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This is where executive communications professionals come to share ideas, solve problems, learn skills and plan for the future—together.

“The first conference for executive communicators,  by executive communicators,” as a participant in the inaugural Executive Communication Summit called it.

The first—and still, the only.

Join your colleagues to:

  • Get serious about the most urgent issues of 2024: AI. Political polarization and the U.S. election. The backlash against DEI and ESG. What can—what must—exec comms pros do? Asked and answered, by the leading experts in all three.
  • Get ideas from some of the best exec comms pros in the world: How to make an integrated exec comms plan, how to stage a more effective employee town hall, how to animate your CEO on social media, how to find the best forums for your leaders.
  • Get wisdom on how to be a “happy warrior” in exec comms, providing max value to your organization, and receiving max reward. Career advice from some of the very most successful, long-serving exec comms professionals in the business.

Attend solo, or register your whole team for a convenient, affordable and lasting group experience.

Attended by almost two hundred exec comms pros, the Executive Communication Summit has become a perennially popular event, described by happy participants as “incredibly insightful, packed with both thoughtful approaches to exec comms strategy and practical to-do’s” … “so  applicable to my role and full of great, usable tips and best practices” … and “the most impactful conference I’ve ever attended.”

This year’s Summit reaches even higher.

Register now.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 11:00-1:30PM EASTERN

Modern Presentation Structure and Design—for Exec Comms Pros

Despite the best efforts of traditional word-oriented exec comms pros, many leaders are leaning more and more heavily on less scripted speeches, and more visual presentations.

Are you going to serve them, or aren’t you?

The good news is that many of the skills that help you structure great scripts, help you construct coherent, persuasive presentations. You only need to reapply them to structuring and designing presentations, and you’ll amaze your principal and surprise yourself with your ability to touch audiences on multiple emotional levels.

Mike Teixeira, the founder of the presentation agency DECK, will bring you profound insights and practical tips he’s learned in a career of creating presentations for hundreds of executives, entrepreneurs, and speakers. The result? You will feel more comfortable—even enthusiastic—conceiving slide decks that resonate, and honor the strength of your writing.

In an interactive hands-on session, you’ll learn and practice:

  • How to structure effective presentations. Utilizing an easy storyboarding technique, we’ll show you how to map the story to the visual ideas. Chicken scratch is encouraged!
  • How to determine the presentation format. Many speeches are live, and even though we all know supporting slides should be sparse and add insight, the drive to “leave something behind” or to “remind me of what to say” pushes the design in negative ways. We’ll discuss strategies to avoid this situation.
  • How templates work. We’ll dig into the logic of how template master slides and sections work. For some reason, this is “hidden knowledge,” but it can help you become faster and less stressed when creating and editing decks.
  • Foundational design tips—the essentials you have to know. We’ll dig into basic color palettes, typography, and layout tips that will bring your slide design skills to the next level and make the design your ally in enhancing your written word.
  • Ways to create impressive visuals without a “design background,” or even great design instincts. We will demonstrate some AI and open-source tools to help you quickly enhance your speaker’s message.

AGENDA

(All times Eastern)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26: THE STATE OF THE ART OF EXEC COMMS

11:00-11:45 • Exec Comms, for All the Marbles: What We Can All Learn From Google DeepMind’s High-Stakes Campaign for AI Acceptance

For two years, Google DeepMind communications head Amanda Carl has worked with her CEO Demis Hassabis to build and execute one of the most important and intricate thought leadership platforms in the modern moment. With AI now under a more powerful magnifying glass than ever—and in the midst of a polarizing election year—Carl’s work is even more difficult … and more crucial. “We’re essentially running our own campaign, and AI is the candidate,” Carl says. “If we can’t get society on board, we’re dead in the water. That’s my main mission right now.” Carl will share the powerful lessons she’s learned on this jangled journey—and help you understand how to help your principals talk about AI responsibly and intelligently, too.

11:50-12:15 • You Don’t Find the Holy Grail, You Fashion It Yourself: The Making of a Fully Integrated Executive Communication Plan

Maureen Kasper has been in exec comms for more than three decades. She marshalled all that experience in building a comprehensive strategic exec comms plan for the leadership of Intuitive Surgical: Four top-line company narratives and a host of aligned content and sub-narratives with clearly identified executive spokespeople for each category. Maureen walks us through how she and her colleagues set about this process—from ideation to socialization to execution—for an organization that had never had such a strategy before. You’ll leave this session knowing what truly strategic exec comms is—and what it takes to get there.

