The Crisis Show Archives - FIR Podcast Network

On Episode #122, Rich Klein was joined by Shel Holtz, Ruth Sherman and Greg Brooks as they analyzed the news conference held earlier in the day by President-Elect Donald J. Trump and had a larger discussion about the communication abilities of the incoming administration.

Brooks said that aside from Trump facing crises before taking office, that the media and the Democrats were also in crisis mode.

Holtz pointed out that President Obama has taken his message directly to the public and that the White House press corps often complained about access to the President, but that Trump had taken both to a new level.

Sherman noted that some of her business clients are concerned about Trump’s verbal attacks on business and the impact that may have on their own businesses and industries.

Klein expressed surprise that Vice President-Elect Pence and incoming Trump press secretary Sean Spicer opened Trump’s first news conference in six months by attacking news media outlets connected to the hacking crisis.

The group also touched on the confirmation hearings of some Trump nominees. Sherman said when it comes to speech communications, that “if the way you look and sound contradicts what you say, people will believe the way you look and sound instead of what you say. ”  She said, for example, that Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions came across as likeable. Holtz noted that, similarly, Vice President-Elect came across as more presidential than former VP candidate Tim Kaine in their debate.

Klein asked the group about the communication skills of Trump’s key spokespeople. Brooks said that Kellyanne Conway is very good at her role of promoting Trump’s messages, particularly on the nightly news programs. He said the incoming Trump administration is still challenged in communicating policies and finding the right spokespeople (“policy wonks”) in those roles. Klein expressed concern that Conway said not to listen to what comes out of Trump’s mouth but to listen to what’s in his heart. He thinks that statement was a significant mistake that will come back to haunt her and the Administration.

But all agreed about her overall effectiveness in carrying Trump’s messages and Pence was also recognized as an able spokesperson on behalf of Trump.

The post The Crisis Show: Analysis of Trump News Conference & His Team’s Style of Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Bill Boyd

Rodney Smith

On Episode #121, Rich Klein was joined by Bill Boyd (Bellingham, WA)  and Rodney Smith (Arlington-Fort Worth, TX), who discussed trends for 2017 in emergency management. The show touched on active shooter situations, natural disasters, fires and the use of technology in improving disaster/emergency responses among first responders.

Rodney Smith, program coordinator for Tarrant County Fire Training Center and coordinator of the Arlington, TX Fire Department for Special Operations and Homeland Preparedness, said in an active shooter situation, the goal is to get students outside of a building so law enforcement can deal with the shooter. But in tornadoes, the building might be the shield that protects students and faculty so the training for that kind of natural disaster is different.

Bill Boyd, a retired fire chief and public information officer in Bellingham, WA, said he expects to see more integration of tactical medical teams with law enforcement in active shooter situations in 2017. Boyd, a former Type III Incident Commander for the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team, added that fire department paramedics and EMS  used to await injured patients after active shooter scenes were secured but that today more paramedics are not going into the danger zone to save lives of gunshot victims.

Smith and Boyd explained that the use of drone technology has made a huge difference in the ability to see areas of concern in situations like wildfires and communicating visually and quickly back to emergency leadership about what resources are needed most urgently.

The post The Crisis Show: Emergency Management Trends For 2017 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Rich Klein was joined by Felix Nater  (Nater & Associates) and Timmian Massie (Health Quest) to analyze  the communication and security/law enforcement protocols in the aftermath of a terrorist-inspired incident on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus on November 28, 2016.

The show discussed “run, hide, fight” as well as workplace violence prevention and crisis news conferences.

Felix Nater, a workplace violence prevention and security consultant, talked about the importance of corporate and organization leaders to create a culture in which it is safe to report information about someone who may be thinking about committing an act of violence on the premises.

Timmian Massie, a veteran public affairs spokesperson for Marist College, noted that some college campuses and hospitals have unarmed security and depend largely on the local police force while others have a fully trained armed police force.

Nater pointed out that students and administrations can’t depend entirely on campus or local police when faced with a violent threat and must have their own personal plan to protect themselves.

Klein and the panel agreed that Ohio State University,  as well as spokespeople for local law enforcement and the hospital, did a good job collaborating at keeping the media informed during the crisis but Klein suggested that the president of the University seemed to rush his words at the first news conference. He said it’s always better to speak slowly and calmly in a crisis situation.

The post The Crisis Show #120: Ohio State University Attack appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Rich Klein was joined by Ruth Sherman and Tripp Frohlichstein to analyze how the communication styles of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton made a difference in the election. The trio explored things like body language, tone/emotion of voice and word selection — whether speaking from the podium (with or without teleprompters), on the stump or  during media interviews/press conferences. Early in the show, for example,  Klein cued up Hillary Clinton’s awkward press briefing at the United Nations from early 2015 in which she discussed her email controversy.

The show also explored the effectiveness of  “Make America Again”  vs “Stronger Together” — the candidates’ respective campaign slogans — and agreed that Trump’s certainly resonated more strongly.

Klein, Sherman and Frohlichstein (who all do media training in their businesses) acknowledged that Trump was much adept at using the media to his advantage and also using social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, to reach many voters. Clinton was often awkward when facing the media and came across as too formal when she did use social media channels ike Twitter.

The post The Crisis Show #119: Communication Lessons from Election 2016 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, host Rich Klein is joined by worldwide digital  marketing expert Krishna De to discuss the rapid growth of live streaming in the past two years. She talked 

The post The Crisis Show #118: Live Streaming & Crisis Management appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The Crisis Show’s first episode under the FIR umbrella on October 19, 2016 was hosted by Rich Klein (Rich Klein Crisis Management) with guests Tripp Frohlichstein (Media Masters) and Greg Brooks (The West Third Group).

The trio offered tips about who should be media trained inside businesses and organizations, some techniques for effective media training and examples of some leaders who performed well in crisis situations and some who did not.

All three agree that the most effective media training happens  when “the seas are calm” rather than in the middle of a firestorm.

The post Crisis Show #117: Media Training for Crisis Management appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.