Adele Cehrs began her career over 15 years ago and has worked at some of the largest public relations firms in the country. In June 2006, she founded Epic PR Group, an Alexandria-based PR firm that specializes in crisis communications, media relations and corporate communications. Adele has worked with Fortune 500 companies, regional businesses, nonprofits, associations, high-profile individuals and with consumer products and services.

As a recognized public relations expert, Adele has been featured in the Washington Business Journal, PRWEEK, Bulldog Reporter, the Washington Post and Voice of America. She has also appeared on various news programs including: CNN Headline News, NBC4, WUSA9, NPR and Fox Business Network Happy House. Since founding Epic, Adele has spoken at over 50 events, and provided private training sessions for industry leaders.

Adele has been a leader in connecting public relations with psychology, helping people to understand the intersection of the mind and product decisions. Additionally, she created a PR HEAT INDEX, which helps companies determine how prepared they are for a crisis, and a corresponding blog offering insights into the everyday challenges businesses across the country face.

WHY SHOULD YOU INVITE ME TO SPEAK?

Action, Action, Action. People who attend events will always leave with actionable ways to implement my discussions. I provide attendees with something to take with them that they can then share with their colleagues. I have found that has made individuals more successful in being able to implement that tactics I have suggested in my discussions.

Examples include: scenario training, handouts, packets, etc.

I make people laugh. I can make any generic topic something fun, interesting and worth your time.  There is not a dull moment.

You won’t find any cookie-cutter topics here. If you are looking for “I’ve heard that before” topics, I’m not the speaker for you.

I am NEVER nervous. I am a natural storyteller. From Madison Avenue to K Street, my journalism and PR experience spans more than 15 years and I have stories to prove it.

I’m a five out of five. I have a proven track record of success. Speaker reviews and testimonials from attendees available upon request.

I used to be a journalist. I have worked at George Magazine and Gannett Publications in NYC, giving me an insider understanding of how the media works. I know what they are looking for and how to effectively communicate across multiple platforms.

WHO I SPEAK FOR

 

WHAT I SPEAK ABOUT

Crisis Communications. As an expert in crisis communications, I have a wealth of knowledge about the preparation for crisis, reaction to crisis, and crises themselves. This background gives me the ability to effectively communicate with other industry professionals to help them navigate any type of crisis situation.

Specific topic areas include:

• The Flash Crisis. A Flash Crisis can hit at any time. In a social world, the speed and impact of a crisis is increased tremendously. This topic helps attendees understand how to recognize a Flash Crisis when it hits, when and if to respond
• Your Worst-Case Scenario. How to prepare yourself and your company for a worst-case scenario. A guide to understanding trends in your industry, your customer’s ever-changing needs, the impact of social media, etc. 
• In Crisis. The tools to help a communications professional navigate a current or potential crisis. Will help attendees to understand the cycle of a crisis and best practices for communicating or preparing during the various stages.

Strategic Planning. Every company should have a strategic plan in place. The plan should include aspects of crises, social media, reputation management, branding, thought leadership, etc. Creating a strategic plan from the beginning will help to put the company’s position into perspective, find its faults and help to create a better communications plan for its publics.

Specific topic areas include:

• The Art of Messaging. Messaging is an important aspect of making your company an industry leader. Having consistent messages will help to create an image, drive a campaign, or position oneself against a competitor. Attendees will walk away with best practices for creating messages and tips on how to communicate those messages effectively.
• Reputation Management. The rise in social media has created a dynamic across industries that requires companies to be more transparent, tech-savvy and customer service driven. The on-going changes that have occurred have made it hard for companies to remain on-step-ahead. I will help attendees understand these changes and give them advice on how to build reputation through these new channels.

Social Media. Social media is an ever-expanding industry that has a monopoly on much of organizations communications efforts. I can help communications professionals understand how to reel it back in, how to be ahead of the game and how to prepare for the social media gaffes or crises that can occur.

Specific topic areas include:

• Managing your Personal Brand. Branding is everything for a company – it’s your image, your reputation. Social media has made it harder to manage that brand. The public is easily able to criticize a company, creating the ever looming potential for a crisis situation. Understanding how to properly manage and monitor your brand online is crucial, and I can help you do that.
• Capturing Social Mood. What is hot today may not be hot tomorrow. Capturing the essence of conversation and understanding the driving factors behind positive and negative social media posts are essential to capturing the social mood. What you discover in conversations online can help to determine if there is a crisis looming, a concern customers have, something they want to see more of, etc. I help you decipher the social mediasphere and give tips for staying active and engaged online.
• The Perfect Platform. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+. Each platform offers different tools that an organization can use. Understanding which would allow the greatest outreach and interaction with your target audience is crucial to being a leader in your industry. I can provide background on each of the different platforms and give scenarios to help attendees decide which social media tool would best suit their needs.
• Connecting People to Your Cause. How do you get people to notice you? Creating a dynamic social media interface that not only gets your target audience to subscribe, but to also engage is often a missed opportunity for many organizations. I give suggestions on how to properly engage your customers, donors or target audience on a consistent basis. What are they looking for? Who do they want to interact with? What is the best platform to create conversation? I can answer those.

Business Marketing.

Specific topic areas include:

• Creating the Perfect Promotional Cocktail. A fun analogy to help better understand the intersection between marketing and communications. In a 5 minute, 20 slide presentation, I walk you through the different parts of a cocktail and demonstrate how each aspect, when brought together, can form the perfect promotional cocktail.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BOOK ADELE FOR A SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrea Woods
Epic PR Group
703-299-3404
andrea@epicprgroup.com