Communications Training

How Can We Effectively Manage Communications in This Age of E-mail, Blogs, and YouTube?

Every organization, public or private, should be asking this question today. No one can control all of the external information channels in this era of up-close and personal media. Today, organizations must manage communications internally to be effective. Communications today is too complex and multileveled to be left only for the marketing or public relations professionals in an organization. EEI Communications provides a series of customized training workshops to help businesses, associations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies manage communications more effectively at every level within the organization.

Every employee should be trained not only to communicate well, but also to understand the impact of poor, inaccurate or just plain careless communications. That’s why we offer a series of workshops designed to increase the communications skills of all members of an organization, from the front desk clerk to the CEO. For example:

• Persuasive Communications is designed for middle and upper management who set and then must convey the organization’s “key messages” in a convincing, compelling manner.
• Media Spokesperson Training prepares executives to deal effectively with the mass media of television, print, and radio.
• Crisis Communications provides a comprehensive approach to handling situations that threaten an organization.
• Cost-Effective Public Relations provides strategy and tactics for cost-effective public relations inside of an organization

Persuasive Communications

Successful communicators always answer one question before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. This course will help you learn why that question is so critical to persuasive communications. Even more important, you will learn how to find the answer.

This is a basic course for anyone who needs to sell products and ideas inside or outside an organization. It explores how our world has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, and how we must adapt our communications in this new environment. You will learn how to –

• Get your key message across in one minute or less.
• Understand the difference between product attributes and benefits and why this difference is important.
• Frame your message to your audience.
• Think and write from the “outside in,” not the “inside out.”
• Select the best communications vehicle for your message.
• Incorporate the essential elements in all your verbal or written communications.
• Avoid the traps common to most communications today.

Instructors use a combination of lecture, real-world examples, class discussion, and group exercises to give students practical tips and new ways to think about the communications process.

This course is offered exclusively as a customized training session tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Please contact us for more information and pricing.

Media Spokesperson Training

Learn to take the best and worst a reporter has to offer and how to stay “on message” no matter what. Can you deliver your key message in 10 seconds or less? If not, this workshop will teach you how.

This is a hands-on training session for anyone who may have to speak to media on behalf of his or her organization. It takes the basics of effective media relations and applies them to on-camera and other live interview situations. This workshop incorporates interview tips with exercises and critiques in an environment that approximates the real world of cameras and aggressive reporting. You will learn how to –

• Plan and conduct a news briefing.
• Be confident in TV studio interviews.
• Translate your message to a sound bite.
• Deal with reporters on your terms.
• Conquer the “in-your-ear” remote interview.
• Stay “on message” in a difficult interview.

The course is designed to be intense but fun, while you increase your confidence in working with reporters and become more comfortable in front of the camera. The class offers the option of on-camera practice in handing interviews and news conferences.

This course is offered exclusively as a customized training session tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Please contact us for more information and pricing.

Crisis Communications

Entire organizations have fallen because of communications mistakes during a crisis. In fact, what you do and say in the first minutes and hours of a crisis can determine whether your organization survives.

This workshop is designed for middle and senior managers, public relations and marketing staff, and others who may be on a crisis management team. The course covers internal and external crisis communications, the core elements of a crisis management plan, and suggests a blueprint for coordinating emergency teams and communications staff with media. You will learn how to –

• Build your plan, based on a simple four-step model for managing a crisis.
• Identify a true crisis versus an unpleasant or undesirable situation.
• Efficiently coordinate emergency actions and communications for the most effective crisis management.
• Manage media, including setting up press rooms, handling news briefings, and developing effective spokesperson techniques.
• Avoid or minimize potential crises by preventive techniques.
• Follow the “Ten Commandments of Crisis Communications.”

The course combines lectures and discussion with interactive exercises and practice sessions where student teams deal with various crisis scenarios. Note: this course is often taught in conjunction with the Media Spokesperson Workshop as a two-day class, which includes on-camera practice sessions in handling news conferences, interviews, and media statements.

This course is offered exclusively as a customized training session tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Please contact us for more information and pricing.

Cost-Effective Public Relations

Not many organizations have multimillion-dollar PR budgets, but that has not stopped smart organizations from using cost-effective public relations to build and maintain good relationships with all their “publics.”

This course looks at public relations as an integral part of any organization’s strategic planning. Although it incorporates practical advice on dealing with mass media (publicity), it also teaches students about other cost-effective PR tactics. You will learn how to –

• Write a practical, useable communications plan to keep you and your organization focused.
• Create productive relationships with any organization’s range of constituencies, from employees to community decision-makers.
• Gain top management support for your programs.
• Develop a professional media relations program, with tips on dealing with the media, using the Internet, pitching stories, and preparing attention-getting written materials.

This flexible course can be structured to help participants with specific communications challenges and needs. Lecture, exercises, and group discussion provide a chance to step away from your organization for a time and consider new communications opportunities.