Companies and institutions such as yours with a likelihood or possibility of being thrust into the public eye want to protect or enhance their hard-won reputations in at least two ways – media training and crisis/issues consulting.

1. Media Training - In advance of any kind of major event, whether negative or positive, you want to know how to draft and deliver reassuring messages to the public through the news media while not falling victim to hostile questions.

Your institution should have sufficient media-savvy people available 24/7. The absolute minimum should be two. Speed is absolutely essential.

2. Crisis/Issues Consulting – When a major event occurs or approaches, companies and institutions such as yours usually want the counsel of a media expert who can assist you with managing the event strategically and tactically.

Media training gives you the fundamental philosophy. Crisis/Issues consulting then helps you execute the philosophy in a specific situation.

This combination is vital for us to collaborate on challenging situations. For example, clients have needed urgent assistance while I could not personally come on scene. Nevertheless, because we all trained together and had the same philosophy, we were able to devise tactics even at long distance. This is security for you.

Media Training Framework

Here is the program that we follow during a typical media training session:

• Opening exercise. You and your colleagues face troublesome (or benign, if you wish) scenarios specific to your organization that you and I draft in advance. (The scenarios should be nearly identical to what you encounter in reality.) With only a minute to think, you must then endure a tough media interview with me about the situation. Videotape captures the often ineffective remarks.
  

• Critique. We review the videotape and evaluate each interview for trustworthiness, reassurance, knowledge, etc.
  

• Media truths. We discuss lessons learned including "Don't talk to reporters until you are prepared."
  

• Conflicting Roles. A brief discussion about why reporters and companies are often at odds.
  

• 3-Step Interview Preparation Model. You get a simple yet powerful format for preparing for all future media interviews - crisis or positive. You learn that your job is not simply to answer questions, but to seize the opportunity to deliver a reassuring message. We look at how to guide the interview to your messages.
  

• Message preparation and delivery. We use the model to prepare and actually deliver effective responses and compare them to the original interviews. Tremendous improvement is typical. We practice as often as we can in the time available for the number of people participating. (That is why fewer participants is better.)
  

• Crisis Communications and Planning Principles. We discuss how to manage a crisis, and ways to try to avoid one. If you wish, we can discuss rapport building with the media and attracting constructive news attention.
  

• Media Handbook and Audio CD. Since training reinforcement is critical, each participant gets (1) a handbook that is a permanent resource for dealing with the media and (2) the Rescue Your Reputation audio CD reinforces the principles.
  
  

Group Size - Media training works best with the smallest number of people because they get the personal attention needed for true skill building. I recommend no more than five people. Should you need to do a large group because they inherently work together – like HR chiefs or plant managers – then we can arrange a two-trainer program that would cover up to about 12 people. CEO’s sometimes want to work one-on-one to minimize their time involvement or for privacy reasons. That is no problem.

Session Length - Typically a full day from 9am to 330pm with a half-hour working lunch. I arrive an hour early to prepare the camera equipment that I bring. You provide a TV/VCR and flip chart (or laptop and overhead projectors for special-occasion large groups).

Location - I come to you to do the session so that you do not tie up valuable executive time with needless travel. For out of town sessions, I arrive the night before. In the immediate area we train at the nearest "city club", on-site, or at a location of your choosing.

Tuition - I usually specify the tuition only after we discuss your needs - numbers of people, length of session, etc. Then we develop the ideal session length and class-size to suit what you want.

Crisis/Issues Consulting Framework

This is my greatest value to protect or enhance your reputation because in this capacity I help you manage critical or crisis communications. Together we plot strategies for potential challenges or handle breaking events. (As you know, it’s often important to have an “outsider” involved in the decision-making.) Because we now have so many clients, we are converting bigger customers to annual agreements to assure them that we will be available 24/7. Sans agreement, my fees vary with the urgency of the situation, and the nature of the consult.

In summary, I typically recommend that clients:

1. Arrange media training for key executives and managers.

2. Sign an annual agreement to ensure our availability to you 24/7 (plus regular consultations on important issues that arise), or, at least, bring me on board as soon as a challenging situation arises or is anticipated. Crisis communications is “common sense at lightning speed” and we will need to act fast to stay ahead of the reporters and on top of public opinion.