Kathleen Leighton, a principal of Contain Your Crisis, a crisis management consulting firm, brings more than 20 years of experience in every facet of journalism to her media seminars, and her current status as a working journalist gives her a unique and valuable perspective as a media trainer.

An award-winning television anchor, Kathleen has also worked as a producer, photographer, reporter, talk show host, radio broadcaster and news director. As a print journalist, her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Better Homes & Gardens and many other regional magazines and newspapers. She knows what reporters are looking for because she is a reporter. A commercial voice artist, Kathleen’s clients include Dove, Burger King, Starbuck's, Frito Lay, AMC Theatres, Victoria's Secret and Ford Motor Co. She appeared in the IMAX production "Sea Monsters" and also voiced the action figure Ariel Flyer for Fisher- Price.

As a corporate media trainer, Kathleen takes participants through a reporter's life for an immediate understanding of how reporters think and work, what constitutes a news story, how to mine your own organization for solid media coverage, formulating key messages and how to prepare for and give an effective interview. Her clients include Commerce Bank, Inergy Corp., Kauffman Foundation, DST Systems, Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse, Reece-Nichols realty and Kansas City Power & Light. Kathleen possesses a rare ability. She's able to bring her current, up-to-date knowledge of how journalists think, write and work and impart that knowledge to her clients. The result is company representatives who are confident in their message, their ability to stay on message, and to handle whatever the media might throw at them.

"We've been using Kathleen for many years at Commerce Bank and she always receives excellent reviews from every training class. Kathleen not only does an excellent job of presenting the material, but also gives excellent feedback to our participants after their one-on-one interviews so they know what they need to be aware of during future interviews."

"In a very short time, Kathleen gave us a sense of what the media wants from us, how we should talk to the media, when we should talk to the media and who should talk to the media. We all learned a great deal from this program and I highly recommend Kathleen for any training needs you might have."