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Invincible Brand with Melissa Agnes

Through her lens of crisis readiness, advising some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks, Melissa Agnes is passionate in her mission to help today's organizations build brand invincibility. The Invincible Brand Podcast is another way in which she works to achieve this mission. Subscribe to this podcast and join Melissa as she unravels the complexities that this modern-day, hyper-connected world presents to your organization and provides tactical business strategies for implementing a culture where negative events don't strike your business and, if they do, your team is prepared to respond in a way that increases stakeholder trust and goodwill in your organization—making your brand invincible.
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Through her lens of crisis readiness, advising some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks, Melissa Agnes is passionate in her mission to help today's organizations build brand invincibility. The Invincible Brand Podcast is another way in which she works to achieve this mission.

Subscribe to this podcast and join Melissa as she unravels the complexities that this modern-day, hyper-connected world presents to your organization and provides tactical business strategies for implementing a culture where negative events don't strike your business and, if they do, your team is prepared to respond in a way that increases stakeholder trust and goodwill in your organization—making your brand invincible.

Apr 4, 2024

Connection is at the heart of any good crisis communication strategy.  

However, we’ve all seen leaders attempt to connect with their audience with all the right words, and yet something feels… off. 

While a Crisis Ready Hindrance is often blocking that connection, understanding near and far emotional enemies is a powerful tool to help you overcome those Hindrances to resonate and connect in meaningful ways.  

Within this podcast, which is the audio version of a recent Crisis Ready blog post, Melissa Agnes explores how near and far enemies give leaders and crisis communicators the language to better understand why some attempts at emotional connection fall flat, and to better resonate with stakeholders in critical moments.

Links:

➡️  The whole article can be found here, on the Crisis Ready Blog.

➡️  If this message resonates with you and you'd like to truly master the art of crisis communication and leadership, enrol in our Crisis Ready® Course, which is the first step in becoming certified in crisis comms.

 

Feb 26, 2024

In order to achieve the mark of a true crisis leader, you must be able to effectively apply emotional awareness to your crisis communication strategy. This episode explores what that means and how to achieve it.

This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.

Feb 19, 2024

Make no mistake: AI absolutely will affect crisis communication — and crisis in general, for that matter. Recently, my friend and the queen of PR herself, Gini Deitrich said something that got me thinking about predictive AI even further: Could AI predict the emotional escalation of a crisis… before it begins to happen? This episode explores this concept and what it could mean for the crisis communication industry.

This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.

Feb 1, 2017

Earlier this week, I published a #crisisready video that discusses the emotional factors that can quickly escalate an incident to crisis-level. Remaining on the topic of emotional impact and the human factors of crisis management and preparedness, I’m excited to be sharing the latest Crisis Intelligence Podcast with you!

I recently had the opportunity to have a conversation with Sam Miller, a psychotherapist with a particular expertise in trauma counselling, and a keen understanding of the psychology of business and the workplace. Within this podcast, Sam and I discuss “the human capital component” that should be factored into your crisis preparedness and crisis response. It’s an interesting and enlightening conversation that will give you the initial tools to explore how to make sure you don’t underestimate the emotional effects of a crisis, as well as how to mitigate the psychological risks that can be an impactful part of your organization’s crisis management.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The human and emotional factors that should be incorporated into your crisis preparedness and response.
  • Three steps you should take to implement the human capital component into your crisis preparedness.
  • An important question that should be added to your risk analysis – every time.
  • What it means to “normalize emotions” – and leadership’s role and responsibility in doing so.

Running time: 49:30

Subscribe to the Crisis Intelligence Podcast!

Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
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Connect with Melissa and Sam

About host, Melissa Agnes

President and co-founder of Agnes + Day Inc., Melissa Agnes is a crisis management strategist and keynote speaker who helps global brands and governments prevent and manage a wide range of issues and crises. Her client list includes financial organizations, technology companies, healthcare organizations, government agencies, cities and municipalities, energy companies, global non-profits, and many others.

Are you #crisisready? Find out at melissaagnes.com
Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes

About guest, Sam Miller

Samuel A. Miller has over 25 years of experience as a psychotherapist, a particular expertise in trauma counselling, and a keen understanding of the psychology of business and the workplace. Sam works closely with each client to help them identify and understand the psychological component of their enterprise risk, and then to develop plans, protocols and training to help mitigate and manage those risks and recover well should a critical incident or traumatic event occur. You can connect with Sam through his website at sammillerconsulting.com, or by calling him directly at +1 (416) 455-1684.

I’d like to extend a big thanks to Sam for taking the time to have this enlightening conversation with me.

Aug 2, 2016

When it comes to crisis management, law enforcement has one of the most challenging tasks. Not only does their crisis management involve real dangers and the important mission of keeping their communities and themselves safe and out of harms way, but it also includes a need for effective and nearly instantaneous communications. And while the former challenge has always been a part of their job description, the latter is relatively new with ever evolving real-time challenges. Challenges that can be difficult and grueling to overcome.

Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I am dedicated to helping law enforcement agencies implement a 21st century crisis-ready culture. Whether it be through my work with law enforcement agencies, EMDs, cities and municipalities, or by leveraging my blog, podcast or #crisisready video series. This is why I was honored when Brian Willis reached out to invite me onto his podcast for his Excellence In Training Academy, which is “a membership site for law enforcement trainers who are committed to the pursuit of excellence in their life and in their training”.

Brian does some amazing work within the law enforcement profession, including being the cofounder of WINx, an annual conference targeted for law enforcement professionals who aren’t happy with the status quo and are willing to be part of the growth and evolution of the law enforcement profession.

Brian was also gracious enough to allow me to repurpose the podcast we recorded together and share it with all of you. It’s a dynamic discussion with lots of great advice and takeaways for the law enforcement profession, so be sure to tune in!

Subscribe to the Crisis Intelligence Podcast!

Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Connect with Brian and Melissa

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

About guest, Brian Willis

Brian has 25 years experience as a full time police officer. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment and contributions to officer safety in Canada and was honored as the Law Officer Trainer of the Year in 2011. Brian also has 25 years experience as a law enforcement trainer. He works with law enforcement trainers who love to teach, are committed to their own learning and are passionate about helping their officers perform at their best.

If you’re in the law enforcement profession and haven’t done so already, please check out Brian’s Excellence In Training Academy. I also encourage you to watch Brian’s TEDx talk: The Most Dangerous Weapon in Law Enforcement.

I’d like to extend a big thanks to Brian for welcoming me into his Excellence in Training Academy by means of this podcast. Our discussion is an important one and I look forward to continuing it and helping where I can.

May 17, 2016

The wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada have been blazing since the start of May and have so far destroyed over 2400 buildings, including homes and businesses, and have resulted in an evacuation of approximately 90,000 citizens. Having yet to be completely tamed by fire fighters, the truly exceptional part is that, of the approximate 90,000 evacuees, not one person has died on account of the fires (there have been accidents that have unfortunately resulted in fatalities, but the fire itself has not taken one human life).

As first responders and emergency managers know, this is quite an exceptional crisis management feat. So what is it about the evacuation and the crisis communications of the first responders, the authorities and the local organizations (employers) that has resulted in such an exceptional and successful evacuation?

Tune in to this week’s episode of the crisis intelligence podcast, where Garth Rowan and I embark in a preliminary discussion regarding the crisis communications of those involved in the evacuation and emergency response in Fort McMurray.

Subscribe to the Crisis Intelligence Podcast!

Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Connect with Garth and Melissa

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

About guest, Garth Rowan

Learn more about Garth Rowan
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Email Garth directly: garth@beready.ca
Check out Garth’s blog posts on The Crisis Intelligence Blog
Listen to another great podcast with Garth: TCIP #036 – How To Conduct a Crisis Simulation with Garth Rowan

A big thanks to Garth for taking the time to have this interesting discussion with me. And a sincere and heart-filled thank you to all the first responders and emergency managers out in Alberta who have put their lives on the line to help and care for the people of Fort McMurray.

Apr 19, 2016

I recently had the honor of sitting down with Daniel Linksey, former Superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department, to record an episode of the Crisis Intelligence Podcast. Dan was the incident commander during the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Within this podcast, Dan shares his first-hand experience of what it was like to manage the Boston Marathon Bombing crisis. He goes into great detail about everything from how he mustered up the courage to lead his team through the management of this horrific day; to how he and his team successfully positioned Boston PD as the source of credible information and updates throughout the management of the incident; how they filtered through the thousands upon thousands of informational tips, videos and photos to successfully identify and ultimately capture the terrorists – and so much more.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The importance of using the right language within your crisis communications
  • Dan’s personal story about what it was like to have the responsibility of being Commander in Chief during a horrific event like the Boston Marathon Bombing
  • How to control the accuracy of the information you share in a crisis, while still meeting the expectation of real-time updates
  • The biggest lessons and takeaways Dan and his team learned throughout this entire experience
  • Tips to getting buy-in from leadership to incorporate the digital landscape and the need for real-time communications into your crisis preparedness strategy

Don’t miss Dan’s captivating, emotional story and all of the tremendous advice and implementable takeaways he shares!

Please note that the quality of the audio of this podcast is a little less than usual. This is due to the fact that I’m in the process of a move and my office is empty (which makes it echoey) and the fact that the Skype connection was a little shaky. However, the quality of the content within this podcast is top notch, so I hope you’ll forgive me for the less than perfect audio. Thanks for your understanding!

Subscribe to the Crisis Intelligence Podcast!

Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

About guest, Daniel Linskey

 

A big thank you to Dan for, not just taking the time to share your story and experience with us, but for your continued service to your Country. You’re a true leader and a tremendous example for us all to learn from.

 

 

Nov 15, 2015

The law enforcement industry has been struggling through a lot of heat lately. Many leaders within the law enforcement community are working very hard to overcome this industry crisis and to embed a corporate culture based on trust-building and transparency within their communities. One of these leaders is Brian Willis.

Brian is a recognized thought leader and catalyst for change in the law enforcement profession, and he uses one big question in his trainings and seminars to help law enforcement professionals focus on continually finding the best solution in all types of situations. This big question is “What’s important now?”

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Brian and I discuss the state of law enforcement right now and how life’s most important question can be used by law enforcement – as well as leaders and professionals in general – to help them appropriately and successfully manage and overcome any type of crisis.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • How law enforcement is using life’s most important question to be better crisis managers.
  • Steps law enforcement agencies can take to begin to break down silos and build trust within their communities.
  • Strategies on how law enforcement can begin to shape the narrative of their own incidents.
  • What WINx is and why it’s the biggest and best law enforcement conference of the year – and why you should attend.
Experience WINx

In addition, Brian and I discuss the first annual WINx conference, which is happening this November 18th, 2015. WINx is a conference targeted for law enforcement leaders and is inspired by TED. On November 18th, nine inspirational speakers will take the stage for 18 minutes each to raise important questions and to inspire the right mindset and actions for the industry to take moving forward. I’m extremely honored to be a part of this conference and hope to see you there!

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Brian Willis

Learn more about Brian and connect with him on LinkedIn
Check out Brian’s consulting agency: Winning Mind Training
Visit lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com to learn more about “what’s important now?” as a crisis management strategy
Watch Brian’s TEDx talk: The Most Dangerous Weapon in Law Enforcement
Discover WINx and register to join us in Chicago!

More TEDx videos from the outstanding speakers at this year’s WINx event

A big thanks to Brian for taking the time to have this important conversation with me.

Jun 29, 2015

Welcome to episode #054 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Claudia Liute.

Claudia is a humanitarian who works on the ground in some very hostile and conflicted crisis-affected communities. In her experience, one of the things she sees far too often is people rushing in with the best of intentions for helping, but too often forgetting to first take the time to speak with the communities to get their take on things, their needs and preferred means of communication. This, unfortunately runs true on many levels of crisis management, not just in humanitarian work.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Claudia and I discuss the importance of asking questions and assessing situations before pushing out crisis communications. But make no mistake! This must all be done swiftly and effectively as timely communications are of equal importance in times of crisis. But in order to be truly effective, you must first listen and assess.

Join Claudia and I as we discuss tips and tricks for successfully achieving this, as well as ways to strategize and set goals for measuring accuracy and success in your crisis management. This episode is a little longer than usual, but it’s worth the listen!

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • Swift trust-building techniques.
  • Technology’s impact on crisis communications and humanitarian work.
  • Strategic ways to create long-lived and short-lived crisis communication messages that achieve results.
  • Tips for communicating with people impacted by rumors and propaganda.
  • Evaluation techniques to help you better understand your stakeholders in order to better communicate with them in a crisis.
  • How to identify and measure results.

There are lots of great crisis communications advice shared in this podcast – and lots of great stories told. Enjoy!

Running time: 1:18:05

Documents mentioned in podcast

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Claudia Liute

Learn more about Claudia and connect with her on LinkedIn
Be sure to check out the informative articles Claudia publishes to LinkedIn as well.
Connect with Claudia on Twitter: @ClaudiaLiute

Thanks to Claudia for taking the time to share your experience and great stories with us!

This post, TCIP #054 – Communicating with Crisis-Affected Communities with Claudia Liute, was first published to melissaagnes.com.

Jun 14, 2015

Welcome to episode #053 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Dr. Thomas Phelan.

When it comes to critical communications, comprehension is imperative. It can literally mean the difference between life and death. And yet, according to recent research conducted by Dr. Thomas Phelan, the majority of “emergency management messages may be reaching their intended audiences, but at a level that is not being understood”.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Dr. Tom and I discuss the importance of understanding and meeting the public’s readability levels when it comes to preparing for and drafting emergency management messages. In this podcast, Dr. Tom shares the results of his research and provides suggested guidelines to follow while crafting your emergency messages and crisis communications, to make sure they are simplistic, clear and at the lowest possible readability level.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • Why low readability levels matter in crisis communications.
  • Eye-opening facts about readability levels of adults in the U.S.
  • Tips on how to draft crisis communications to be as low a readability level as possible.
  • How emergency management academic programs should include lessons on literacy and crafting emergency management messages at appropriate reading levels.

 

It's a very informative and important listen. Enjoy!

