Changing the long-held views of farmers in Africa on organic growing can prove challenging. That is why an international plant science organization, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, called Eileen Wixted and Lauri Freking to Seattle for an intensive issues communication training.
We helped an Alaskan statewide health provider enhance the presentation and media relations skills of its CEO and key spokespeople. Over a two-day, executive communication skills and media training in Anchorage, we helped leaders grow more confident in communicating.
In advance of the launch of a new treatment for patients with chronic liver disease, we provided presentation training and moderator training in Chicago for a team of Medical Science Liaisons for a global biotechnology company. The team is preparing for one-on-one and small group presentations and advisory board meetings with physicians and health care providers.
In October Ray Thompson and Dimitri Schildmeijer were in Holland providing advanced presentation skills training for managers from a prominent Dutch company. That program was followed by a session in Brussels for the Secretary General and staff from a European research association specializing in environmental, health and safety issues. The group is enhancing its communications with entities of the European Commission.
In the face of systemic, national health care reform, a major Midwest health insurance company, insuring more than 2 million people, sought our expert guidance in delivering its message before a hostile audience. We trained 250 team members in a series of media awareness seminars.
Stephanie Nora White and Rebecca Theim co-authored the December Forbes.com article titled, "WikiLeaks and the New Corporate Disclosure Crisis." A related commentary by the team, "Lessons from WikiLeaks: What Execs Need to Know in a Crisis," appears on Portfolio.com in January 2011. Both are featured at www.wpntcommunications.com under Articles & Tips. An excerpt from the Forbes.com commentary appears below.
"...WikiLeaks is ushering in a new form of the reputational crisis in which the way an organization and its leaders operate, think, and respond is made public. Careless comments, along with the kinds of corporate WikiLeaks disclosures Assange promises, show the true underbelly of an organization and can do the most damage."
Almost 20 associates of this leading private equity firm participated in three days of executive presentation skills training. The associates, with Wall Street analyst and consulting backgrounds also received private, communications coaching during the programs which were conducted in California.
We led a two-day media and crisis communication training with a Kansas nuclear client. A total of 20 organization leaders, including legal council, spokespeople and senior engineers, learned to deal with hostile media and concerned stakeholders from a real world crisis simulation.
A two-day program in Dallas for strategic planning executives offered both advanced presentation skills followed by advanced media training. Led by Alison Freeman and Rhonda Hughes, the program helped nine participants see how improved communication skills with key internal and external stakeholders can drive business performance.
We traveled to the South Pacific to provide five days of training for managers from a multinational client. To economize time and travel we offered back-to-back advanced media training, executive speech coaching, and presentation skills training programs.
A combination executive speech coaching and advanced media training session for four senior executives included two of our trainers and two technicians. The high ratio of staff-to-participants ensured the leaders received ample individual camera time and feedback.
Forty project managers gathered in Houston where we offered a customized stakeholder engagement training workshop. Participants circulated through four on-camera simulations – a private meeting with a government official, a town hall meeting with community members, a small group meeting, and an open house poster session.
Presenting one’s company in a positive light during a crisis is vital. Executives at a national food supplier practiced effective communication in media and crisis training. Later, the multi-million dollar organization called on our team for a crisis drill and commissioned an internal crisis plan.
A private executive speech coaching session for the newly named president of an energy company helped the executive build rapport with his employees through an introductory webcast. We help successful leaders become better communicators.
In early December, country chairpersons from several Caribbean and Central American countries participated in crisis communications training in Houston. The tailored program emphasized real-life issues and vulnerabilities in each executive’s country.
The quarter ended with an important addition to our rank of senior associates in Europe. Neil Chapman, most recently Government & Public Affairs manager for BP, has joined forces with WPNT to serve clients from London. Neil played a leading role in BP’s response to the Gulf of Mexico tragedy, especially the use of social media. Neil is a seasoned crisis professional and will provide communications services and training for our clients and others.
One of the nation’s largest electronic funds transfer networks (ATM machines) engaged us to strengthen the skills of its five senior decision makers in executive media communications training in December. Working with more than 1,600 financial institutions in 30 states, this organization needed to enhance its media relations capabilities.
FDA advisory panel presentations are key to the approval of new treatments for patients with life threatening diseases. Alison Gregory Pope and Scott Pope provided coaching for a top scientific executive of an international pharmaceutical company based in Boston prior to his advisory panel presentation to gain approval of a new treatment for a chronic neurological disease.
Top executives of a global gaming company who are managing major casinos or preparing to open new casinos across the USA participated in media training with us in St. Louis in November.
As part of an ongoing training program for Medical Scientists of a leading Biotech, Alison Gregory Pope and Scott Pope traveled to London to coach international team members to be more effective in their communication with HIV Key Opinion Leaders in countries around the world.
A potential threat to a federal government contractor, launched in the blogosphere and then picked up by Fox News was neutralized with our team’s help. Threat management counsel and writing were provided. Efforts to manage misinformation can be daunting and require swiftness and agility by the affected organization.
In preparation for a worldwide leadership conference, we supported the CFO of a $20 billion manufacturing company, with continuing executive communications coaching. Significant changes to financial and operational metrics were key themes of the talk. The organization’s top 300 leaders gathered at the company’s Midwest headquarters.
We aided with the release of two, new reports on sustainability and innovation developed by a leading professional services firm. Executive communications coaching and executive media training were conducted for firm partners in Washington, D.C. & Chicago.
Almost a dozen consultants and associates of this national, executive search firm underwent a basic, executive presentation skills training program near Chicago. The participants focused on not only preparing for search shootouts, but improving effectiveness with potential clients and candidates via telephone and videoconference.
To reinforce the concepts and techniques of its executive media training, we have begun production of a series of learning vignettes for this Fortune 50 manufacturer. The Media Minutes will be available to senior leadership, who’ve already participated in training, via the company intranet.
Our team traveled to Paris to continue its Leadership Development Program for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. We are providing executive communications coaching for a team of global asset leaders to sharpen their ability to communicate strategically with key stakeholder audiences both internally and externally.
Zarley Law Firm, a leading patent and intellectual property law firm based in Des Moines, Iowa sought our assistance to attract media attention for a recent victory for one of its clients in a patent lawsuit. The resulting story was featured on the front page of the Business Record http://www.zarleylaw.com/news.php.
When a small business owner’s questioning of President Obama made him a national figure he called on us to hone his message with executive communication coaching. Today, this Iowa entrepreneur is a recognized small business spokesman regularly appearing on MSNBC’s Squawk on the Street. He’s an on-ir contributor to MSNBC’s Small Business Roundtable and has appeared on FOX News.