Specialty Training Programs

Advocacy Training
Business Writing
Energy for Clean Energy Communications

Executive Profile

Government Orals Coaching

Image Consulting
Leadership Training
Marketing and Business Development
Meeting Management & Facilitation
Moderator Services

Negotiation
Networking/Interpersonal Skills/Business Etiquette
Video Production

Voicemail and Email Strategies

Advocacy Training
With a cloud hanging over the lobbying profession, it’s more critical than ever for ordinary citizens to know how to take their issues directly to Washington. Lawmakers need to hear directly from people affected by issues – whether they’re CEOs, rank-and-file workers, victims of deadly diseases, small business owners, educators, farmers or scientists. Scrutiny of, and tough new restrictions on, paid lobbyists will place a premium on the work of grassroots “lobbyists for a day.”

We train your grassroots lobbying team to make the most of its opportunity to reach lawmakers – so that your message stands out among all those that House members and Senators hear. We take them through the planning and practice stages of a successful lobbying visit. Our experts, with more than 50 years’ experience on both sides of the lobbying fence, help them craft and sharpen the message, create leave-behinds and rehearse the presentation to assure maximum effectiveness.
It’s a hands-on program, based on what experience tells us will help assure success. By investing a little in training the grassroots lobbying team, you will reap great dividends from its efforts.

Business Writing
Your writing creates a lasting impression on customers, clients and colleagues. CommCore’s Business Writing Workshops make participants as clear and articulate on paper as they are in person.  Our workshop participants report reductions in writing time by as much as 90%.  Participants also tell us that their writing is clearer, more focused and better organized.

Our method is simple: we read and analyze your writing samples-letters, memos, reports, business plans and customize a writing workshop around your specific needs. We emphasize “hands-on" instruction, combining in-class writing exercises with plenty of discussion.

• Workshops focus on the key ingredients of effective writing:
• Audience: Tailor your writing to your reader.
• Format: Readers want it plain and simple.
• Content: How much detail is necessary?
• Organization: Begin with the bottom line.
• Style: What image do you want to project on paper?

Energy for Clean Energy Communications

Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Green Transportation companies need to be visible now more than ever to gear up for growth:

• The Obama Administration has made Clean Energy a policy priority.
• Competition for funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be fierce.
• The ailing economy has hampered raising private capital.

To win in this environment at this time clean energy companies must have compelling communications and memorable campaigns built on a good story.  We're ready to help.

With decades of experience advising energy companies, CommCore Consulting Group launched its public affairs and communications services package to partner with energy clients and/or their agencies for Public Relations, Public Affairs, Government Affairs and Investor Communications counsel and support. CommCore has a proven record of helping clients achieve their goals through effective and creative communications.

Energy Sector Clients:

Renewable Energy Goalitions

  25 X ‘25

Federal Government
   U. S. Department of Energy

Power Producers
   AES
   Con Edison
   Los Angeles Water Authority

   Entergy

Energy Financial Services
   CantorCO2E

   Lazard Power, Utilities & Infrastructure

Diversified Energy

  Exxon/Mobil

  Texaco

  Ethanol Manufacturers

Consumer Products

  Samsung Clean Technology

Automotive/Clean Tech

  Mercedes Benz
     BlueTec Diesel Technology

  General Motors
     E85/Ethanol flex fuels
     Chevrolet and Volt
     Fuel Cell

Nongovernmental Organizations
   World Wildlife Fund
   Nature Conservancy
   Wilderness Society

CommCore Clean Energy Partnerships and Affiliations:

  Affliate - BlueWater Strategies (Lobbying, Government Affairs)

CommCore services:
o Message strategies, development and implementation
o Public Relations, Pubilc Affairs, and Lobbying/Government Affairs
o Media and presentation training
o Road Show preparation

o Media Relations
o Social media and digital internet communications
o Polling and survey research
o Crisis - audits, planning, preparedness and response


Energy Case Histories:

CantorCO2E – Environmental Marketing
CommCore conducted message development and training for the leadership team including the co-CEOs of CantorCO2E, a global provider of transaction services and financial consulting to the world’s environmental and energy markets. We developed messages defining the firm’s role in the emerging Energy Trading Market for emissions credits and media trained leaders through mock interviews to enhance their knowledge of one of the most difficult issues of the day.

