Talk Is Chief

A public relations expert shares inspirational stories and smart strategies for successful business communication and crisis management.

Business leaders spend up to 90 percent of each day communicating with colleagues, customers, shareowners, creditors, regulators, advocates, and competitors. The style and success of those communications has a vital influence on their organization's culture, opportunity, and reputation. In this age of heightened transparency, no leader can afford to undervalue to importance of communication--especially during a crisis.

With more than three decades of experience working with many Fortune 500 companies, communications consultant Jack Modzelewski teaches leaders to see themselves as chief credibility officers. In Talk Is Chief, he provides sound advice and concrete examples of effective communication. He also shares the "10 Commandments of Crisis Management"--essential communication tools for avoiding crises or averting worst-case scenarios when confronted with an existential threat.
About the Author: Jack Modzelewski is president of JackKnifePR, a business communications consulting firm in Chicago. His long career in public relations, marketing, communications, and executive management included roles with three global agencies. Most recently, he was president of FleishmanHillard, where he worked for more than 26 years in executive and international positions, including five years as president of Europe and nearly five as president of the Americas. Modzelewski has more than thirty-five years of experience with corporate and brand communications programs for a wide spectrum of big clients in the telecommunications, automotive, food service, technology, energy, financial, healthcare, and professional sports industries. He has worked with companies such as McDonald's, AT&T, General Motors, Chase Bank, Baxter, Tribune, Monsanto, and Procter & Gamble. He also advised with associations such as the Consumer Electronics Association and not-for-profits such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He has considerable experience in corporate and financial communications, mergers and organizational restructurings, issues management, and all means of strategic stakeholder outreach. He has assisted clients in 25 major crises, both domestic and international. One of Modzelewski's past clients called him the _x201C_counselor's counselor._x201D_ He has done speeches and articles on subjects spanning leadership, international business, marketing and social media, and risk and crisis management. Prior to his career in public relations and communications, he was a multi-media, award-winning journalist. He's attended five World Economic Forum (WEF) conferences in Davos and WEF meetings on five continents. He has been listed on PRWeek's Global Power List and in 2015 was inducted in the Medill Hall of Achievement at Northwestern University. He is currently chairman of the board of the Better Government Association in Illinois.