How to Execute Outstanding Town Halls
Developing a successful Town Hall requires a delicate balance between executive messaging and employee engagement. In this on-demand webinar, seasoned communications leaders from a variety of industries share their best insights and practical tips for working with executives, departments, and technology to deliver the right information at the right time in the right ways. These experts cover strategies for turning challenging times and difficult news into opportunities for organizational growth and employee empowerment, as well as how to structure conversations and presentations that capture and hold attendee’s attention and communicate goals clearly — all while navigating difficult topics that include crises and layoffs.
Watch this on-demand webinar now!
In this 1.5-hour program, you’ll learn how to navigate the intricacies of collaborating with executives and stakeholders, helping employees feel heard and celebrated, maintaining employees' attention in distracting virtual environments, measuring sentiment and success and fine-tuning communications strategies for maximum impact. Viewers will walk away with a comprehensive toolkit for orchestrating Town Hall meetings that resonate, engage and inspire — even during tough times.
AGENDA
Whether you’re celebrating wins, delivering bad news or addressing change within an organization, planning is the key to a Town Hall that leaves employees feeling seen, understood and motivated. In this session, we’ll explore which stakeholders need to be involved in Town Hall development, how to partner with these stakeholders to create a unified narrative, and how to organize and present information in a clear and memorable way.
- Working with leadership: Uncover strategies to effectively collaborate with executives and cross-departmental leaders, ensuring alignment on priorities, messaging and tone.
- Hitting the right notes: Find out how celebrating wins can keep employees inspired, and learn how to have tough conversations around layoffs, crises and organizational changes.
- Meeting employees where they are: Learn best practices for organizing and presenting a Town Hall to maximize attention and impact for remote, hybrid and in-person workforces.
- Infusing culture: Methods to ensure your company’s culture and values shine through during virtual town halls – no matter the subject matter.
As any communicator knows, the success of a Town Hall extends far beyond attendance. This session will delve into the art and science of measurement, covering the tools and metrics you’ll need to prioritize content and messaging that meets employee needs and satisfies their curiosity; evaluate and analyze sentiment before, during and after Town Halls; and present information in an approachable and engaging way. From understanding the emotional pulse of your audience to post-event assessments, you'll leave equipped with the tools to ensure your Town Halls strike the right chords with employees. You’ll learn:
- Success by the numbers: Understand what metrics and KPIs are most important at every stage of the Town Hall planning, production and post-event process, and how to use this information to improve the employee experience.
- Channels and tech: Explore methodology and technology options to help uncover nuanced data that reveals everything from sentiment and engagement to relevance and impact.
- Talk of the town: Understand what factors play into the way a Town Hall is received, how to determine what employees need and want to know most and what to do with feedback once you have it.
- Support for a global audience: How to orchestrate and elevate your Town Halls so they feel relevant for global employees that may require async question submissions or language translation.
With pressure from an uncertain economy and inflation, a seismic job market, rampant global crises and mental health challenges plaguing employees, it’s a difficult time for leaders to craft pitch-perfect messaging when speaking to an entire organization. Balancing serious topics while leveraging a celebratory tone takes skill, collaboration, insights and empathy. In conversation with Ragan, our presenters will dig into what it takes to meet the needs of an organization of any size or shape. You’ll learn:
- Time-tested strategies: Come ready to take notes and learn from major organizations how they’ve crafted some of their most important and timely Town Halls.
- Lessons with leadership: Discover the best ways to work with and guide executives and other leaders within your organization to ensure a commitment to cohesion, clarity and purpose.
- Prioritizing transparency: How to infuse transparency into your all-hands, and how it fosters trust among employees who are navigating remote work challenges.
- What worked — and what didn’t: Our speakers will discuss things they’ve tried, strategies they’ve scrapped and powerful moments that brought their organizations together.
Top reasons to watch this webinar
- You’ll receive all presentations and handouts.
- You’ll get access to an on-demand recording of the event for six months.
- You can attend this immersive webinar without having to leave your desk.
PRESENTERS
Vice President of Corporate Affairs—Compass Group North America
With more than two decades of experience building and protecting brands, Lisa Claybon is the vice president of corporate affairs for Compass Group North America, the leading foodservice and support services company and world’s 11th largest employer. Since joining the company just over five years ago, she has led strategic communications activities ranging from media relations and crisis management to guiding the company’s cross-functional COVID-19 Task Force, as well as leading communications for its Chartwells K12 division. Prior to Compass Group, she spent 17 years with one of the top global communications firms where she worked with some of the world’s most renowned brands. She has served as a media spokesperson, managed large-scale crisis situations, led M&A communications, and counseled countless corporations and nonprofit organizations.