Running time: 59:46

Documents mentioned in podcast

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Dr. Thomas Phelan

Learn more about Dr. Tom and connect with him on LinkedIn
Email Dr. Tom directly at phelandrtom@gmail.com

Thanks to Dr. Tom for sharing this important study and takeaways with us!

This post, TCIP #053 - Literacy Levels Matter in Emergency Management Messages with Dr. Thomas D. Phelan, was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

Jun 7, 2015

Welcome to episode #052 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Monika Lancucki.

When the company Monika Lancucki worked for went into receivership, they knew they were in for a crisis management challenge. Adding to the challenge, Monika and her team were only given three days notice before the receivership needed to be publicly announced – two of which were weekend days.

Within these three days, Monika and her team were tasked with preparing the communications and statements for stakeholders; strategizing a way to get ahead – and stay ahead – of the news cycle; determining the best way to communicate the news internally while soon after needing to also prepare the internal team for the tasks and challenges of helping to manage this crisis; and much more.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Monika shares her story of how her and her team managed this crisis in real-time. She shares the biggest challenges they faced, how they prepared their crisis communications strategy, the results that ensued, and the biggest lessons and takeaways she learned first-hand, along the way.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • Monika Lancucki’s first-hand crisis management experience – her and her team’s successes, their failures and the many lessons learned in real-time.
  • How to prepare and manage a corporate crisis involving receivership.
  • Strategies for breaking unwanted news to employees… employees that you also need to actively help you manage the crisis.
  • Practical examples on how to shape a story and become the narrative of your own crisis.

It’s an interesting story with tons of insightful takeaways. Enjoy!

Running time: 54:31

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Monika Lancucki

Connect with Monika on LinkedIn
Follow Monika on Twitter: @niska7
For the SlideShare presentation discussed in this podcast, click here
Follow Monika on SlideShare

A big thanks to Monika for taking the time to share your story with us!

This post, TCIP #052 - A Crisis Management Case Study with Monika Lancucki, was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

May 31, 2015

Welcome to episode #051 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Jeff Reeb.

Jeff Reeb is the Director of the Office of Emergency Management for the County of Los Angeles. Jeff and I met after I gave my TEDx talk earlier this year. While having a conversation with Jeff about LA County’s current strategies for effective emergency management and crisis communication, we thought that it would be fun to record our conversation, as others in the field of emergency management are struggling with many of the same and similar issues.

In this week’s episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Jeff and I discuss challenging areas of emergency management and crisis preparedness that pertain to counties, cities, municipalities and organizations around the world.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The challenges and benefits of using mobile technology for emergency management.
  • The challenges of running a county / city and coordinating with neighboring counties and cities for emergency management.
  • Metrics for evaluating crisis management success.
  • Cultural adaptability for crisis communications.

It’s an insightful conversation that covers many areas of strategizing crisis preparedness for emergency management. Enjoy!

Running time: 54:59

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Jeff Reeb

Learn more about Jeff on LinkedIn
Follow Jeff on Twitter: @lacooem
Check out LA County’s office of emergency management’s website

Thanks to Jeff for taking the time to have this insightful chat with me!

This post, "TCIP #051 -  Strategizing Emergency Management with Jeff Reeb," was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

May 24, 2015

Welcome to episode #050 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Garth Rowan.

From female reporters being spontaneously and continually harassed during live reporting, to individuals making mistakes caught on camera and ending up losing their jobs as a result of the footage going viral. We’ve seen some extreme cases of online shaming in the past few years, often resulting in online bullying with dire consequences. But where does society need to draw a line for this type of mob lynching mentality, and how can we determine whether or not the punishments actually fit the crimes? Additionally, what is the best practice for organizations whose employees get caught in these types of viral controversies?

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Garth Rowan and I discuss the reality of online shaming and the impact it has been having on individuals and organizations alike. Through the discussion of several recent case studies, we examine the realities of online shaming and best practices for organizations and individuals for this type of crisis prevention and crisis management.

It’s an interesting discussion on a very timely and impactful topic. Enjoy!

Running time: 1:02:29

Links mentioned in the podcast

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Garth Rowan

Learn more about Garth Rowan
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Email Garth directly: garth@beready.ca
Check out Garth’s blog posts on The Crisis Intelligence Blog
Listen to another great podcast with Garth: TCIP #036 – How To Conduct a Crisis Simulation with Garth Rowan

Thanks to Garth for taking the time to have this interesting discussion with me!

This post, TCIP #050 - Online Shaming with Garth Rowan, was first published to melissaagnes.com.

May 17, 2015

Welcome to episode #049 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes, Karen Freberg and Kristin Saling.

Karen Freberg and Kristin Saling are more than sisters, they’re research colleagues. They recently conducted an academic study to determine the characteristics and attributes that make a good crisis communication message on social media. When I discovered their research, I knew I had to have them on TCIP to discuss their findings!

