PECO, an Exelon company · 2025 · Executive communications
How do we introduce a new CEO to the whole company?
A retiring CEO, his successor and one quarterly town hall to hand the company from one to the other, in front of employees in the hall and on a live broadcast. I wrote and produced it.
- Executive communications
- Leadership transition
- Town halls
- Event production
- The moment
- One town hall had two jobs: let a retiring CEO say goodbye and give employees a first read on the person taking over.
- What I wrote
- The run of show, talking points for every speaker, the announcer lines between segments and the prepared questions for a live Q&A with both leaders.
- The scale
- One of four quarterly all-hands town halls I wrote and produced in 2025, for an employee audience of about 3,000.
On this page
Decide what the 90 minutes are for
Each quarterly town hall is built around one of the company’s strategic priorities. This one also had to carry a change at the top.
The brief
- Event
- Second-quarter town hall, 2025. Ninety minutes.
- Audience
- Employees in the hall and on a live broadcast.
- Theme
- People, one of the company’s strategic priorities, and the leadership transition.
- On stage
- The employee council president, the retiring CEO, the incoming CEO, an HR director, a panel of employees and the chief operating officer.
- Live questions
- Both CEOs together, moderated by the vice president of communications.
By the end, employees have heard from both leaders and had the chance to question them.
Build the run of show
Every minute has an owner and every handoff has a written line. The two CEOs speak for 12 minutes between them. Employees get 45: a panel of their colleagues, then open questions.
Run of show, second-quarter town hall
| Time | Segment | Length | What I wrote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:45 | Walk-in | 15 min | Rolling slides with employee photos and reminders. |
| 9:00 | WelcomeEmployee council president | 3 min | Talking points that set the agenda and name the transition up front. |
| 9:03 | Retiring CEOReflection and handoff | 5 min | Talking points: the retirement, the year’s progress and the introduction of his successor. |
| 9:08 | Video | 2 min | The announcer’s lead-in. |
| 9:10 | Incoming CEOBackground and priorities | 7 min | Talking points: who he is, what employees can expect from him and where he’ll focus first. |
| 9:17 | Announcer | 1 min | The line that hands the stage to the next speaker. |
| 9:18 | People updateHR director | 7 min | Talking points and a spoken transition into the next video. |
| 9:25 | Video | 1 min | Introduced from the lectern. |
| 9:26 | Employee panelFeedback into action | 23 min | The moderator’s introduction, four question topics and a close that sets up the Q&A. |
| 9:49 | Video | 2 min | The moderator’s transition line. |
| 9:51 | Q&A with both CEOs | 22 min | The moderator’s opening, four prepared questions, extras in reserve and the close. |
| 10:13 | ClosingChief operating officer | 5 min | Talking points: a recap, thanks to one CEO, a welcome to the other and a safety reminder. |
| 10:18 | Buffer | 12 min | Slides and music, with room for the program to run long. |
The two CEOsEmployees’ timeEverything else
The structure and timing of the real run of show. Names, remarks and internal details are left out.
Write for the person at the lectern
The run of show is one document. Each speaker can find their part, say it in their own words and know exactly what happens when they stop talking.
- Talking points, not a script
Short lines each leader can say in their own voice.
- Stage directions
Where each speaker stands, who enters and exits, and what the crew changes between segments.
- Announcer lines
Every introduction and video lead-in is written out, so no handoff is improvised.
- Spoken transitions
Each speaker’s last line sets up what comes next.
- Prepared questions
Four to open the Q&A, with more in reserve if the room is quiet.
- A clock on every segment
Start and end times for each part, and a buffer at the end.
Make it a series
I wrote and produced four quarterly town halls in 2025. Each was built around one strategic priority, and the format changed to fit the audience.
One broadcast, watched together.
Built for the people a broadcast reaches least.
What each town hall needed from me
- Run of show
- Speaker briefings
- Leader remarks
- Live Q&A
- Video scripts
The challenge
A leadership change is the message employees read most closely. They are deciding what kind of leader is arriving, and they notice everything about how the handoff is staged.
What I did
Wrote and produced the town hall where employees met their new CEO, in one document that every speaker, the moderator and the production crew worked from. Separately, I have written a communication plan for a CEO transition.
Where else I’ve done it
At Ansell I wrote CEO messages to a combined global workforce during an acquisition. At KPMG I wrote executive thought leadership published in Harvard Business Review and CIO.