Welcome to the August issue of Emergency Management Solutions.
One of the things I always encourage colleagues to do is to share our expertise with the academic community. I had the pleasure this month of doing exactly that with a visit to Jacksonville State University where I had the privilege of addressing a group of graduate students seeking a PhD in emergency management. As is always the case when I do things like this, I think I learned more than the students did.
Regards,
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Featured Article
Simplify Your Planning
"Doorstop plans" are a waste of time
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Research shows that few people read plans during a time of crisis. So why do we commit our limited resources to great massive documents crammed with details that no one will use or remember when it counts? The answer, sadly is that we write our plans to meet the requirements of others rather than the needs of those who must implement them. We demonstrate our adherence to "guidance" and our commitment to special interest groups by including specific language and annexes rather than actually crafting a response mechanism that will work when needed.
The problem is that, like so much of our emergency management programs, much of our planning has evolved over time to meet the crisis of the month rather than as the result of a systematic approach. While we understand that the relationships we forge during the planning process are more important than the written plan, the emphasis has been on the written plan as the metric for success.
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If you are having trouble viewing my featured article, try clicking on the link at the top of the page. You can always find my articles in the white paper section of my blog site, Canton on Emergency Management.
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Professional Development
Improve Your Public Speaking
The ability to speak persuasively is a core capability in just about any profession. Emergency management is no different. But everyone, even professional speakers, are nervous about speaking in public. It's considered the most common phobia. So how do you overcome your reluctance to speak?
Speech coach Darren LaCroix is fond of saying that you only need three things to become a good speaker: stage time, stage time, stage time. His point is that the more you actually speak, the better you become at it. So here are three ideas that can help you get more practice time: - The heart of a good speech is a good outline -knowing what you're going to say and in what order. Get into the habit of creating talking points for yourself, even if it's just providing input at a staff meeting.
- Prepare your oral reports as if they were presentations: identify your objective, the key points you want to cover, and the call to action you want your listeners to take.
- Create a standard talk on preparedness that you can give on a moment's notice. You can delete talking points if you have only a short time or add points for a longer talk.
Upcoming Educational Opportunities
November 13-18, Clark County, NV
The IAEM Annual Conference provides a forum to discuss current trends and topics, share information about the latest tools and technology in emergency management and homeland security, and advance the work of IAEM. Conference sessions encourage stakeholders at all levels of government, the private sector, public health and related professions to exchange ideas and collaborate to protect lives and property from disaster.
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Good leaders are never content with the status quo. They seek to seize the initiative and are constantly looking for innovative ways to improve.