In this week’s episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I sat down with Karen and Kristin to discuss their study, its focus and its findings. What’s interesting (yet not surprising) is that the results of their study provide an academic research basis to support what crisis professionals in the field, such as myself, have been preaching and teaching to clients for years.

With that said, tune in to discover what their study suggests is the recipe for effective crisis management messaging on social media.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The Q-Sort method and how it was used to determine what makes a good crisis communication message.
  • How different people want to receive different types of information and updates throughout a crisis.
  • The results of the study: What actually makes a good crisis message on social media.
  • What all of this means to your organization.

Karen and Kristin are both smart and fun to chat with – and listen to. Enjoy!

Running time: 49:42

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Links and studies mentioned in this podcast

Download a copy of Karen and Kristin’s Situational Q-Sort Study (2013)
Download a copy of Karen and Kristin’s article: “Using value modeling to evaluate social media messages: The case of Hurricane Irene

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Karen Freberg

Check out Karen’s blog: karenfreberg.com/blog
Follow Karen on Twitter: @kfreberg

About guest, Kristin Saling

Check out Kristin’s blog: kcsaling.com
Follow Kristin on Twitter: @kcsaling

Thanks to Karen and Kristin for taking the time to share your study and its findings with us!

This post, TCIP #049 - What Makes a Good Crisis Message with Karen Freberg and Kristin Saling, was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

May 10, 2015

Welcome to episode #048 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Garth Rowan and Melissa Agnes.

I recently had the great honor and privilege of giving a TEDx Talk in the City of LA. The topic of my TEDx talk is “The Secret to Successful Crisis Management in the 21st Century”.

In this week’s episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I did something a little different from what I usually do. My goal was to bring the message of my talk to you, and to share this critical secret with you. In order to do this, my good friend and colleague, Garth Rowan and I decided to switch roles, where Garth interviewed me about my talk. So, by tuning in to this week’s podcast, you’ll hear an audio version of my 18 minute TEDx Talk followed by Garth’s interview, where we discuss the process I took to create and deliver my speech, and what it really means to adapt a proactive mindset into the very culture of your organization, in the name of successful crisis management and preparedness.

Delivering this TEDx Talk was both an honor and a challenge and I look forward to sharing the details of my experience with you. Enjoy!

Running time: 54:24

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Links mentioned in this podcast

Watch Melissa’s TEDx Talk: The Secret to Successful Crisis Management in the 21st Century
Book: Power Cues, by Dr. Nick Morgan
Book: Talk Like TED, by Carmine Gallo
Book: How to Deliver a TED Talk, by Jeremey Donovan
Book: The ONE Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

About Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest host, Garth Rowan

Learn more about Garth Rowan
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Email Garth directly: garth@beready.ca
Check out Garth’s blog posts on The Crisis Intelligence Blog

A big thanks to everyone who helped me in the process of creating this speech, and to Garth Rowan for taking the additional time to interview me on this topic and important message!

This post, TCIP #048 - The Secret to Successful Crisis Management with Melissa Agnes, was first published on melissaagnes.com.

May 3, 2015

Welcome to episode #047 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Roman Gaponenko.

Global events, from the Olympics to the Oscars to a global crisis that impacts the world at large, present unique challenges when it comes to crisis preparedness and crisis management.

Last week, in part one of this two-part podcast series with Roman Gaponenko, a social media and content strategist for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Roman and I discussed how to strategize and approach crisis preparedness for global events. This week, in the second part of this podcast series, Roman shares stories about what it was like on the ground in Sochi and the different crisis and issue scenarios that he and his team had to face and quickly overcome in real-time.

Roman shares some really interesting stories and together we provide you with tons of realistic and implementable takeaways to help make your crisis preparedness program scalable and effective.

Whether you’re planning for a global event or are in an industry that can potentially be impacted by global crises, this is the second half of a two-part podcast series you won’t want to miss. Enjoy!

Running time: 1:11:22

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Roman Gaponenko

Learn more about Roman on LinkedIn
Follow Roman on Twitter: @romanholiday

Thanks to Roman for having this insightful discussion with me!

This post, TCIP #047 - Crisis Management for Global Events with Roman Gaponenko (Part 2), was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

Apr 26, 2015

Welcome to episode #046 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Roman Gaponenko.

Global events, from the Olympics to the Oscars to a global crisis that impacts the world at large, present unique challenges when it comes to crisis preparedness and crisis management.