12:20-12:40 • The Employee Town Hall: How Walmart Revitalized This Exec Comms Staple, and How You Can, Too

Twenty-five years ago, just holding an employee town hall was considered a best practice. The novelty has long worn off, and though the town hall is still a staple of most internal exec comms operations—isn’t it time for a refresh? That’s how Walmart executive communicators felt a few years ago, when they found attendance lagging at their company-wide meetings. While thoughtfully honoring their corporate traditions, they strategically modernized their approach: tactically, tonally, thematically. Walmart’s senior director of global communications and CEO speechwriter Jerry Wohletz and executive communications director Jacquelyn Cook will walk you through the changes they made, the results they achieved and the lessons they learned along the way.

12:45-1:05 • CEO Social Media Case Study: ‘Leading With Love’—on LinkedIn, Instagram … and Beyond?

When PG&E CEO Patti Poppe came onboard in 2021, she brought to the traditional utility a radically new leadership style called “Leading with Love”—along with an active LinkedIn account for the communications team to manage. This opened up a whole new world for the exec comms team, which has since refined their process with Poppe, and expanded to Instagram. Next on the list? TikTok! (maybe). During this session, PG&E exec comms pro Ari Vanrenen will share best practices gleaned from managing their CEO’s dynamic social media presence and engagement.

1:10-1:30 • DEI and ESG, Now: An Executive Communicator’s Reckoning

Six years ago, Janet Stovall gave an industry-roiling, game-changing TED Talk in which she claimed that corporations had the power to end racism. In the meantime, she left her job as a top corporate speechwriter, became Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the NeuroLeadership Institute and co-wrote a book on DEI and communication, “The Conscious Communicator: The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid S***.” Over those years she has ridden a massive DEI wave generated by the murder of George Floyd—and also witnessed the crashing of that wave, and the pulling back. Where are we now? In conversation with ECC executive director David Murray and you, Janet will offer a sober, not to say blunt, assessment of how exec comms should help leaders lead in this area, now.

1:30-2:00 • Talk Directly with Today’s Speakers

Whichever of today’s sessions interested you the most—join the speaker in a dedicated Zoom room, for a freewheeling Q&A where you can ask the speakers whatever you like as you consider how to apply these ideas to your own organization, and your own leaders.

THURSDAY, JUNE 27: MANAGING THE ISSUES, MANAGING YOUR CAREER

11:00-11:45 • Emergency Meeting: In This Election Year, What Can CEOs (and Exec Comms Pros) Do to Minimize Polarization and Maximize Civility

No one wants or needs a stable society more fervently than the CEOs of corporations and leaders of other major institutions. But in a tumultuous political climate that only promises to get more stormy as this year rolls on, what can leaders really do and say to reduce polarization and build common purpose among stakeholders inside the organization, and out? That’s the question that Bob Feldman has dedicated his life to answering, as founder of The Duke Dialogue Project, at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Counting among its contributors the CEOs of Pfizer, Southwest Airlines, Walmart, AARP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and many more major institutions, The Duke Dialogue Project serves as the center of thought leadership in this area. Feldman will share his vision for CEOs as dialogue-makers—and help exec comms pros see their role in this vital project, at this crucial moment.

11:50-12:15 • Environmental Scan: What Do Conference Organizers Want from You and Your Leaders These Days? (And Up With What, Will They Not Put?)

Four years ago around now, it was all virtual, all the time. Three years ago, too. Now, virtual is nearly verboten, say the conference organizers surveyed by Amy Scarlino, president of the corporate leader / conference matchmaking firm Scarlino Speaker Strategies. Scarlino joins us to tell us not just what’s out with conference organizers, but what’s in—“Super Fireside Chats,” and Q&A stages, for instance. She’ll tell you how to pitch your speaker these days (and when)—and offer savvy tips on how to make sure every engagement is beneficial to the conference and your speaker both.

12:20-12:40 • How to Be a Better Candidate for Exec Comms Roles: A Veteran Recruiter’s Candid Counsel

Over decades in the executive search business, Susan Thomas has seen the good, bad and the ugly when it comes to clients seeking candidates, and candidates seeking jobs. As client partner at the communications-focused search firm Heyman Associates, Thomas can tell you, and she will: Why top exec comms jobs are so hard to fill. And what you can do to make yourself a more visible candidate—and a better one. 

