ICM Certification Course
In Crisis Communications

Overview

The ICM Certification Course has been presented since 1990 for executives and consultants who will have the responsibility for managing the communications responses during a business crisis. The Course is limited to ten (10) participants to ensure their active involvement in the presentations, discussions and crisis exercises.

Each two-day course focuses on techniques for preventing internal business crisis situations from going "public" or minimizing the damage to the organization's ongoing business when public disclosure cannot be avoided. One important topic is the development of realistic crisis communications plans that can be implemented immediately, regardless of when the disruption occurs. Another subject is how to gain and maintain top management support for crisis management when the organization has no crisis.

Data from the unique ICM Crisis Database is used to point out the trends in crisis situations that are stimulating the most media attention for the business community. The Course emphasizes realistic problem solving and the importance of hands-on experience in preventing or controlling crisis situations. Participants work on four exercises based on actual business crisis events.

Faculty

Larry L. Smith, ICM's president and a 45-year veteran of the news media, business and government public relations.

Agenda:
ICM Crisis Management Certification Course

Day One

Day Two

Location

ICM Certification Courses are conducted in conference facilities in downtown Louisville. Special hotel rates and local transportation are available.

Fees

Registration in each course is limited to ten (10) participants. The registration fee includes the course textbook, seminar materials and lunches.

For further information contact:

Yvonne Smith
Institute for Crisis Management
(502) 587-0327
(502) 587-0329 (Fax)

Summary

The Institute's ongoing research indicates most organizations do not understand how to prevent crisis events that will generate significant adverse publicity. They also have difficulty responding effectively during a crisis to minimize the damage to their business and its reputation in the aftermath. The fundamental purpose of the ICM Crisis Certification Course is to address those vulnerabilities by providing a high level of instruction and realistic training exercises in crisis communications.

Crisis Spokesperson Interview Training
An optional third day of crisis interview training is provided in conjunction with each of the two-day Crisis Certification Courses. This intensive session has proven invaluable for many company executives and communications practitioners who have to face the news media in crisis situations. The one-day workshop includes three on-camera interviews in different settings which focus on a likely crisis each participant will encounter in their respective businesses. Interviews are conducted by Larry Smith. He will review and analyze key points for participants following each interview. Because of the one-on-one nature of this training, participation is limited to eight registrants.

Overview

News media interviews can intimidate even the most seasoned business executive, especially in a crisis situation where pack journalism prevails. As a result, many take great pains to avoid such exposure, or rise to the occasion with great reluctance--which shows on TV screens of millions of consumers. The irony, and tragedy, is that they often have important points which need to be made which can balance out the public perceptions of the crisis that are received via the news media so the damage to the organization's business can be minimized.

What separates those who are comfortable and successful in dealing with the news media and those who are not? In a word, control--control of the media situation. Most of us are not naturally inclined to achieve this kind of control under normal circumstances, and especially not in the chaos of a crisis. But that control of the media under any circumstances can be achieved, if the person has been trained to gain and maintain it, knowing he or she has the information the media needs to develop its stories.

How the ICM Course is Conducted

ICM's Crisis Interview and Response Training is custom tailored for the participants, with the planning process beginning long before the actual session. The program will deal with the various types of print and broadcast news organizations the participants are likely to encounter in a crisis and will give practical tips for responding to each type of media as well as to people who may contact the participants by phone.

The television interview and response segment includes at least two on-camera interviews. Our intent is to give the participants sufficient practice and experience on camera so they will know how to respond to any questions that may be asked by a reporter. By the time of the background briefing in the afternoon, they will have the confidence they need to handle any type of TV interview.

Participants will not be subjected to demeaning interviews by "obnoxious" reporters, since that is unrealistic in crisis situation--Reporters know if they get too hostile with a spokesperson they will be shunned afterward and thus cut out of subsequent developments. However, participants will learn how to defer in a courteous manner any questions or interviews that they are not prepared to handle at the time.

A journalist, rather than PR people, conduct and then analyze the on-camera interviews. Based on his years of experience in broadcast journalism, Larry Smith knows how to ask the kinds of questions that the participants are likely to encounter in an interview. He also will show videotape examples and relate news room war stories that will help the participants grasp what to do, and not do, to make their points convincingly during the interview.

Agenda
Media Interview Training

Schedule: 2009/2010 Spokesperson Training Schedule

July 16, 2009 Sept. 17, 2009 Feb. 4, 2010 May 13, 2010 July 22, 2010 Sept. 23, 2010

Fees

Location

ICM Certification Courses are conducted at a conference center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

For further information contact:

Yvonne Smith
Institute for Crisis Management
(502) 587-0327
(502) 587-0329 (Fax)