Roman Gaponenko, a digital strategist who has worked for global agencies, had the opportunity to be a part of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics team tasked with social media and content strategy for the world event. In his role, Roman and his team had to anticipate risk, manage issues in real-time, deal with the real-time media and prevent crises from escalating.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Roman and I sat down to discuss crisis management planning and prevention for global events. The conversation was so great that we decided to break it up into two parts. This first part discusses the approach Roman and his team took to plan for and prevent risks surrounding the Winter Olympics on the digital landscape. We also discuss how they anticipated issues and prepared to take part in and manage the real-time conversations that took place around the world throughout the Olympics.

The second part of this podcast (TCIP #047), discusses what it was like on the ground in Sochi, how Roman and his team managed the issues that threatened the Olympics’ reputation, attacks by activist groups, the real-time media and so much more.

Whether you’re planning for a global event or are in an industry that can potentially be impacted by global crises, this is the first of a two-part podcast series you won’t want to miss!

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Roman Gaponenko

Learn more about Roman on LinkedIn
Follow Roman on Twitter: @romanholiday

Thanks to Roman for having this insightful discussion with me!

This post, TCIP #046 - Crisis Management for Global Events with Roman Gaponenko (Part 1), originally appeared on melissaagnes.com.

Apr 12, 2015

Welcome to episode #045 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Curtis Midkiff.

The American Red Cross is known for their amazing, life saving emergency management and humanitarian work. A big part of their success is due to their evolutionary mindset and corporate culture that empowers them to change and adapt with the times.

What has always fascinated me are their extreme capabilities in the use of social media for real-time emergency management. Today they have three social media command centers, also known as “digidocs”, that serve as their home base for monitoring, listening, responding, communicating, targeting – you name it – both in and out of crises and emergencies.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down and discuss the details and strategy behind the American Red Cross’s social media emergency management strategy and set-up with Curtis Midkiff, director of social engagement at the American Red Cross.

Throughout this discussion, Curtis and I discuss everything from the importance of having an “always on” mentality when it comes to crisis management, to how the American Red Cross has set up their social media listening tools, what they listen to and for, how they categorize and group their monitoring efforts, how they train their teams of volunteers, and so much more!

Whether you work in the emergency management field or on the crisis management team for a corporate entity, Curtis shares so many great takeaways in this podcast that you will be able to evaluate and hopefully incorporate into your own social media for crisis management strategy.

Interesting is an understatement when referring to this episode of TCIP. Enjoy!

Running time: 52:16

Connect with us!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Curtis Midkiff

Learn more about Curtis and connect with him on LinkedIn
Follow Curtis on Twitter: @clmidkiff

About the American Red Cross

Follow the Red Cross on Twitter: @redcross
Like them on Facebook
Check out the American Red Cross’s blog: redcrosschat.org

Curtis spoke about the new disaster portal the American Red Cross is in the process of developing. It’s a great initiative and you can check it out here: redcross.org/disaster-action

A big thank you to Curtis for taking the time to have this important and insightful conversation with me!

This post, TCIP #045 - The American Red Cross's Social Media Command Center with Curtis Midkiff, was first published to melissaagnes.com.

Apr 5, 2015

Welcome to episode #044 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Maanit Zemel.

Does your organization email Canadian stakeholders? If so, have you developed a CASL Compliance Policy? If you haven’t, you may be in store for some serious repercussions.

Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation (CASL) came into effect in July of 2014 and it seems that since it came into effect, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been out for blood. They recently fined an organization called Compu-Finder a wopping $1.1 Million for “4 alleged violations”. They also recently fined the online dating service, Plenty of Fish, $48K for not having an unsubscribe button prominently displayed in their email send outs.

Both of these organizations took a completely different approach to their crisis management, which is interesting to analyze. Within this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I explore both of these crisis management strategies and their impact on the organizations’ reputations with CASL attorney, Maanit Zemel.

No matter where your organization is based, if you email Canadians then CASL deeply applies to you and presents you with some serious risks for non compliance. The good news is that these risks are completely manageable and preventable. Within this podcast, Maanit and I provide you with strategies and tips to make sure that yours is not the next organization fined by the CRTC for emailing Canadians.

Running time: 55:37

More CASL information

Get connected

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Maanit Zemel

Learn more about Maanit and her practice: www.casllaw.ca
Connect with Maanit on LinkedIn
Follow Maanit on Twitter: @maanitzemel
Email Maanit directly: mzemel@casllaw.ca

Learn more about Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation at fightspam.gc.ca

This post, TCIP #044 - Organization Fined $1.1 Million for Emailing Canadians (CASL) with Maanit Zemel, was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

Mar 29, 2015

Welcome to episode #043 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Tad Milmine.

Those of you who know me and follow my work, know that bullying is a youth-affecting crisis that touches my heart. Every once in a while I write about this growing issue and do what I can to provide helpful resources and strategies for educational institutions and law enforcement. That said, I was recently introduced to Tad Milmine’s work in bully prevention and I was enamoured by his message and his proactive approach to helping bullied youth directly.