12:45-1:30 • The Happy Warriors: Wisdom from Exec Comms Pros Who Have Had Extraordinarily Long and Fruitful Careers at One Organization

“We need help with career pathing” is what we constantly hear from exec comms pros. Or as Carole King might have sung it, “Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore?” Well, Boe Workman has been running CEO communications at AARP since 1993. Kari Aakre worked in comms at Intel for 23 years that culminated in a crowning, award-winning achievement as VP of executive communications. Tony Telschow is the newcomer, having joined Target’s exec comms team in 2010—an A-team he now happily leads. In conversation with Sharon McIntosh, who specializes in executive coaching for executive communicators, Workman, Aakre and Telschow will share advice for forging an interesting, stable and rewarding executive communication tenure in this volatile business.

1:30-2:00 • Talk Directly with Today’s Speakers

Whichever of today’s sessions interested you the most—join the speaker in a dedicated Zoom room, for a freewheeling Q&A where you can ask the speakers whatever you like as you consider how to apply these ideas to your own organization, and your own leaders.

SPEAKERS

Kari Aakre

Kari Aakre

Kari Aakre is Vice President, Global Communications at Synopsys, Inc. Before that she spent 23 years in communications at Intel—the last eight in exec comms, where she rose to VP of Technology & Executive Communications. Her team won the 2023 Executive Communication Awards Grand Award for their game-changing executive communications campaign, “Semiconductors Run the World: Bringing Chips Back to the U.S. and Europe.”

Amanda Carl

Amanda Carl

Amanda Carl is Head of Corporate Communications at Google DeepMind, where she previously served as Head of Executive & Policy Communications. She came to Google DeepMind from IBM, where she served as Director of Communications, Corporate Strategy and Culture. She served clients Verizon Wireless, IBM and Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia-based PR agency Tierney.

Bob Feldman

Bob Feldman

Bob Feldman, a longtime senior marketing and communications executive, is the founder of the Dialogue Project, a program that engages the world’s business leaders on what role business can play to reduce polarization in society, improve civil discourse and create a more productive climate for business productivity. Prior to founding the Dialogue Project, Bob had been vice chair of ICF Next, a global marketing firm; head of communications and corporate marketing at DreamWorks Animation; and chief executive officer of WPP’s GCI Group, a global communications consultancy.

Maureen Kasper

Maureen Kasper

Maureen Kasper is senior director of executive communication at Intuitive Surgical. Before that, she was principal at SolomonEdwards, where she drew on three decades of experience in executive and internal communications, much of it spent leading one of the most innovative and strategic executive comms functions in the world, at Cisco Systems.

Sharon McIntosh

Sharon McIntosh

Sharon McIntosh is an advisor to the Executive Communication Council and to her own clients, in executive communications, employee engagement and change management communications. Clients have included Otis Elevator, Toyota, Clarios, United Technologies, Raytheon Technologies, Eversource, AbbVie and Intercontinental Hotel Group. She previously served as vice president of global internal communications at PepsiCo. Before joining PepsiCo, Sharon worked at Sears and Waste Management in various communications capacities. She holds a master’s in Leadership Communications from DePaul University. Committed to personal growth and learning, Sharon completed her iPEC coaching certification to become a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) in 2022.

David Murray

David Murray

David Murray is executive director of the Executive Communication Council and the Professional Speechwriters Association. He’s also editor and publisher of Vital Speeches of the Day magazine, and author of the communicator’s manifesto, An Effort to Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half (Disruption Books, 2021).

Amy Scarlino

Amy Scarlino

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Amy Scarlino is responsible for the strategic direction and management of Scarlino Speaker Strategies, LLC. Prior to forming the agency, Ms. Scarlino was President and CEO of The Catchpole Corporation. She held several positions within Catchpole during her more than 13 years with the company, including Chief Operating Officer, Director of Client Services, and Senior Account Executive. Ms. Scarlino has managed the corporate speaker programs and executive visibility initiatives for companies such as Paramount, P&G, UPS, Trend Micro, Kroger, BASF, and Micron Technology. Earlier in her career, Ms. Scarlino was a Market Manager for Group III Promotions and served as Project Manager within the brand consultancy, Ashton Brand Group. She serves as a judge for the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and serves on the board of the Town of Celebration Marathon & Half Marathon.

Janet M. Stoval

Janet M. Stoval

Janet M. Stovall is Global Head of DEI at NeuroLeadership Institute, and founder of Pragmatic Diversity, a DEI consultancy. As a global speaker, facilitator, author and consultant, she helps business dismantle systemic inequity—especially where it intersects with race. A long history of driving change and building culture in large, complex organizations has given her deep expertise around DEI practices and principles, especially in the area of communications. In fact, she broke barriers as one of the first—and for a long time, only—Black C-level speechwriters in the Fortune 100. Her three TED presentations challenging business to get serious about inclusion, have—collectively—over 2.5 million views. She is co-author of the Amazon bestselling, The Conscious Communicator: The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid Sh*t. Her superpowers? Applying objective solutions to solve subjective DEI challenges, building actionable DEI frameworks and strategies, and brokering honest DEI conversations among top leaders.

