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Effective Crisis Communication Amid COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in unprecedented challenges for everyone. In the midst of the pandemic, the need for organizations to communicate more frequently and effectively is evident, particularly as economies begin to open up again. In this webinar, C4CS® provides practical guidance to help communicators and marketers to devise successful strategies and craft compelling messages for all stakeholders – internal and external.

Oliver Schmidt, President & CEO, C4CS

A native of Berlin, Germany, Mr. Schmidt has more than 25 years of consulting, training, and executive coaching experience in the areas of strategic communication, crisis management, and organizational leadership. He speaks multiple languages and has lived and worked in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Mr. Schmidt routinely advises business leaders including the CEOs and members of the board of directors of publicly listed and privately held corporations regarding high stakes business issues. On the consulting end his focus is on working with domestic and international client partners in the areas of crisis and risk communication, employee and change communication, issues and stakeholder management, and reputation and crisis management.

Due to his unique background, Mr. Schmidt possesses a rare sense of cultural differences and their role in ethnically diverse and multinational corporations. He is capable of both quickly assessing complex business issues and guiding a comprehensive response while providing client partners with a depth of understanding and competence.

In confidential executive coaching sessions, Mr. Schmidt helps senior managers improve their crisis management, communication, and leadership expertise. This holistic approach is geared toward enhancing important leadership skills including public speaking, effective decision making in times of crisis, winning over stakeholders, and becoming a more confident and effective leader.

Mr. Schmidt is frequently invited to make presentations and conduct management training. He has addressed professional audiences in several dozen countries on topics ranging from crisis and risk communication to issues and reputation management and leadership coaching. While he often speaks at conferences that focus on corporate communication or crisis management, Mr. Schmidt is also regularly invited to present to corporate boards and senior management teams in the areas of strategic communication, crisis management, and leadership. Additionally, Mr. Schmidt conducts recurring Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes on such topics as crisis communication and crisis management, and he teaches an online course on Harnessing the Power of Social Media in a Crisis.

A former affiliate of the Center for Global Public Relations (CGPR) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mr. Schmidt has been active in a number of professional organizations including the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). He is currently serving as a member of the Global Affairs Committee within the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a member of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for Allegheny County in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Schmidt possesses a Master’s degree in Communication Science and Business Administration and has been a guest lecturer at leading universities in several countries. A Friedrich Naumann scholar, Japanese Foreign Ministry fellow and recipient of a Fulbright Grant, Mr. Schmidt has been interviewed by various industry and mainstream media and contributed to trade and peer-reviewed publications including Bulldog Reporter, The Business Communicator, Communication World, Continuity Insights, Disaster Resource Guide, PR Week, Risk and Resilience HUB, and Smart Business Magazine.

In his free time, Mr. Schmidt enjoys biking, swimming, and soccer with his wife and his children. His interest in learning about and exploring foreign cultures has turned him into a fan of travel literature. An avid fly fisherman, Mr. Schmidt can be found wading the streams feeding Lake Erie, preferably going after steelhead.

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