Simplify - Amplify - Quantify
Simplify - Amplify - Quantify
ABOUT
Over a career that has spanned four decades, Terry Young, founder of Exemplary Communications, has become widely recognized as one of the U.S. nuclear industry's premier communications leaders. He's also the only communications professional to receive a Nuclear Excellence Award from the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
In his new role as a consultant focusing exclusively on the special and unique communications needs of the nuclear industry, he can bring this experience to bear on whatever issue your nuclear organization faces.
- The trajectory of his career changed forever when, at 29, he left Arkansas Nuclear One to join the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations as speechwriter for INPO CEO Zack Pate, an industry icon. Eight years later, Dr. Pate chose him as his chief of staff when he became chairman of WANO. Terry served five years in that role, including two years at the WANO Coordinating Center in London.
- It was during this time that he traveled to Ukraine as a member of the WANO peer review team at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The experience shaped his unrelenting message to employees about the importance of protecting the reactor core - a theme that should be the foundation of all nuclear communications.
- Proving his ability to improve culture at plants, Terry played a key role in the impressive performance turnarounds at the nation's largest nuclear station, Palo Verde, and Wolf Creek. He did this by executing innovative strategies to align and engage station leaders and personnel.
Employing his concise but powerful "Simplify - Amplify - Quantify" approach, Terry can help make your communications exemplary.
So How Do You Manage Employee Attention?
Three steps to keeping the workforce aligned and engaged
Simplify.
Let's keep this simple. Your messaging is too complicated. You have too many plans. You're trying to get employees to focus on too many things. And the things don't connect.
Your employees are confused. Your leaders are confused. And pretty soon, confused people stop listening.
I can help you crystallize your message – in plain language that makes sense to everyone from the Maintenance Shop to Reg Affairs.
I mean, after all, isn’t nuclear power already complicated enough?
Amplify.
Why did Jimi Hendrix use an amplifier? To be heard, of course. Stratocasters don’t make much noise unplugged. So how do you amplify your message?
Stick to your simplified script. Broadcast it from all communication platforms. Develop a consistent cadence so employees know when and how to expect information.
And it takes repetition for a message to sink in. It takes repetition for a message to sink in. It takes repetition for a message to sink in.
I can help get your message heard from the turbine deck to the training center.
Quantify.
You crafted a compelling vision and direction. You flooded the airwaves. But did anyone hear it? And most importantly, did it change behavior?
George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Let’s leave the illusions to Penn and Teller.
I can help you confirm whether your message hit the mark. Not gonna soft sell this – it’s harder than you think. That’s why it often gets glossed over.
But, as we all know, it’s outcomes not output that matter.
A Dozen Services
Choose from a variety of ways I can help you.
Assess Communications
When it comes to assessing nuclear communications, I literally helped write the book. As director of INPO communications, I wrote the performance objective and criteria for communications after successfully lobbying for it to be assessed during INPO corporate evaluations. I also co-authored INPO's Guidelines for the Conduct of Internal and Crisis Communications at Nuclear Power Stations, which remains the nuclear industry's best tool for assessing the effectiveness of nuclear communications programs.
Presentation Skills and Media Relations
Training on presentations and media relations is a passion for me. I began my INPO career as the speechwriter for the CEO, and provided speaker training to dozens of nuclear leaders in the INPO Shift Manager Professional Development Seminars. My media relations skills were honed as vice president of nuclear communications for Entergy, which had a large fleet of nuclear plants - some in areas with strong antinuclear sentiment (New York, Massachusetts, Vermont). It doesn't get harder than that.
Mentor New Leaders
Did you just a hire a head of communications from outside the nuclear industry, or do a deep select to fill the role? I can get them up to speed. I taught employee communications for years at NEI's Fundamentals of Nuclear Communications, and I teach the nuclear history module at INPO's New-to-Nuclear Communications Training Symposium. Or maybe you have technical leaders in your succession plan who lack the communications skills to make them "ready now." I can give them the skills and confidence they need.
Craft a Comms Strategy
What's your message? What's the cadence? How do you connect the dots for employees? Why should they follow you? You probably have lots of plans. But in your heart of hearts, you know that doesn't equal a strategy. Let's build one together, following my "Simplify - Amplify - Quantify" process. The creation of a strategy is at the top of the list in INPO's performance objective and criteria for communications. Nuff said.
Assist in a Crisis
You will have a crisis. It's the nature of the beast. From Chernobyl to Fukushima, from a pipe bomb at the security entrance to a fatality from a collapsed crane - I've lived through it. Let's review your crisis communication plan. It's the planning that's important, not just the plan. While we work hard to prevent a crisis, one can crash ashore at any time. I can help when that happens. And it will.
Improve Industrial Safety
Build a culture that has employees looking for risk where they don't expect to find it. That's how you improve industrial safety. It takes a tenacious communications strategy - one that connects emotionally and that highlights positive employee behaviors and tangible progress to eliminate hazards. Industrial safety not a problem? Are you good or lucky?
Serve on a Nuclear Safety Review Board
Historically, Nuclear Safety Review Boards haven't included communications professionals, but I would argue that's an oversight (pun intended). Why? Because leadership, leveraging Communications, changes culture. Since an NSRB's Organizational Effectiveness member usually covers communications, I sought to broaden my value by serving as the OR functional area manager for STARS Alliance (Callaway, Diablo Canyon, Palo Verde and Wolf Creek) from 2020-2022. I can provide insight about your plant from a different perspective. And isn't that the point?
Assess and Improve Nuclear Safety Culture
Nuclear safety culture must constantly be rebuilt. So your communications strategy needs to keep the spotlight on the fundamentals: such as the avenues for reporting concerns, the INPO traits of a healthy nuclear safety culture, and the importance of the Corrective Action Program. Having helped a nuclear station recover from an NRC chilling effect letter, I can assess the adequacy of your nuclear safety culture communications. A first, often overlooked, step is to ensure employees know the difference between nuclear safety and industrial safety.
Write Speeches
and Blogs
There's something special in the relationship between speechwriters and the people they write for. It's a privilege to get to know someone well enough that you can capture their personality and unique qualities - their voice. I was 29 when I joined INPO as the CEO's speechwriter. Since then, I've written speeches for many CEOs and chief nuclear officers. A highlight was writing a speech for Sam Nunn, the former U.S. senator from Georgia, who spoke at a WANO Biennial General Meeting. And it would be my honor to write for you.
Help You Brainstorm
I began my corporate life assuming leaders were born with clear vision, strong intuition and the ability to plan the moves ahead like a grandmaster chess champion. When I realized that we're all just humans trying to find the best path forward, I grew to love being in the room as the future was being created. It was sometimes messy and chaotic, but it was always thrilling. Throughout my career, I've been an effective sounding board for the executives I've brainstormed with. And I can do that for you.
Voiceover and Narration
My love of microphones and sound booths began in high school when I worked as an announcer at local radio stations. I went on to manage my college's radio station and to do play-by-play broadcasts for area college football and basketball teams. Throughout my nuclear career, I've been the voice of countless corporate videos and commercials. Let me put my recording studio to work for you.
Reputation Management
A fundamental truth of our nuclear business is that we operate at the pleasure of the public. Trust is earned slowly over time and can disappear overnight. That's why your communications strategy needs a strong external component that ensures you proactively engage with your local communities - seeking their feedback and being transparent about your operations. Let's discuss ways to solidify the trust so essential to your long-term success.
