“Spaeth gave us the skills to handle crisis- related interviews. They also showed us how important the proper use of communication, both internally and externally, enabled us to keep all interested constituencies up to date and supportive.”

Andreas Ludwig

Chief Executive Officer, Zumbotel Group, Austria

“...I thought the Spaeth training was great. Lots of good info on how to handle interviews. I also think that would be of great benefit not only to myself, but to any of the leaders who have to chair meetings.”

Arthur Townsend, IV, MD

Methodist Healthcare

“The feedback was very positive. Everyone thought the day was very worthwhile! They all said they learned new things and approaches and the day "flew by" which is always a great compliment to the hospital leaders who sponsor the training.”

Barbra Riegel

Vice President, Planning, The Camden Group

“When our state's governor announced he would sign legislation which would put us out of business, we called Spaeth and another firm. Merrie Spaeth spent an hour on the phone as she packed for a trip to Hong Kong, walking us through what we needed to do. Her people were on-site, training our spokespersons and designing radio ads before the other firm even called us back!”

Bruce Moe

Deputy Executive Director, Missouri State Teachers Association

“I've used virtually the entire range of Spaeth services for nearly 20 years. They are exceptionally responsive, have breadth of experience, and provide smart, savvy communications advice. Whether the need is extra bench strength for announcements or launches, or crises advice for the unexpected, having Spaeth on board as a consultant is the gold standard that you'll do it right.”

Cathy MacFarlane

Head of Corporate Relations, ING Direct

“Spaeth has provided invaluable assistance in virtually all areas of communication. From crisis management to personal coaching, their attention to detail and responsiveness has made them a vital part of our team.”

Dave Everitt

President Ag & Turf Division, John Deere

“Spaeth provided a speaker at the annual meeting of our practice group. We're successful professionals, and we're very demanding. Spaeth speakers are thought leaders with a powerful message packaged to challenge us.”

Dave Scullin

Partner, Deloitte

“Spaeth took an outline and set of facts and made it compelling. It's been a real partnership. They've helped improve my skills and just as important, they've significantly strengthened our internal capabilities to produce and deliver speeches.”

David Cunningham

President, Asia-Pacific, FedEx Corporation

“Health care is changing constantly. As leaders both as physicians and in our business model, we provide the highest quality services. We discovered that Spaeth added value in many ways. They provide ongoing counsel, hands on assistance when we need it in a crisis and to take advantage of opportunities. We're now one of the largest groups of physician anesthesiologists in the nation, and state-of-the-art communication techniques are one reason why.”

Dr. Burney Gibson

Pinnacle Anesthesiologists

“This was literally an experience which changed how we look at what's possible and what we can and need to do to compete. It started as a useful seminar in personal development and has become a commitment across the entire organization. We consider commitment to "Employees as Ambassadors" an integral part of our business strategy.”

Dr. Pam Hudson

Chief Executive Officer, Crestwood Medical Center

“Initially I was uncomfortable speaking before audiences. But as a Chairman and Bank President, I have demands from the community as well as from our clients. Spaeth's training honed my skills to make me more comfortable, confident and more interesting. I'm a better developer of business, now, too.”

Elaine Agather

Chairwoman and CEO-Dallas Region, JPMorgan Chase

“Merrie knows and can teach the power of words, and how they can create or destroy. Her model of how to persuade through the media is ingenious and it works. I have never met anyone so skilled and influential, who was so easy to work with.”

Forrest S. Latta

Attorney, Burr & Forman

“When I received the first call alerting me to the possible contamination of our products from a non FDA approved biotech corn, Starlink, my first call was to Merrie Spaeth. In short order, the Spaeth team helped us set up and deliver our media response and set our public affairs response in motion. They helped us augment our legal team and create a sophisticated science advisory committee. From investigation to ethics, Spaeth gave us access to the best. Gruma Corporation's thoughtful, thorough, and ethical response to the Starlink crises not only protected our consumers from a potential health threat, but it drew praise from our customers. Despite our huge voluntary product recall, by year-end sales had returned to pre-crises levels and record profits achieved. In dealing with a major business crises with your company's future on the line, clarity of thought and thoroughness of action are the keys to success. Spaeth was my first call, and would be again.”

