While the June Experience 2020 conference for young professionals was canceled due to COVID-19, many of the scheduled speakers are providing short doses of inspiration.
Gary Noesner, who you might recognize from the streaming Netflix series “Waco,” spent 30 years as an investigator, instructor, and negotiator. Now retired – and living at Smith Mountain Lake – his book “Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator,” is the basis for the 6-episode series.
His online session breaks down how active listening is a vital tool for communicating, at home, at work, and especially during a pandemic when stress can strain relationships.
“We asked Gary Noesner to speak at Experience because of his depth of knowledge and also his ability to help people advance in their careers through improved communication,” said Erin Burcham, director of talent solutions for the Roanoke Regional Partnership. “Even in the short video, he provides actionable advice rooted from a stories career.”
A significant focus of Noesner’s career was directed toward investigating Middle East hijackings in which American citizens were victimized. In addition, he was an FBI hostage negotiator for 23 years of his career, retiring as the Chief of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, Critical Incident Response Group, the first person to hold that position.
In that capacity, he was heavily involved in numerous crisis incidents covering prison riots, rightwing militia standoffs, religious zealot sieges, terrorist embassy takeovers, airplane hijackings, and over 120 overseas kidnapping cases involving American citizens.
Communications advice from the famed FBI hostage negotiator is the latest episode of Experience 2020 Mini Sessions, hosted by the Roanoke Regional Partnership’s “Get2KnowNoke.”
Experience Mini Sessions are weekly blasts of professional development tips and information from speakers who planned to attend the annual conference. Mini sessions have included everything from a working from home assessment to nutrition tips and advice in written, webinar, and video formats. Content is delivered vis email and social media channels under the Get2KnowNoke brand.
All of the Experience Mini Sessions are free and posted online at https://get2knownoke.com/2020/04/14/experience-mini/.
