The late 2021 PRSA ICON conference was full of enthusiasm and thought leadership from some of the industry’s brightest leaders. Sessions were held virtually by professionals with varying backgrounds including the military, education, corporate communications and we even heard from the sister of one of Facebook’s founders. Experts weighed in on how the public relations industry has changed and adapted over the past year, shared advice on professional growth and career development, and discussed important topics like diversity, equity and inclusion.
1. The media landscape will never be the same. Michael Smart, media relations expert and coach, led a session sharing his predictions of what the media landscape will look like in 2022. As a result of the pandemic, newsrooms around the world don’t look the same – they’re smaller – which has subsequently affected how we as public relations professionals interact with reporters. Here are some helpful ways we can adjust to this change:
- Support subscription-based news sources. To survive the shrinking newsrooms, many news sources have turned to publishing paid content.
- Continue to explore podcasting. Many reporters are starting their own podcasts, leading to their rise in popularity and new opportunities for brands.
- Engage with non-traditional storytellers. This includes podcasters, social media influencers and company blogs or content engines, like Adobe’s CMO.com, that reach your audience.
2. With society shifts in how we approach diversity, equity and inclusion, effective communication practices have also shifted and will continue to adapt. Sessions like the “ICONversation: Hot-button DEI Issues in PR” panel and “What Communicators Think We Know, and What We Need To Teach the World” shined a spotlight on how we as communicators must ensure effective and fair representation of all audiences in the media landscape. We also need to consider how we might adjust our message or communications channel to successfully connect with different communities. Here are a few ideas:
- Listen before speaking to foster two-way communication.
- Consider all of the important stakeholders in the conversation.
- Close the say-do gap. It's the difference between speaking about change and implementing it.
3. The library needs to be dusted off. Several PR agency leaders led a session about mastering writing and highlighted reading as the fundamental building block in a writer’s growth. Reading enhances our current writing skills while also teaching us new techniques and concepts for more creative and thoughtful writing. Here are a few books they recommended that I’ve added to my 2022 reading list:
- Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Linhart PR sends a representative to the PRSA International conference each year for networking and professional development. Attendees share session overviews and key learnings when they return, allowing the whole team to benefit from the experience. I can’t wait to see what the 2022 ICON event in Dallas has in store for us.
