Grant Ainsley

Almost everyone knows the importance of communication in the workplace and in our personal lives, especially at times when we’re communicating much differently than a generation ago. The problem is, as people spend more time communicating digitally, face-to-face communication gets harder. As more digital kids enter the workforce, things will become even more difficult.

Communications expert Grant Ainsley will show you how you can be a better communicator and how to prepare for and have difficult discussions. His presentation will point out why it’s important to get into difficult discussions and how to achieve the outcomes you want.

In Can We Talk you’ll learn:

How communication has changed and what you need to do to keep up

How you can communicate better by becoming a better listener and asking great questions

Strategic changes in the way people can speak add to the influence they have

Ways to prepare for, and hold difficult discussions – the type of conversations that are often avoided, or if they’re held, they’re not done very well

Ainsley draws on years of communications experience in the news media, public relations, business and his personal life to tell great stories that are not only entertaining but provide important takeaway messages about ways you can communicate better.

His message is “Run to the conversation, not away from it.” It will change the way you communicate, regardless of how you tell your story.

It’s simply impossible to be a great leader if you can’t communicate well. Excelling in communication is consistently one of the highest-rated traits of great leaders, but unfortunately, communication skills are not inherited, or often taught in business school.

Organizations also feel pain. One study reported that poor communication in a company with 100 employees costs $525,000 a year. Poor direction from leaders and disjointed communication between their employees results in huge costs for any organization.

CEOs and their organizations need to work even harder on communication because many workers are talking less while texting and emailing much more. It’s getting more difficult to get many employees, especially younger ones, to communicate face-to-face.

Grant Ainsley’s keynote presentation shows leadership teams the secrets to communicating effectively, resulting in better bottom lines. He talks about the key traits of leaders who communicate well and how to prepare for, and have important and real conversations with employees, customers and others. He’ll provide immediate takeaways to allow CEOs and their organizations to start talking again, building trust and getting results.

As more young people enter the workforce who have spent most of their lives involved in social media, email and texting, getting teams to communicate is becoming more challenging and it won’t get any easier in the next decade.

Participants will learn why effective leaders focus on others, communicate without ego, listen with intention, ask strategic questions, navigate difficult conversations, strengthen body language, adapt their style without changing their message, and build cultures rooted in strong communication.

There’s never been a time that companies are in greater danger of having something go wrong in social media and having their brand and reputation damaged so badly it will take years to recover.

Despite that, too few business leaders are overly concerned about the dangers lurking in the social media use of their employees. 70% of employees are on at least one social media site every day. One embarrassing Facebook post, or piece of video on YouTube can send companies scrambling to explain and recover. Ask yourself what you would do if it happened to you.

We’re also seeing the first wave of people entering the workforce who’ve been involved in social media for most of their lives. They’re friends and followers of many of their customers. The coming years will bring more challenges related to social media as young workers integrate into the system and use social media to communicate and express opinions.

Grant Ainsley is one of Canada’s top media trainers and a former award-winning journalist. He’s discovered that only a fraction of companies are fully prepared to stop something bad from happening to them in social media and understand what they should say to the news media if it does. To make matters worse, many don’t have written procedures in place to deal with consumer complaints made in social media. Ainsley’s presentation will result in companies understanding the risks they face and how to minimize them, reducing stress, embarrassment and potentially saving big dollars. He’ll also look into the future and let you know what you need to prepare for. Grant Ainsley will teach you to learn how to bulletproof your brand and avoid a social media meltdown.

Participants will learn what happens when offensive posts go viral, how to reduce risk through strong policies, ways to manage media fallout and consumer complaints, and why younger workers may present unexpected challenges.

While many people may be good at managing their personal Facebook accounts, few of the organizations they work for are doing social media properly, even though it’s the biggest marketing tool ever.

Most companies and associations are only scratching the surface when it comes to their social media activity and it shows in the results they’re getting. It’s not just about getting more likes and follows, it’s about using social media and other forms of digital media to increase engagement and get results.

There’s a clear link between your website, blog and social media activity. They all have their roles and fit together to produce incredible results that can add to your profile and influence, while also saving rime.

Grant Ainsley’s keynote presentation gives organizations simple, but powerful tactics to use immediately to connect with more people, save time, measure results and benefit their bottom lines. Each presentation is customized to the group he’s speaking to. Ainsley’s presentation gives organizations road maps to follow to increase their social media engagement, allowing them to have better interaction with customers and members. It will force you to look at how you communicate now and how you can do it better.

Participants will learn how to think like a reporter to communicate effectively, choose the right social media platforms, use blogs to build engagement, leverage their list, produce cost-effective video, sell online, and track and measure their progress.

Unlike public relations and marketing firms, when you hire Grant to do media training, you don’t get a company with big overheads and you don’t deal with different people. You deal directly with Grant from start to finish and I’m the one who does the training.

Grant has worked in the media for 15 years in roles ranging from reporter and anchor, to talk show host, to News and Public Affairs Director and Assignment Editor. He has done media training and spoken about the media across Canada for the past decade.

His corporate media training sessions are usually a day or half-day in length. They include a presentation to let participants know how the media works and ways they can thrive in any media situation.

We then work on developing key messages that your people and organization can use in actual media interviews. Finally, Grant assumes the role of a reporter and conduct interviews on camera to put everything taught into practice, followed by a critique. This is only the way it’s normally done.
Your people will learn a new skill, it’s great for team building and they’ll enjoy the day. Most importantly, they’ll be much more knowledgeable and comfortable the next time they face the media.

He is the only media trainer in Canada who’s a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS), that has a Code of Ethics for all members to provide assurance to you when you hire me. Grant gives back to the speaking industry by serving on the national Board of Directors for CAPS. He also the only Canadian media trainer whose media training course has received Gold Seal Certification from the Canadian Construction Association.

Participants will gain a fully customized training experience that includes a planning meeting, an introductory video, a signed copy of The Honest Spin Doctor, a downloadable media training manual, a DVD of all interviews, and up to three hours of follow-up consultation for additional support.