LDS Biographies

Chris Davala
Media Coach & Speech Consultant

Chris Davala is president of SMARTALK, Inc. - an executive media coaching and speech consultancy he created in 1986. SMARTALK provides customized consultations and communication training to a variety of public and private sector clients ranging from corporate CEOs who want to fine tune their speaking skills to senior-level government executives who are new to the business of cultivating and maintaining effective media relations. Clients often include industry and public sector experts who must face the glare of the public spotlight after a notable success or - on occasion - misstep. Before founding SMARTALK, Chris spent 25 years as a television and radio journalist and broadcast executive with assignments in both the United States and Europe. Federal sector clients include: the U.S. Office Of Personnel Management's Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, VA and OPM's Eastern and Western Management Development Centers in Shepherdstown, WV and Denver, CO. Davala also provides executive consultations to, among others: Agency for International Development; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Drug Enforcement Administration; Environmental Protection Agency; Internal Revenue Service; NASA; Panama Canal Commission; U.S. Customs; and U.S. Geological Survey. Past clients include: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Veterans Affairs, Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Science Foundation, and National Security Agency. Davala conducts customized media and speech training workshops and consultations for a variety of private sector clients as well. They include: The Coca-Cola Company, Southern Company, and Bank of America, as well as 3dMD. The media and speech workshops provide executives from coast to coast with high-impact strategies, approaches, and techniques to improve their public speaking and media communication skills in person as well as on camera. Davala's broadcast assignments included: news director and news anchor for Gene Autry's Golden West Television station KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City, and broadcast executive and on-air program host for WGST News Radio-Atlanta. Organizations Chris has managed have been honored with more than 50 awards for broadcast and editorial excellence. He graduated from Fordham University in 1969 with a bachelor of arts degree in Communication Arts. As a U.S. Army Captain, Davala was executive officer and broadcast officer at American Forces Network, Europe in Frankfurt, Germany and a tactical Signal Corps Officer in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He also has served as member emeritus on the Wall Street Journal Broadcast Advisory Board. He is based in Atlanta, GA.

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