Entergy - Consumer Environmental Outreach

Via PR firm The Huntington Group, CommCore conducted pro-clean nuclear energy messaging and media training for environmental group Entergy partners with the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE) and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). The message development and training was the prologue to a nationwide campaign by Entergy to build bridges to women who manage household energy budgets and are environmentally conscientious.

25 X ’25 - Renewable Energy Advocacy
25 X ’25, is a non-profit dedicated to achieving 25% of domestic energy production from renewable sources by the year 2025. CommCore consultants are working with leadership on messaging to increase corporate donor funding centered on the organization’s core principles including specific and consistent “big tent” sub-messages for different renewable sectors.

General Motors - Clean Tech Initiatives
GM has initiatives in 3 critical sustainable energy technologies: FlexFuel/E85; Volt battery powered cars; and hydrogen powered fuel cells. CommCore has conducted media and messaging programs for all 3, helping communicate messages in Federal and State government forums, and national, business, and consumer media.

U.S. Department of Energy - “60 Minutes”
The U.S. DOE came to CommCore for high profile media training to prepare for a “60 Minutes” investigation into the disposal of nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Plant.

Lazard Power, Utilities & Infrastructure - Environmental Marketing
Lazard is a leading financial advisory and asset management firm. CommCore provided media training for a CNBC interview by the firm’s Power, Utilities and Infrastructure sector Chairman George Bilicic.

CommCore Clean Energy Team

Andrew Gilman – CEO – An attorney, he’s advised GM on most clean energy projects; Mercedes on its diesel technology; the Chevy Volt; clean tech battery and fuel cell companies; Washington DC-based energy sector coalitions including 25 X ’25, and with environmental organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund.

Ken Koprowski – Senior Consultant – For more than 25 years, has advised the leadership teams of energy and financial services companies including GE, Chevron, Texaco, Statoil North America, and Lehman Brothers on strategic, crisis, and marketing communications, and public policy. He is Six Sigma, Facilitation, Change Management and Hazmat certified.

Karen Strauss, PhD – Senior Consultant – 30 years analyzing and communicating energy/environmental topics across all technology sectors. She holds a PhD. in Public Health and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Health Engineering from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health.

Jerry Doyle – EVP – Jerry’s advised the Cantor CO2E leadership teams in New York and London on messaging and interviews related to the emissions credit market; trained executives at Con Edison; and Lazard Power, Utilities & Infrastructure Chairman George Bilicic.

Thom Goertel - Producer - For more than 25 years he has created award winning and compelling message driven video productions for a wide cross-section of clients including National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, The Woods Hole Research Center and INCEF.  His current project, shot in Amazonas, Brazil, focuses on R.E.D.D. initiatives.

Nick Peters – SVP – Advises 25 X ’25 and The Huntington Group for Entergy. He’s covered the GPU Three Mile Island nuclear plant disaster as a reporter and helped produce and distribute the climate-changing video of the Exxon Valdez clean-up effort for Exxon. He was spokesman for the “Yes on A&B” Southern California environmental ballot measure.

Executive Profile
The EP is a personal link to a promotional platform for a speaker or news media interview subject. It contains all the components of an elaborate mail-package, but is delivered in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the cost. More important, EP boosts access by making the client profile faster and easier to review.
Paper-free professional promotion saves time, money, and boosts access. CommCore Productions builds an internet-based tool called the Executive Profile ™, or EP, that does more than list a spokesperson’s background and experience. It shows examples. EP clients send a personal link to designated individuals or groups. Recipients just click-in to see samples that can include news articles and book excerpts, as well as video samples that include speeches and TV appearances.

Originally designed to quickly connect producers and reporters with industry experts and corporate leaders, the EP is simple to send and easy to amend. E-mail delivers the EP link and clients can order EP content changes, updating information to suit different audiences.

