A team of students with disabilities mentored by Spoken Word founder Dave Scallan recently participated in the Paving the Pathway to Success competition in Houston, Texas on Saturday June 22, 2024. 

Beginning in April

Dave gave the team a “problem statement” and asked them to complete a series of challenges related to the statement.  For this year’s group, Dave chose to simulate an explosion at a chemical plant in the Houston Ship Channel. 

Over the next two months

The team met three times each week. They learned how to write a press release, develop empathy statements and communicate with key stakeholders, including residents in the area of the plant as well as media outlets looking to cover the event. They also learned how to include empathy in all their communication, as well as how to become a credible source of information to both the public as well as the news media.

Finally, on June 22 after two months of hard work

The team presented their learnings in the form of a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation in front of an audience of over 100 guests.  Although they didn’t get the trophy this year, the team did an excellent job and received high marks from the judges. Most importantly, working with Dave helped the students build confidence in their abilities and increase their work readiness.

Paving the Pathway to Success is a program by the Gulf Coast Workforce Board and Texas Workforce Solutions Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The 7-month training program for young adults with disabilities (ages 16-22) helps students increase work readiness through a series of professional workshops designed to build confidence in their existing abilities by not focusing on their disabilities. The program’s vision is to bridge the gap between school and work by creating the same level of competitiveness with their peers who do not have a disability.

More about Paving the Pathway to Success

Contact Dave at Dave@spokenwordgroup.com

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All we have to do is watch the evening news to see how unexpected events suddenly explode into a public relations nightmare. We live in a world of an instant news cycle, which makes our immediate reaction and comments to any crisis so incredibly critical. Having a plan in place to deal with it is no longer discretionary—it’s essential.

So, perhaps you’re asking, what do I do about it?

Questions concerning crisis management are all the same: How do we react? What do we say? What should we NOT say? Who do we put in front of the media frenzy? And, how do we train and prepare for the inevitable?

Crisis Management is what we at Spoken Word do best.

We will put you and your executives through several challenging on-camera sessions. These are tough. They need to be. You may feel as though you have failed, but by the end of the day you’ll be amazed at the skills you’ve developed. You will be much more confident in your ability to handle the media and the public in whatever crisis occurs.

This training is especially important for mid- to upper-level executives.

It’s critical, because in the end, the public wants to see and hear from a person in charge. They want to know where the buck stops. It will be up to you to deliver the empathy, commitment and openness to calm their minds and reassure them that you have this crisis under control. We’ll teach you the skills on how to control an interview and maintain that proper narrative.

And if it’s been awhile since you have been through Crisis Training, it would be good to go through it again.

In my career as a journalist I have interviewed thousands of people and 95% of the time I was in control. For the remaining 5%, I would walk away from the interview and say to myself, “Wow, that person has been trained.” Bottom line is Crisis Management Training works.  Make it work for you for 2024!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and May the Peace of the Season be with you and your family throughout the New Year!

Spoken Word Communications can help you prepare for the unexpected.
Contact Dave.

Dave@spokenwordgroup.com

The post It’s not a matter of if, but when. first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Elements of a Robust Communication Strategy in the Face of an Energy Crisis

Traditionally during the winter season, business for the energy sector remains as usual; providing round-the-clock electricity and gas services to enable our communities to live comfortably indoors despite the harsh weather outside. However, global gas supply issues are causing energy security concerns and driving up prices across many parts of the world – particularly in Europe.

Various steps are being taken to address this situation

• USA is doubling the level of liquified natural gas (LNG) supplies into the UK over the next year to support UK and European energy security, help stabilise prices and replenish gas supplies impacted as a result of the Ukraine conflict.
• European member states will reduce their peak-hour demand requirements by 10% over the next three months to reduce energy consumption.
• UK has developed a ‘Demand Flexibility Service’, enabling customers to sign up with energy suppliers and be paid not use electricity appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and tumble driers across peak periods of the day. It will also implement controlled electricity disconnections to reduce demand in the event of an extreme situation.

All energy organizations need to be prepared for any eventuality during the winter season, as they are expected to respond effectively to incidents and restore their customers’ energy supply as quickly as possible. This requires robust crisis communication preparation and management.