Mike Teixeira

Mike Teixeira

Mike Teixeira is founder and president of the presentation architecture and design firm DECK. He has worked with executives for more than 20 years, helping them to discover their core messages and present them with style and stunning visuals. Leveraging his background in theater, public relations, and corporate communications, Teixeira leads his clients through initial strategy, presentation structure, design, rehearsal, and delivery.

Tony Telschow

Tony Telschow

Tony Telschow started working in retail at age 14. Frontline janitorial, not corporate. Today, he oversees communications for Target’s C-level executives, leading the nine-person Executive Communications specialty within Target’s Enterprise Communications team. He joined the company in 2010 as a CEO speechwriter and continues to work closely with Target’s CEO. He later added oversight of Board communications, Law, HR, Properties, and areas of Finance. He started building the current team in 2020 to cover Target’s entire leadership team. Earlier in his career, Telschow worked in media relations, publishing, and business journalism, where, as a columnist and features writer, he covered dozens of CEOs, including the one who inspired his 2015 book, The Hungry Banker.

Susan Thomas

Susan Thomas

As client partner at Heyman Associates, Susan Thomas conducts searches across multiple industry sectors in corporate communications, government relations, media relations, investor relations, and marketing. She began her executive search career focused on the financial services industry following a career in investment banking. She has lived and worked in London, New York, Seattle, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
Aside from perfecting the art of moving and learning about different cultures, languages, and cuisines, Susan loves long walks with friends and her dogs, gardening, reading, and dining and traveling with family and friends, especially her two daughters.

Ari Vanrenen

Ari Vanrenen

Ari Vanrenen has worked in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Marketing & Communications department for nine years, supporting internal and external communications on topics including electric vehicles, clean energy, emergency response, crisis communications and now focuses on executive communications for the CEO. Prior to PG&E, Ari worked at IBM and the PR agency Burson-Marsteller.

Jerry Wohletz

Jerry Wohletz

Jerry Wohletz is Senior Director of Executive Communications at Walmart where he’s head of speechwriting for Doug McMillon, the company’s president and CEO. He also leads a team of speechwriters who support Walmart’s CFO, CPO and CTO, among others. Previously, he was speechwriter to the CEO of Walmart International. Before joining Walmart in 2019, Jerry held speechwriting and communications roles in the healthcare and education industries in Chicago, D.C. and Rochester, New York. He got started in communications while working on his family’s Kansas farm, where his strategic approach helped grow six tomato plants into a thriving local agritourism business.

Boe Workman

Boe Workman

As the Director of CEO Communications at AARP, Boe Workman serves as the chief speechwriter for CEO, Jo Ann Jenkins. He was also the chief speechwriter for AARP’s three previous CEOs dating back to 1993. He has received more than 50 awards for speechwriting including 11 prestigious Cicero Speechwriting Awards and three APEX Grand Awards. His speeches have appeared in Vital Speeches of the Day, the Business Speaker’s Almanac, Representative American Speeches, and numerous business and industry publications, as well as textbooks. He is co-author of Jo Ann Jenkins’ national best seller, Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Every Age, and of 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America, by Bill Novelli. Boe currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Professional Speechwriters Association and is a founding member of the Executive Communication Council. He received his Ph.D. in speech communication from Indiana University.

One Strategy Group is the next-generation corporate strategy firm that advises C-suite leaders and growth-focused companies on reputation, communications, and market positioning.

REGISTER

 

$495 to register for the pre-conference session, "Modern Presentation Structure and Design—for Exec Comms Pros," June 25, 2024. ($371 for members of the Professional Speechwriters Association. Discount is automatically applied to cart when current members are logged in.)

 

$995 to register for the Executive Communication Council's Executive Communication Summit, June 26-27, 2024. ($746 for members of the Professional Speechwriters Association. Discount is automatically applied to cart when current members are logged in.)

$1995 trio rate (you and two team members - please enter team member emails in the Order Notes so that they also receive credentials)

$2995 team rate (four or more team members - please enter team member emails in the Order Notes so that they also receive credentials)

 

Credentials to access the event will be sent the week of June 17.

A link to view the session recordings will be available shortly after the Summit concludes, and accessible anytime through the end of July, 2024.

Phone registrations please call 312-585-6383.

Cancellations Policy
No refunds on cancellations will be issued once the event credentials have been provided.

$495.00$2,995.00

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