PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

Taking from TED: What every speechwriter can learn from TED talks

Love them or hate them, TED Talks are hot. Their cultural influence is felt from the grassroots to the corner office, and for good reason: TED Talks promote ideas, spark conversations and engage, challenge and inspire audiences. For speechwriters caught in organizational tar pits, TED Talks offer a chance to find new energy and new techniques to reach audiences, tap their speaker’s heart and passion and make mundane speeches memorable. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to apply the trendsetting techniques of TED to your executive communications.

You’ll learn how to:

• Reach a broader audience by getting your speakers to think beyond “key messages”
• Learn the secrets to making topics, approaches and supporting evidence fresh, novel and original
• Master the four stories that make people feel and believe—and get your speakers to tell them
• Persuade through both logic andemotion
• Create visuals that make your audiences sit up and listen, not fall asleep

We’ll also discuss the keys to putting on a successful TEDx event for your organization.

Bringing an authentic executive voice to your communications

Are audiences tuning out because your leadership messages are turning them off? It might be time to add some new tools and tactics to your executive communications strategy. It starts with the leader. Attend this interactive workshop to discover new approaches for capturing executive voice and personality. Susanne Frame will show you how to craft emails, blogs, social media posts and more to pique the interest of audiences and humanize top executives. You’ll leave having transformed one of your own assignments.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• Angles for identifying the voice that works for your executives and their goals
• Examples of executives who got it right—and ones who fell flat in their efforts to be relatable
• Tactics to get executives on board with conversational writing and plain language
• How to add more style and personality to everything you write, without coming on too strong or appearing glib
• The right tone and channels to use when communicating on sensitive topics

Lunch on your own

Training execs for crisis communications: Best practices for working leaders into your crisis plan

Even the most meticulous crisis communications plan can come undone in an instant if an organization’s leadership isn’t fully prepared when the cameras start to roll. In this workshop, you’ll learn best practices and actionable tips for effective message development, executive media engagement and crisis-oriented media training from veteran crisis counselor and media trainer Nick Lanyi of Ragan Consulting Group.

You’ll learn how to:

• Develop messages for your leaders that won’t get discarded at the first sign of trouble
• Establish trust between the news media and key leaders—before a crisis hits
• Effectively train top-tier spokespeople for crisis interviews—including ambushes
• Use spokespeople’s personalities and strengths to their advantage instead of trying to change them
• Avoid pitfalls that increase reputational damage—or waste opportunities