Tad is a police officer who travels to schools around Canada on his time off to speak with students about the impact and realities of bullying. By getting personal with them, he’s able to reach them on an emotional level and has had a very positive impact on many bullied youth’s lives around the country.

Within this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Tad about his work in bully prevention. In this episode, Tad shares his story and the strategies that have proven to work for him. He also provides tips and takeaways for law enforcement, educational institutions and parents dealing with this type of youth-related crisis.

If you're in law enforcement, work in education or have a child in your life who is or may be being impacted by bullying, then this episode will provide you with unique insights, perspectives and helpful tips. Enjoy! 

Running time: 49:28

Get connected

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Tad Milmine

Interested in bringing Tad in to speak with your students?
Visit his website to learn more about Tad and his message: bullyingendshere.ca
Follow Tad on Twitter: @TadMilmine
If you’d like to make a donation to help Tad continue to do the important work he’s doing, click here.

This post, TCIP #043 - Bullying Ends Here with Tad Milmine, was originally published on melissaagnes.com.

Mar 22, 2015

Welcome to episode #042 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Roy Reid.

Proactively building trust with your stakeholders is a profound crisis preparedness strategy (amongst other things). But in order to build outrageous trust, you need to begin by working from the inside out. An organization that focuses on building a corporate culture of trust with both their internal and external stakeholders will find that a) they minimize risk on a regular basis, in everything they do; and b) they have a powerful advantage in a crisis – the trust of their stakeholders, the benefit of the doubt.

So what does having a culture of “outrageous” trust really mean and how do you go about cultivating this? In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I sit down with Roy Reid to discuss the exact answers to these questions in full detail. Roy and I touch on so many levels of trust and provide actionable tips to help you build a high-trust culture within your organization.

No matter what stage of cultivating outrageous trust you may be at right now, there are a ton of tangible takeaways in this episode for you to either begin or continue down the road of building outrageous trust. Enjoy!

Running time: 1:14:45

Get connected

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Roy Reid

Learn more about Roy Read
Check out Roy’s website: roywreid.com
Follow Roy on Twitter: @royreid
Like him on Facebook

This post, TCIP #042 - Cultivating Outrageous Trust with Roy Reid, was originally published to melissaagnes.com

Mar 15, 2015

Welcome to episode #041 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Dave Carroll.

In 2009, Canadian musician Dave Carroll published the first of three videos telling the story of how United Airlines carelessly broke his guitar. This video, as I’m sure you recall, was titled “United Breaks Guitars” – and it created a media frenzy that a) sent United Airlines’s reputation down a downward spiral, resulting in an estimated $1.8 million dollar loss that year; and b) jump-started Dave Carroll’s career as a consumer activist, speaker, musician and author.

Within this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I chat with Dave about his experience with United Breaks Guitars, what it meant, new developments that it may have helped manifest (i.e.: the new US Department of Transportation’s decision that allows musicians to bring guitars onboard all US airplanes) – and a whole bunch more. There’s also some great messages in his story about being open and receptive to opportunities as they come to you – and yes, this also applies to your crisis and issues management!

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The impact that one person’s voice can have on your organization – whether for the positive or negative.
  • The dangers of allowing your organization to view any type of incident – or customer – as statistically insignificant.
  • The power of story-telling in (and out of) crisis management.
  • The importance of spotting opportunities and being prepared to proactively leverage them.
  • Dave’s biggest crisis management advice he has to offer to organizations.

If you followed United Breaks Guitars in 2009 – and even if you didn’t – you’ll enjoy this listen!

Running time: 52:01

Get connected

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Dave Carroll

Learn more about Dave Carroll, the musician, speaker and author: davecarrollmusic.com
Contact Dave directly: dave@davecarrollmusic.com
Follow Dave on Twitter: @davecarroll
Learn more about the United Breaks Guitars story and impact on United Airlines
More on Dave’s story-telling workshop

A warm thanks to Dave for taking the time to have this insightful discussion with me!

This post, TCIP #041 - Life After United Breaks Guitars with Dave Carroll, was originally published to melissaagnes.com.

Mar 8, 2015

Welcome to episode #040 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Zahed Amanullah.

As I described and discussed in this blog series, ISIS is a petrifyingly brilliant communicator and recruiter. But countering violent extremism and propaganda can’t only fall on the shoulders of our government agencies, for multiple reasons. The good news, is that there are private organizations out there that are committed to this mission and that are doing some amazing work. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is one of these organizations.

ISD is a London-based think tank dedicated to dealing with the ongoing problem of extremism. The work that they’re doing, their way of viewing this rising crisis and it’s solutions, and the impact they’re having is fascinating and of critical importance. In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down with Zahed Amanullah, senior program manager at ISD, to discuss the important work that ISD is doing and the crisis management lessons they’ve learned along the way.

