Mary Waldmann

Of my books, "Six-Word Lessons for Intentional Parenting" is closest to my heart because I firmly believe that parenting is the most important job many of us will ever have. Sharing the journey from infancy to adulthood with my three children was the most challenging, the most exhilarating (sometimes the most frustrating) and the most satisfying part of my life and now I get to take on the role of grandparent. In the book I share some of the ways we successfully parented our children, including things we learned, the values we think are most important to pass on to children and practical tips for doing it. I also write occasional parenting blogs on my Facebook page and the Six-Word-Lessons website.

Before becoming a parent, I was lucky enough to do some things at a young age that resulted in media and speech-making experience. Professionally, I started out in campaign management and political media relations. In one case, I served as the statewide spokesman for a very controversial campaign in California, doing both interviews and speeches throughout the state. It was really trial by fire and I learned a great deal about dealing with the news media.

Later, I was Vice-President for Media Relations at Deaver & Hannaford, a major public relations firm in California and did media work for a wide variety of clients. Here I got some experience in "crisis PR" when a new client, a supermarket chain, was blindsided by a television story claiming their ground beef contained very high bacteria counts. The reporter actually dubbed it "germ burger" which could have been devastating. Immediate private testing revealed that the reporter had confused parts-per-thousand with parts-per-million. We prepped the company president and he went on television the next day with a positive story. It ended well--and the following morning the client scheduled media training for all their senior executives. They learned the lesson that it pays to be prepared with good media skills BEFORE a problem develops.

From there, I became the Public Affairs Director and media spokesman for the U. S. Department of Commerce and its many diverse subsidiary agencies during the first Reagan administration. With 14 different agencies, we had different challenges every day. I occasionally was also called upon to represent the Secretary of Commerce in giving a speech. So I've had a lot of personal experience on the firing line.

In 1983 I established Waldmann & Company, specializing in speech and media communications training. In that capacity I taught effective communication skills, both speech-making and media interview skills, to many government officials, corporate executives and others.

I wrote the book, "Six-Word Lessons on Winning With Today's Media: 100 Lessons to Control Your Message and Avoid Media Blunders," because so many people--business owners, company executives, community leaders, and political candidates--could benefit from good media skills but can't afford expensive media training. This book gives them all the basic ground rules, strategies and insider tips for developing those skills, as well as positive relationships with the news media.

Similarly, "Six-Word Lessons for Compelling Speeches: 100 Lessons to Deliver Speeches that Move Your Audience" was written drawing on my decades of experience as a speaker. The lessons teach specific ways to overcome the fear of public speaking and to become an accomplished and persuasive speaker. The lessons will give you public speaking and presentation skills that are both personal and professional assets.