To see an example, see CommCore’s President Andrew Gilman’s EP at www.andrewgilman.com

Government Orals Coaching
These days government agencies want more than a hefty proposal before they award multi-million dollar contracts.  More and more agencies now require prospective vendors to give formal presentations as part of the contract award process.  CommCore helps contractors land lucrative contracts through sessions that teach critical team skills including:

• Weaving a core message throughout the presentation
• Simplifying proposal concepts
• Creating a winning team chemistry
• Reinforcing messages in Q&A sessions

Image Consulting
The capacity to deliver effective messages hinges on improving presentation skills in a variety of settings, and they way you look affects your success.

Carefully and thoughtfully chosen for your target audience, your clothing can lend powerful support to your physical presence. After all, both the Message and the Messenger are being evaluated. CommCore will help you control your image.

CommCore’s training will provide insight into the type of dress, posture, setting and colors you should choose to set the stage for an effective presentation. In addition, we will provide the tools to help improve voice quality and overall presentation delivery so that the total package makes a positive impact.

Leadership Training
Leadership is essential to have in today’s workforce.  The most successful CEO will play many roles and master a variety of communication skills. While communication roles have many similarities, each relies on a slightly different ability, and each requires practice and sharpening. 

CommCore’s Leadership Training focuses on a variety of skill sets for c-level executives:

• Public Speaking
• Media Skills
• Internal  Presentation Skills
• Negotiations
• E-mail and Voice Mail Management
• Meeting Management
• Road Show Communications
• Lobbying Skills
• Crisis Communications

The CommCore Leadership Imperative

You don’t need the Edelman Trust Barometer to know that in tough economic times corporate and organization leaders face enormous credibility challenges.

Employees, customers, shareholders and traditional and online media contacts are looking for information, insights and guidance from the top. The immediate public, media and political reaction to the financial services and auto executives on Capitol Hill is additional proof that first impressions are quick, and last. And most organizations only get one first impression.

Senior-level communications with stakeholders is paramount in this environment: Effective real-time communication and transparency are essential to organizational survival and success.


The CommCore Leadership Communication Program (LCP)
The CommCore LCP, developed with PRIME Research, a leader in global communications and corporate reputation research is a sharp, focused and strategic approach to helping leaders communicate more effectively. The LCP combines reputation benchmarking via our exclusive CEO Reputation Audit, with our acclaimed PR counsel, messaging and communications and presentation training.

In order to be a leader and communicate effectively, it helps to know what the market thinks of you and how you are perceived.

CommCore LCP Includes:

• Communications campaign development
• Public, industry, and media reputation benchmarking and impact measurement via the exclusive CommCore CEO Reputation Audit
• Group or one-on-one executive media skills, presentation, messaging, meeting facilitation and/or leadership training and coaching
• Speechwriting, blogging, “coach-and-shoot” executive web video production
  

Marketing and Business Development

Each firm is different by practice areas, attorney specialties and client needs. Therefore, each firm will require different strategies to develop marketing plans and train attorneys. CommCore’s Legal Marketing and Development Coaching is designed to provide customized programs that address your training requirements in a time and cost effective manner.

CommCore’s programs can be part of a larger training initiative or a single training session. Our options fit the needs of your attorneys and marketing team at all levels:

Partner Programs

• Presentation & Briefing Skills
• Media Training/Meet the Press
• Personal Marketing Plans
• New Business/Practice Development
• Networking & Interpersonal Skills
• Coaching for High Stakes Interviews

Associate Programs

• Presenting to Partners
• Networking Skills
• P’s & Q’s for the Office Environment
• Presentation Skills
• Client Pitches and Beauty Contests
• Internal Audiences
• Cross Generational Communication
• Creating Firm Allies
• Personal & Career Development
• Meeting Management
• Client Interaction
• Writing Skills — E-mails, briefs & memos
• International/ Cross-Cultural Communication

Practice Programs

• Business Development Strategies
• Beauty Contest Rehearsals
• Message Development
• Diversity Training

Client Services

• Crisis Communications
• Media Training
• Media Consulting & Production
• Witness Preparation

Marketing Department

• Media Training — Traditional & New
• Presentation Skills Training
• Partner Communications
• ROI Establishing Marketing Value
• Beauty Contest Preparation

Training Settings

• One-on-One
• Groups & Retreat

Meeting Management & Facilitation
Our Management & Facilitation Skills workshop enhances the skills required to maintain focus, stay true to an agenda and run discussions in meetings or during a webcast. The program covers techniques for:

• Setting agendas and ground rules for moderating discussions
• Keeping the meeting organized and on track according the agenda
• Listening Skills
• Strategizing for Q&A
• Closing the session

Moderator Services

CommCore Moderators facilitate advisory boards, events and panels, dinner meetings and industry conference roundtables for clients in multiple industries. Our moderators have the technical skill sets, knowledge base and the experience to help achieve meaningful meeting outcomes.     