AVP, Corporate Communications —Nationwide
Jeri Grier is Nationwide’s Associate Vice President of Corporate Communications. With the company for 14 years, she has been responsible for enterprise and strategic communications, representing specialty businesses, direct sales and shared services, as well as organizational communications representing the staff functions CEO communications, corporate governance and corporate sustainability.
Jeri’s career has focused on internal communications, media relations, mergers and acquisition communications, change management and event planning, as well as reputation and crisis management. Prior to joining Nationwide, Jeri managed Corporate Communications for Huntington Bancshares Inc. She also previously held positions at the Ohio State Bar Association, Time Warner Cable in Cincinnati (now Spectrum), Federated Department Stores, Inc. (now Macy’s) and Drake Center, Inc.
A graduate of Miami University, she is active in the community. Jeri currently represents Nationwide on the North Market Development Authority board, and has served on several other Columbus-area boards, including WOSU Public Media, Action for Children, Children’s Hunger Alliance and Phoenix Theatre for Children.
Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Communications—Jackson
Ashley is Assistant Vice President with Jackson’s Enterprise Communications team, leading the Events, Multimedia Design and Internal Communications functions. Her team designs events, experiences and creative assets for external and internal audiences, and plans and implements strategic communications for Jackson employees.
Ashley joined Jackson in 2010 in the Company’s eLearning and Training department, a team she later led. In 2017, she took a leadership position with Jackson’s Internal Communications team, quickly elevating the role to Director, Internal Communications before expanding the team and assuming her current role. Prior to joining Jackson, she served as an independent consultant focusing on communications, media relations, marketing, distribution strategy, advisor and customer experience, business development. Practice management and charitable giving and planning. She has held senior leadership roles in Marketing, Communications and Investment Operations supporting firms like Northwestern Mutual, LPL Financial and AXA Advisors, LLC (now Equitable).
Ashley studied political science and speech communications at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations.
Jackson is a member of Ragan's Communications Leadership Council.
Manager of Communications—Southwire
Jordan Weathers is Manager of Communications at Southwire. Since joining the organization in
2012, he has served in a variety of roles — editing the company’s printed newsletter and leading
the transition to an online format, sending the company’s daily email blast with an audience of
more than 3,000 employees, writing articles and executive communications, leading the visual
production team, providing HR support for Southwire’s functional teams and international sites
and acting as project manager for the entire communications department.
In his current position, Weathers oversees a talented team of writers and graphic designers — and
manages relationships with a number of vendors — to achieve Southwire’s internal and external
communication objectives. In 2022, he coordinated a successful relaunch of quarterly town hall
events for President and CEO Rich Stinson and other executive leaders and led the roll-out of a
quarterly “continuous listening” cadence for the company’s engagement survey. Most recently,
he managed the release of the company’s mobile app and communication platform, Southwire
Circuit.
Weathers holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the University of West Georgia
(UWG), where he served as News Editor for the college newspaper, and he has been an election
stringer for the Associated Press for more than 10 years. Outside of work, he likes to read, build
LEGO, play board games, visit National Parks and have fun with his wife and two young children.
| Rates | |
|---|---|
| Registration | $375 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu Registration | $350 |
| Ragan Insider Registration | $325 |
Phone registrations and group pricing: For group orders please contact our customer service team at 800-878-5331 or cservice@ragan.com
Top 3 things you’ll learn:
- Developing a balanced gameplan for Town Halls in 2024.
- Crafting and collaborating on narratives that resonate with your audience.
- Connecting with employees and protecting your organization’s reputation.
WONDERING IF YOU SHOULD WATCH?
Here’s what past attendees are saying about Ragan and PR Daily Events!
Ragan's webinars are bite-sized chunks of professional development I can squeeze into my schedule without having to travel to a conference. Highly recommend!
Ragan continues to provide top-notch, professional content that is beneficial to a wide range of employees, senior leaders and executives.
A great resource that provides unique insights into problems we all face as communicators. Two thumbs up and already looking forward to the next webinar!
Very informative, practical and immediately useful.
Ragan is the absolute best. I have been a loyal follower of their education and resources for years. They have helped improve communication in my company and increase engagement and satisfaction.
Ragan webinars provide professionally engaging and actionable content of a wide range of communication topics.
Ragan webinars are consistently relevant to topics of the day, and presenters always give tactical information that can be applied to most communication job roles.
Ragan webinars are very insightful and informative, giving the necessary foundational knowledge in kickstarting Internal Communication Role.
WHO SHOULD WATCH THIS WEBINAR?
You should watch this webinar if you spend at least a quarter of your time in any of these areas:
Executive Communications • Internal Communications • Corporate Communications • HR Communications • Employee Communications • Employee Engagement • Human Resource Global Communications • Corporate Culture • Strategic Communications
CService@Ragan.com or by calling 800-878-5331.