CHECKLIST: How prepared are you to face a winter crisis?

Research shows that crisis-prepared companies face fewer emergencies. Here’s a checklist to help you determine how well you measure up.

Ensure incident procedures are up to date and fully brief staff.

Update communication material and make readily available for use with key stakeholders, for example, press releases, key messages, FAQs, operational facts and figures, website and social media posts, company photography and broadcast footage.

Ensure adequate communications staff and contractor resources are in place for continuity of delivery and decision-making throughout an incident. For example, a major electricity or gas outage can last several days and can stretch staff capabilities, if not managed appropriately. This is a story that will attract extensive media interest.

Monitor press and social media channels to assess the accuracy of news and social media coverage and determine if any adjustments are needed to provide greater clarity to your stakeholders.

Schedule a crisis communications refresher session to ensure communication and operations teams, managers and executives are prepared. A refresher will give them tools to confidently communicate with all key stakeholders–not only news reporters. This includes your customers, employees and investors.

Do you have an updated stakeholder communication plan for a winter energy crisis?
Spoken Word Communications can help you prepare for the unexpected.
Contact Dave@spokenwordgroup.com

The post Elements of a Robust Communication Strategy in the Face of an Energy Crisis first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Andy Johnson has over 25 years’ journalism experience. He started in print and then spent 17 years as a BBC presenter and reporter for network and regional television. He presented live from the London 2012 Olympics, spent five years fronting the award-winning BBC1 current affairs programme, Inside Out, appeared on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme and BBC Five Live.

Andy Johnson said; “I am pleased to partner with Spoken Word Communications. They have established a strong presence in the USA and Singapore and I am looking forward to working with Clive and Elodie to replicate this success in the UK.”

Founder of Spoken Word Communications, Dave Scallan, commented; “I am delighted that Andy Johnson has joined Spoken Word Communications. He has extensive broadcast experience will complement the corporate experience that Clive and Elodie bring and will enhance our media, crisis and presentation training services. Organisations will benefit first-hand from the collective global communication experience, knowledge and training techniques we now have available within our expanded UK office and on a global basis.”

The post Former BBC Presenter Andy Johnson Joins Spoken Word UK Team first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Clive Hawkins is an experienced FTSE20 communication leader with over 30 years’ corporate communication leadership experience, having directed national and international communication programmes under intense government, regulatory, media and public scrutiny.

He is former Global Head of Employee Communication & Media Relations for National Grid plc and was chief media spokesperson between 2001 – 2015, where he directed media relations for M&A, financial results and corporate development activities throughout National Grid’s transformation into one of the largest energy companies in the world.

Clive also led media relations for National Grid’s UK and USA electricity and gas infrastructure developments, where the company invested £3 billion ($4.3 billion) annually on replacing and upgrading electricity and gas infrastructure assets including the development and expansion of the UK’s major LNG storage terminal at Isle of Grain, electricity transmission cable tunnels across London, substations, overhead lines, gas pipelines and compressor stations to connect new supplies of energy to electricity and gas networks across the UK and northeastern region of the USA.

Clive is a member of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Institute of Directors, and European Association of Communication Directors.  He is former chair of the communications directorate of the UK’s trade association, Energy UK, and an inaugural member of the Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize Communication Counsel.

Elodie Grant Goodey is a senior communications and external affairs professional with 20 years’ international experience in external issues management, societal risk assessment, corporate responsibility, government and civil society relations, external and internal communications.

She has deep expertise in the oil and gas industry but also works across other industries. She was formerly BP’s Head of Societal Issues and Relationships, leading social policy management, social risk assessment, advocacy and stakeholder engagement. She also worked as Head of Communications for BP’s Exploration & Production business and as Communications and External Affairs Director for BP’s North Africa business.

Elodie has wide experience at Board and Executive Committee level and a global network of contacts in NGOs, government organisations and multinational companies (Algeria/Libya).  Previously, Elodie worked for the BBC World Service and volunteered for a number of human rights NGOs.

The post Spoken Word Communications Opens London Office. Clive Hawkins and Elodie Grant Goodey to Head Team. first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.