G. Irwin Gordon

Former CEO, Gruma Corporation

“You showed me how communication strategy and training could be a vital element in molding the institution to carry out our mission.”

James C. Miller III

Former Director, Office of Management and Budget, Former Chairman, Federal Trade Commission

“I am a lawyer and banker who runs a company, and now I believe communication is indeed a strategic tool. Its usefulness goes far beyond presentation skills media management or employee communication. It has become a way of solving problems and strengthening our competitive edge, and Merrie Spaeth and her people are pioneers. They have helped us enormously.”

James D'Agostino

Chairman, President and CEO, Encore Bank

“We are Spaeth's anchor client of more than two decades and have sent them challenge after challenge: building morale, investigative media, litigation, personnel changes, preparing internationally famous physicians as speakers, handling high profile cases. It's a very long list. We believe they have been a great contributor to the Baylor Health Care System's growth and the development of our valuable brand. They are that unusual combination of entrepreneur, innovator and team player.”

Jennifer Coleman

Senior Vice President of Consumer Affairs, Baylor Health Care System

“There is no one who I would rather have been prepared by- excellent work.”

John McReynolds

President, Energy Transfer

“Spaeth is a terrific resource for speech writing and coaching. They have also introduced our executives to the importance of packaging information, including a variety of techniques to engage the audience, and they have convinced everyone that rehearsal makes the difference.”

Karen Cullen

Senior Advisor, Ilitch Holdings

“Reaching our external and our internal audiences through various media is increasingly important. We need our communication staff, our medical and health care experts and, our executives to have the best skills and understand how to prepare for a wide variety of interviews. We've used Spaeth for years, and they are revered in our organization.”

Lee Meyers

Corporate Director, Marketing & Communication, Methodist Healthcare, Memphis

“Over the last fifteen years, my experience has afforded me the opportunity to deal with the broadest range of clients and client issues. I have called upon Spaeth to lend their expertise to assist in many of those engagements. One of those included taking the largest firm in that industry through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a major restructuring. The Spaeth team was integrated into ours for almost three years. I cannot say enough about the value they added at every step. At the end of the engagement, I was asked what Spaeth had contributed, and I replied, "They made it possible for management to retain control of the company." Their "influence model" and the strategic direction it provides are invaluable tools.”

Lou Grabowsky

Chief Operating Officer, Grant Thornton L.L.P

“Spaeth brings exceptional guidance and support to any situation we encounter. As a health care system facing any number of challenges on a daily basis, the Spaeth team goes above and beyond to be responsive to our needs and available at a moment's notice. We are fortunate to have such a knowledgeable partner who really goes the distance for us.”

MaryAnn Hodge

Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Health Management Associates, Inc.

“Every executive and manager we've sent through Spaeth coaching has found it valuable. The most recent participant called it 'exceptional' and asked for an annual refresher.”

Neal Bondy

President, Optima Training and Consulting

“Spaeth Communications opened a whole new world to me in litigation and crisis management. For starters, I quickly learned that the standard lawyer answer of "no comment" can be damaging, and they showed me the technique of being responsive without providing inappropriate information. Then, Spaeth helped me understand the importance of identifying our key audience and of thoughtfully crafting our message to present our position in a positive and ethical manner. Their methodology, advice and expertise in this area are first-rate.”

Norman Jetmundsen, Jr.

Assistant General Counsel, Vulcan Materials Company

“Our management of the crisis would not have been complete, nor as effective without your training and counsel. I'm not sure I would have believed it without experiencing it.”

Robert Avery

Partner, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

“Please use me as a very satisfied customer and 'would definitely recommend to others.'”

