Custom workshops and seminars
PR training
for your experts
Built around your organization’s goals
Tracy Samantha Schmidt teaches your experts
to book speaking gigs, attract press, and grow their following.
Want our publicists to work with them 1:1? See PR for your experts.
Media coveragePodcast & YouTube showsStagesSocial media
Clients featured in
Meet Tracy
Your experts have the ideas.
Let’s help them get noticed.
Your experts already know their field. Our training shows them how to book their own speaking engagements, attract media coverage, and grow their social media following, in line with your organization’s goals and without adding to your comms team’s workload.
trained
in person
since
In their words
“Tracy can quickly comprehend and digest complex organizational strategies and goals, and turn around highly valuable, customized training sessions. Tracy’s engaging and inspiring presentation style was a big hit in our organization, appealing to all skill levels.”
Andy Sternberg
Head of Social Media and Audience Development, Rotary International
“Tracy is an expert on social media and she demonstrates that in her explanation of philosophy, strategy, approach, and tactics. ALA staff were enthusiastic about her presentation on social media crisis communications.”
Jeff Julian
Director, Public Awareness Office, American Library Association
Select clients
After the training
What changes for your team
- 01
Your experts pitch themselves.
They know how to find the right conferences, write a strong application, and follow up. Your team hears about the talk after it’s booked.
- 02
Interviews stop being a risk.
They know what a reporter needs, how to stay on message, and when to call your team first.
- 03
They attract their own coverage.
They learn to pitch reporters, podcast hosts, and YouTube shows on their own, with story angles that fit your organization’s message.
- 04
Their posts support your goals.
Each expert leaves with a simple plan for what to share and where, so your team isn’t writing every post for them.
How it works
Custom from the first call.
Tracy builds each program around your organization, so your experts learn what matters for their roles.
Book a call with Tracy- 01
Set the strategy
Tracy meets with you to decide how your experts should use social media, the press, podcasts, and stages to raise your organization’s profile.
- 02
Design the program
She looks at your field and the organizations you compete with, then builds a one-time or multi-part program around each expert’s role and skill level.
- 03
Train your experts
Tracy leads the training virtually, on site, or both. If your experts want more help afterward, our team offers coaching.
Training topics
What your experts can learn
Pick one topic for a single session or combine several into a series.
Message
Personal brand
How to decide what you want to be known for professionally.
Narrative refinement
How to talk about your expertise so people get it and understand its value.
Big idea development
How to turn your expertise into a big idea that gets traction.
Social media
Social media strategy
How to choose where to show up, what to post, and how often.
Straight-to-camera videos
How to record short videos that sound natural and stay on message.
Collaborating with creators
How to find and partner with creators who reach your audience.
Media
Pitching journalists
How to find the right reporters and write pitches they answer.
Getting published in media outlets
How to write op-eds and bylined articles editors want to run.
Booking podcast & YouTube interviews
How to find the right shows and get booked.
Stages & reputation
Booking speaking gigs
How to find conferences and write applications that get accepted.
Nailing media interviews
How to prepare, stay on message, and handle tough questions.
Crisis communications
How to respond when something goes wrong online.
Need something else? Tracy can design a custom session for you.
Some sessions are co-taught with an expert on our team.
Questions about PR training
Who is the training for?
Internal subject matter experts, board members, and association members at organizations that want their experts to raise the organization’s profile. Past programs include Rotary International, the American Library Association, Crain Communications, the University of Chicago, the National Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Broadcasters.
How is this different from a cohort?
Training is workshops and seminars that teach a group to do the work themselves. In a cohort, our publicists work 1:1 with up to five experts over 10 weeks and build their campaigns and PR system for them. See the PR Accelerator. If you’re not sure which fits, we’ll tell you on the call.
Is it virtual or in person?
Either, or a mix of both. Tracy has delivered programs on site at international headquarters, in conference rooms, and virtually.
How long is a program?
It can be a single session or a multi-part program over several weeks. Rotary’s ran six weeks. We set the length around your goals.
What topics can you cover?
Social media, media interviews, podcast and YouTube appearances, speaking engagements, personal branding, and crisis communications on social media.
Do you offer support after the training?
Yes. If your experts want ongoing help, our team offers coaching programs.
In their words
“We hired Tracy to lead Crain Communications’ social media strategy because she has the rare ability to spot a trend, translate it into effective tactics and then teach our 800 employees what to do. Quite simply, she’s one of the best social media trainers in the country, and she’s also a joy to work with.”
David Klein
SVP/Group Publisher, Crain Communications
“Tracy presented a seminar and workshop for our organization, The Chicago Network, on how to achieve your professional goals through social media. Immediately, she was able to build a connection with our audience (a wide range of ages and industries represented) and engage effectively with people of varying skill levels. Her presentation style is polished, user-friendly, and as you might expect, completely authentic.”
Elizabeth Stigler
Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, The Chicago Network
Training case studies
Training that teams put to work.
Global nonprofit
From a growing social presence to a plan teams could run worldwide
Rotary International’s social media presence was growing across time zones and languages, and its teams needed a shared way to manage it. We worked with the global director of communications and design and his team to build a strategy and a multi-part, in-person training program that accounted for cultural differences in every region. Delivered over six weeks at Rotary’s international headquarters, the program left teams feeling informed, engaged in the process, and excited to put a unified strategy in place globally.
- Six-week, in-person program at international headquarters
- A unified social media strategy for teams across languages and time zones
National association
From social media risk to a team ready for a crisis
The American Library Association asked us to design and deliver social media crisis communications training for administrators at its national office. The session walked staff through the philosophy, strategy, approach, and tactics behind handling a crisis online, so they knew what to do before one started.
- Crisis communications training for national office administrators
- ALA staff were enthusiastic about the session
Business media company
From a brand-new role to double the social traffic
Before launching this firm in 2015, Tracy joined Crain Communications, a leading business media company, as its first-ever social media director. She created a social media training program with tracks for journalists, newsroom editors, sales teams, and audience development teams, and personally trained more than 800 employees around the world on best practices and building their own strategies in line with the company’s goals. She also started a social media steering committee to share best practices companywide. Within a year it had more than 65 members, the largest committee of its kind at the company. Within two years of her arrival, social media traffic to Crain’s publications doubled.
- 800+ employees trained worldwide
- Social media traffic doubled within two years
University
From a popular class to seminars for students and alumni
Tracy designed the class Data-Driven Content Marketing for the University of Chicago and taught it several times to students across the Americas and Europe. Based on its popularity, the School of Professional Studies asked us to design and lead seminars for current students, alumni, and prospective students on personal branding trends and how to build a strategy for yourself in a competitive, ever-changing industry.
- Seminars for students, alumni, and prospective students
- Built on a class taught across the Americas and Europe
Our signature program
Want our publicists to work 1:1
with your experts?
Training teaches your experts to do the work. In the PR Accelerator, our publicists do it with them, and each expert leaves with campaigns ready to send and a PR system they keep.
The PR Accelerator for your experts
- GroupUp to 5 experts per cohort
- Length10 weeks
- Who does the workOur publicists build each expert’s message, pitches, speaker kit, and PR system
Next step
Ready to train your experts?
Tell us about your organization and the experts you have in mind. On the call, Tracy will outline what a program could look like, share pricing, and tell you honestly if it’s not a fit.
Book a call with Tracy