Your moderator will be equipped to:

• Moderate the meeting
• Manage the discussion
• Elicit participation
• Maintain flow & proper decorum
• Track timing
• Guide ideas
• Understand context of the discussions and guideline limitations
• Understand the organization dynamics and help facilitate team interactions
• Scribe and record the ideas and feedback
• Deliver an executive summary and a detailed report

CommCore Moderator Services Include:

• Moderators with specific industry expertise
• Moderator guide development
• Reporting –detailed reports and top-line summaries
• Meetings in several foreign languages
  
  

Our clients include:

• Industry sectors: Healthcare, Automotive, Technology, Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Entertainment, Law
• Non-profits
• Associations
• Government
  

Negotiation
Negotiating has been compared to dancing – you lead some, you follow some, and you’re careful not to step on too many toes.  In CommCore’s Negotiation Skills Workshop participants learn the art of negotiating through an approach that combines theory, case study and proven techniques.

Participants learn how to plan strategically and prioritize objectives with the goal of arriving at mutual agreement on disputed issues.  We work through case studies that are based on situations specific to the participants’ industry.

Participants walk away with improved skills that they can use immediately. 

Modules that are typically covered include:

• The Language of Negotiation – Verbal and Nonverbal
• Negotiation Profiles/Assessing the Opposition
• Defining Goals and Strategies – Getting to Win/Win
• Non-Defensive Behavior in Negotiation
• Bases of Persuasion
• Assembling and Managing the Negotiation Team
• Compromise in Negotiation/Defining the Bottom Line

CommCore’s Negotiation Skills Workshop was develop in cooperation with the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) and International Dispute Resolution (IDR) Associates, and has been offered to graduate students, business executives and government representatives.

Networking/Interpersonal Skills/Business Etiquette
Networking is critical in today’s workforce. Possessing the right interpersonal skills and sense of etiquette can help build relationships that both sustain and grow your business. Both the Message and the Messenger are at the core of communications, so you also need to know how to get your message across in a variety of settings. CommCore’s Language of Leadership program builds the skills and confidence of workshop participants with planned and proven models. The results are tangible; our clients report that they become more effective communicators overall.

Video Production
CommCore Productions specializes in broadcast communications for traditional and web-based applications. We provide a full-array of production and post-production services for television news bureaus, entertainment marketing, corporate entities, government, education and non-profit organizations.
Our Video Production Services include:

• Video News Release (VNR)/Radio News Release
• Satellite Media Tour (SMT)
• Video high-lights, b-roll package
• Electronic press kit
• Webcasts (live or taped)
• Encoded streaming media
• Corporate video/DVD
• Broadcast commercial and infomercial

Our packages can include:

• Concept development
• Script writing
• Filming
• Voiceover narration
• Editing
• Distribution
• Tracking & Reporting

Voicemail and Email Strategies
Mail That Delivers: Strategies for Voicemail and E-Mail

In today’s global, time-crunched workplace, more and more essential communication is taking place through the tools of technology – voicemail and email.  These tools provide a brief window of opportunity to capture the reader’s or listener’s attention - and get them to do something. 

CommCore’s “Mail That Delivers” workshop combines instruction with practice modules in which participants hone their skills using CommCore’s proprietary techniques.  Participants will benefit by learning to:

• Leave compelling voicemail messages that invite a return call
• Create succinct, clear, focused effective emails and voicemails
• Communicate to create a consistent, professional, positive impression

Whether the focus is sales, customer service or internal communications, the Mail That Delivers workshop delivers results.  Clients report employees save time in planning and crafting messages.  Employees report increased focus in delivering messages and a more engages dialogue when they finally connect for a real conversation.