Robert Carter

Chief Information Officer, FedEx Corporation

“By the way, a client had a facility this past Friday. They didn't have a clue what do to. I, on the other hand, a trained Spaethite, knew exactly what to say and do and got them through it with flying colors.”

Robert Peckar

Founding Partner, Peckar & Abramson

“With a strong sales background, I felt confident, but Spaeth showed me new techniques and pushed me to a new level. They improved my delivery and made me more effective with my own sales team as well as my customers.”

Rudy Chavez

President, Baume and Mercier, North America

“I’ve been beyond impressed with your strong communication skills. That’s why I believe in Spaeth so whole-heartedly. All of you are, at the core, great communicators.”

Sara Butler

Director of Member Experience, DirectBuy

“Thank you Merrie for doing such an outstanding job when speaking to the members of the Beyond Budgeting Round Table. I really appreciate how well you integrated your message into the work our members do. You were thoroughly prepared, and as a result you connected with all of the attendees. You were truly outstanding!”

Steve Player

The Player Group

“Our managers are skilled technical experts, but they're managing facilities where they need to communicate complex information, handle customer issues and motivate employees. We've been incorporating Spaeth training for years. It works. It's cost- effective, and our people always want more of it.”

Stuart Manning

Former Vice President, Just Brakes

“Today's seminar was off the charts! I mean like a 22 on a 10 scale. It was that wonderful. I learned more about communicating effectively in the last 8 hours than I did my whole life in school!”

The Honorable Ada Brown

McKool Smith

“In the past, as a lawyer in private practice, we had Spaeth work with one of our clients on a major litigation matter, one which could have put our client out of business. After spending a day with Spaeth, the general counsel told me it was a 'life changing' experience.”

The Honorable Kenneth W. Starr

President, Baylor University

“Kudos for convincing the extraordinarily accomplished Merrie Spaeth, a dear friend, to be with you in Austin. Our EMBA students will be all the better for that session. She’s wonderfully insightful, as I can attest from having been trained by her (and under difficult, trying circumstances).”

The Honorable Kenneth W. Starr

President, Baylor University

“I've had two experiences with enlisting a large group as Ambassadors; first in Houston, we tapped over 200 principals as Ambassadors to speak to community groups before a controversial bond campaign, and then again, as Secretary of Education. We needed to enlist literally hundreds of people to talk about the landmark legislation, "No Child Left Behind." The Spaeth training and Ambassador techniques are unique. For the organization that wants to enlist and motivate employees on and off the job, this works.”

The Honorable Rod Paige

Chairman, Chartwell Education Group, Former Secretary of Education

“The media is a key route to all our audiences. The Spaeth methodology is unique, extremely helpful in developing our messages, and very time efficient. It's helped us evolve to a much more sophisticated way to position ourselves as experts.”

Thomas C. Leppert

Former CEO, Turner Corporation

“Merrie turned an "F" witness on a cross examination into a "C Plus" and from a "D" on direct into a high "B" for me. She brings comfort to the uncomfortable (both witness and lawyer).”

Tom Fulkerson

Attorney, The Law Offices of Tom Fulkerson

“When I was in the business community, we found Spaeth Communications to be an ideal resource in providing communication training for our senior management. Their expertise helped us better use communication as a strategic tool, and the feedback we received from those who have experienced this training was overwhelmingly positive.”

Tom Martin

Executive-in-Residence, Department of Communication, College of Charleston

“I knew that using humor, visuals and engaging my audience was important, and I appreciated the Spaeth approach. It's very different from others. The methodology was very structured, so I could take the lessons and apply them myself. The best compliment is that my colleagues didn't say, 'Did you go to a presentation skills class?' They just said, 'That was really interesting.'”

Tom Schmitt

President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Global Supply Chain Services

“My Spaeth Communications training provided itself to be invaluable, and I am honored to be able to say that I learned from the best. Seriously, our two sessions saved me from much grief and probably kept me out of a few headlines.”

Wilson Aurbach

Attorney, Rodriguez Davis