network, Inc., a company engaged in the retail sale of cellular telephones and accessories. His honors and awards include:
- Recipient of the William L. Haeberle Entrepreneurial Legacy Award for 2008
- Inducted into the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame in 2008
- Received a Stevie Award for Best Turnaround Executive in 2007
- Recipient of the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award by the Kelley School of Business Alumni Association (1999)
- Recipient of the Indiana Entrepreneur of the Year Award (1995)
- Received an honorable mention in 1995 Inc. Magazine National Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Kelly R. Lang is Director of Strategic Communications in the Corporate Communications department of Cisco Systems. Ms. Lang joined Cisco in 2001 as Marketing Communications Manager and in 2003 joined the Office of the President as John Chambers’ Executive Communications Manager. Today, Ms. Lang is responsible for the Executive Communications and Operations functions including the Office of the Chairman and CEO (OCC), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the Chief Globalisation Officer (CGO). Prior to joining Cisco, Ms. Lang was Program Manager for a Global Event Marketing Organization, Nth Degree, from 1998-2000. From 1996-1998, Ms Lang was Assistant Director of Administration with RCI Group, Inc. after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, where she was recognized with outstanding student achievements including Maryland’s Talent and Tutor Search Program.
Ms. Lang is passionate about business and how communication helps drive business strategy to become a change agent for the organization. Her focus on process, operational excellence and hiring the right talent to support highly visible executives helps drive a more integrated, cross-functional communication effort that highlights the increasingly complex and important role of the communications professional.
Who Should Attend
This webinar is primarily aimed at communicators and executives trying to cope with a slowing economy, including external communications, internal communications, and shareholder communications.
Social media is a two-edged sword. We tend to only talk about the positive side — how social channels creatively deployed can greatly expand your organization’s marketing reach. Not much attention is paid to the dark, destructive side of social media — how a single customer complaint ignite a firestorm sweeping the Web and causing the most hardened organizations to panic. What to do? What to say?
This webinar explains the dynamics of customer activism in today’s democratized media world. It offers practical, actionable avoidance and response strategies for business executives and professional communicators. It also outlines processes to building an attack-proof culture that centers on customer satisfaction.
The good news is that bad buzz can be countered by earnest and savvy customer engagement. You can actually turn the angriest customers into raving fans.
“Great information that I can share with others who handle social media. Very informative and loved hearing the case studies.”
What You Will Learn:
- Why common business responses to customer complaints often make matters worse;
- Why complaining customers can be some of an organization’s most valuable assets;
- How vocal critics can be turned into raving fans with an active response strategy;
- How to manage and respond to comments on customer review sites;
- Customer support strategies for Facebook and Twitter;
- How to organize a team to identify and respond to attacks in minutes; and
- How to create a culture that puts customers first.
Who Should Attend
This webinar is designed for everyone who would like to help their organizations react to any online crisis that might erupt. It is especially suitable for:
- Brand managers, marketers, PR pros, social media managers, communications department staffers, public affairs, security, employee communications, media relations and issues management professionals.
Presented by:
Paul Gillin is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. Since 2005, he has advised marketers and business executives on strategies to optimize their use of social media and online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. He is a popular speaker who is known for his ability to simplify complex concepts using plain talk, anecdotes and humor.
Paul is a prolific writer who has written five books and more than 200 published articles since 2007, in addition to two blogs. His award-winning 2007 book, The New Influencers, chronicled the changes in markets being driven by the new breed of bloggers and podcasters. His most recent book is Attack of the Customers. It documents the increasing incidence of online customer negativity and tells of businesses can avoid being victimized.