National School Safety and Security Services

School safety & school crisis media training

School Safety Media Training

Managing the Media Madness: Communicating to the School Community in Emergencies and on School Safety Issues

 

Read Ken Trump's article on Communicating Safety to parents and the media from the March 2009 American School Board Journal

National School Safety and Security Services has extensive experience in working with local and national media. Kenneth S. Trump, our firm's president, is one of the nation's most widely quoted school safety experts. He has been interviewed by all network and cable news outlets, the top 50 U.S. daily print newspapers, and radio stations nationwide.

Ken has worked with school leaders following high-profile school safety incidents to develop and deliver key messages to their school community to prevent overreaction and to provide context to school safety issues during emotional times.

Ken's media experience spans over a decade, beginning with his work with local network news affiliates and expanding to his present day work involving live satellite news "expert interviews" on school safety issues, taped network evening news interviews, appearances on national morning news shows, regular interviews with national and daily newspaper reporters, interviews with national and local radio news, international news interviews, and related media interaction. He has presented at back-to-back national conventions of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) to advise school public information officers from across the country on communications strategies for addressing school safety, security, and emergency preparedness issues.

Ken shares his media insights and skills in a training session geared for school board members, executive level district administrators, central office managers, principals, public safety agency officials, and others who communicate with the media during a time of school crisis and/or on non-emergency school safety issues.  His perspective is not one of a traditional public relations or crisis communications consultant, but as a national expert on school safety and emergency preparedness issues with extensive first-hand experience as a school district employee and as national expert on school safety who has worked extensively with print, radio, television, and online media.

Learn practical strategies for managing parent and media communications on school safety issues and during crisis situations. 


Sample topics may include:

  • What parents expect in school communications on safety issues
  • What the media expects from school and safety officials
  • Common "sound bites" on school safety issues that position school officials in a questionable light with their school community
  • Methods for communicating effectively with parents and the school community during a crisis
  • Developing messages which create credibility and trust --- and guaranteed ways to lose credibility and trust if you fail to properly communicate
  • The "sound bite": Communicating complex school safety issues in short spaces and timeframes
  • Techniques for "staying on message" on school safety issues
  • "Lessons learned" from a school safety professional on how the media really works behind the cameras, radio console, and print newsroom doors
  • Practical mini-case studies in managing communications and messages in the weeks after a high-profile school crisis, as well as examples of communicating positively about school safety when there is not a crisis in the news
  • Applying "risk communication" concepts and lessons learned from business and government sector crises to communicating about school security and emergency preparedness issues
  • How to maintain your district's reputation on school safety when it a crisis incident strikes your school
  • How to proactively communicate safety issues to parents when there is NOT a crisis in your district
  • Hot topics in school safety likely to thrust your district into the spotlight

The goal is to provide techniques for communicating safety and emergency planning issues proactively and in an ongoing manner prior to a crisis to sustain trusting relationships between parents and their school officials. The session focuses on equipping district and building administrators and crisis teams with methods and techniques for communicating in crisis and non-crisis safety situations. The purpose is to empower school crisis leaders including, but beyond, the designated district spokesperson to be cable of managing an onslaught of parent and media communications inquiries and needs in a crisis.

And additional related topics as appropriate.

For additional information, contact Ken Trump.

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