This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:

  • The most effective ways to counter extremism in the 21st century.
  • How data analytics and split-testing are crucially important for effective crisis management.
  • The importance of provoking and promoting critical thinking as a tactic to fight in this war of ideas.
  • How Google, Facebook and Twitter are taking their social responsibility in this war of ideas seriously and choosing to help in this fight.
  • The fact that this crisis is a societal crisis and how you (yes, you!) can be a valuable asset and help us win this fight.

It’s an important conversation with fascinating and important takeaways. Tune in and then I encourage you to follow the links below to learn more – including how you can help in this fight to counter extremism. Thank you and enjoy!

Subscribe to The Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

About host, Melissa Agnes

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

About guest, Zahed Amanullah

Learn more about Zahed Amanullah
Learn more about the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Follow ISD on Twitter: @institute4sd

For teachers and educational institutions:
Learn more about the Extreme Dialogue campaign targeted to getting kids talking and thinking about this issue as a recruitment prevention strategy: extremedialogue.org

This post, TCIP #040 - Countering Extremism with Zahed Amanullah, was first published to melissaagnes.com.

Mar 1, 2015

Welcome to episode #039 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Martin Waxman.

The digital landscape continues to evolve, but it has also been mainstream long enough that it has begun to settle as well. For example, the way in which we navigate online has become customary enough that we can begin to understand behavioral trends. And understand these trends we must, if we want to communicate efficiently and effectively both in and out of a crisis.

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, Martin Waxman and I discuss 5 new digital trends that impact your organization’s reputation and that need to be incorporated into your communications strategies, including your crisis communications. These five trends include:

  • Online search: Martin and I get down and dirty about online search. Why? Because 93% of online activity begins within a search engine. So what does this mean for your reputation and how can you use this to your advantage, especially when Google keeps changing their algorithms? You’ll discover key takeaways and insights within this episode.
  • Mobile technology: We discuss the impact that mobile has on your reputation, as well as the risks that mobile technology leaves your organization vulnerable to – many of which you may not even be aware of… yet.
  • The new generational gap: Studies show that different generations use the digital landscape differently. Understanding who your stakeholders are and how they use technology (from the search engines to mobile to social media) will help you better communicate to and with them in a crisis.
  • The face of new media: We look at the different social media channels as different types of media outlets and discuss how to use these differences to build your communications strategy. The fact is that every organization has the opportunity to position themselves as a new media company / channel – which, as you can imagine, offers a ton of crisis management opportunities.
  • Entertainment: Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Meanwhile, the digital noise gets louder and louder. This means that you need to continue to find new and engaging ways to captivate your audiences if you want to position yourself and remain at the forefront.

It’s a fun listen that touches on so many important areas of your digital communications and reputation management. Enjoy!

Get connected!

Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: melissa@melissaagnes.com

Learn more about Agnes + Day, Melissa’s crisis management firm.

 

Learn more about Martin Waxman
Visit Martin’s website
Follow Martin on Twitter: @MartinWaxman
Connect with Martin on Facebook
Check out Martin’s podcast: Inside PR

This post, TCIP #039 - 5 Digital Trends That Impact Your Online Reputation with Martin Waxman, originally appeared on melissaagnes.com.

Feb 22, 2015

Welcome to episode #038 of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, with Melissa Agnes and Nick Morgan.

Every conversation is two conversations, says Dr. Nick Morgan, President of Public Words. The first, being our spoken words and the second being our body language. In fact, our body language – that second conversation – speaks very loudly to the unconscious mind of those we’re communicating with. So loudly that it’s the part of the conversation that people are most inclined to believe, especially if it contradicts the words being spoken.

This is particularly important for leaders and spokespeople to remember in a crisis. When you have the weight of high stakes communication on your shoulders, you absolutely want your presence, gestures and body language to affirm your words, rather than oppose them. Sometimes, something as simple and innocent as being nervous can make a person look shady and untrustworthy, not something you want to come across as, being the leader, spokesperson or PIO of a crisis. So then how can you make sure to master this second conversation to communicate even more effectively and compassionately in a crisis?

In this episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Nick Morgan, coach, speaker and writer on smart communications, to answer this very question. Within this conversation, Nick and I discuss the power of the second conversation and Nick reveals key tactics to help you master your subconscious body language to position yourself as a powerful, confident and trustworthy leader, especially when the stakes are high.

Get connected!

Have questions, comments or suggestions? Email melissa@melissaagnes.com
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email

Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn

Learn more about Agnes + Day, The Crisis Intelligence Firm.

Learn more about Nick Morgan
Follow Nick on Twitter: @DrNickMorgan
I highly recommend reading Nick’s book, Power Cues
Check out Nick’s company, Public Words

This post, TCIP #038 - Mastering Your Body Language for Crisis Leadership with Nick Morgan, originally appeared on melissaagnes.com.

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