F089: Don't Get Caught Off Guard: Simple Media and Messaging Skills for Busy Shop Owners

Ever notice how certain business owners are always quoted in the media? Always invited to keynote. While others only get news coverage when a safety incident or other crisis hits them unprepared?
This one-hour session reveals from two global communications experts how to:

• Create positive media coverage *without* a PR firm
• Draft a communications response plan *before* the crisis hits
• Use the neurobiology of influence and your Origin Story to make a connection with any hostile audience

It’s not about access.
It’s about positioning.
It’s not luck.
And it’s not a PR budget.

Learn how to become the kind of industry leader reporters want to quote and event organizers race to invite — without paying a PR firm. And see what mastering your message and amplifying your influence can do for your visibility, your business and your bottom line!

A customer asks to “write in black.” Marketing imagines a ballpoint pen. Sales commits to delivery. Engineering builds a Sharpie. The customer wanted to write on a whiteboard.

This isn’t a people problem. It’s a communication system problem. Across organizations, execution breaks down when what’s said, heard, and remembered diverge between teams.

Drawing on 30 years of revenue and operations leadership experience, Mike Simmons introduces The Catalyst Approach, a practical framework built on three tools that turn communication into aligned execution. Attendees will learn how to plan high-stakes conversations, surface hidden perspective gaps across functions, and create accountability through clear ownership and next steps.

Participants leave with repeatable methods to align stakeholders before work begins, reduce rework and confusion, and ensure meetings end with clarity around who will do what by when, accelerating execution and improving operational outcomes.