Senior Lecturer shares Media Relations Expertise with Today's Rising Executives

Senior Lecturer Terry Hemeyer has had an illustrious career in media relations, interviewing with The Today Show, 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today, among many other regional and national media outlets.

He recently led a day-long media seminar for the McCombs School of Business MBA program, where he shared his expertise with some of today's rising executives.

The seminar included presentations by public relations experts and one-on-one video interviews designed to illustrate the best ways to respond to difficult questions.

The group of more than 60 executives also learned about the ways that media influence audience perception and how those perceptions can impact a business' bottom line.

The seminar culminated with two real-life business crises and a simulated press conference.

Hemeyer says the seminar offers a great crash course for young executives who lack experience working with the media.

"Without something like this, they might be like deer in the headlights the first time they need to work with the media in a crisis," Hemeyer says. "After the seminar, they're more savvy and aware of how the media work and of how building good media relations can help them and their companies."

Hemeyer teaches Public Relations Strategies at The University of Texas at Austin, crisis management in the Rice University MBA program and is executive counsel to Pierpont Communications, where he advises on crisis, ethical, corporate, media and national issues.