Overall, 62% of U.S. adults surveyed say they have “a lot of” or “some” trust in the information they get from national news organizations, up 6 percentage points since September 2025 but still lower than a decade ago. Some 75% say they have “at least some” trust in information from local news outlets, up 5 points from a year ago.

Today, 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents surveyed say they have “at least some” trust in information from national news organizations, up from 44% in 2025. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, 73% express “at least some” trust, up slightly from 69% last year.

Among Republicans surveyed, trust in local news organizations also ticked up in the past year, from 64% to 69%. Among Democrats, 81% of respondents say they trust local news, up slightly from 78% in 2025.

Trust in national news organizations rose across most age groups, with 60% of U.S. adults under 30 saying they have “at least some” trust in information they get from national news organizations, up from 51% a year ago. Among adults 65 and older, 70% express “at least some trust,” up from 62%.

Trust in local news organizations also increased across all age groups. Some 81% of adults 65 and older say they have “at least some” trust in information from local news outlets, up from 76% in 2025. Among respondents ages 18–29, 72% express trust in local news, up from 65% last year.

Photo: oatawa

The post Americans’ Trust in News Ticks Up, Study Finds first appeared on PRsay.

When teaching public relations, colleges and universities have long followed a five-course standard that gives students a foundation in PR principles, writing, research, cases/campaigns, and internships. But to prepare young people for communications careers in the AI age, many public relations educators now advocate a six-course standard that includes a dedicated track in PR ethics.

Ethics is “needed to become a stand-alone point for PR education,” said Holly Cybulski, MA, APR, so students “develop these skills that become transferable across many facets of our profession.”

Cybulski is a PR practitioner and teaches communications at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto. She is also a member of the Commission on Public Relations Education, which works to establish benchmarks for how colleges and universities teach public relations.

She and colleague Deborah Silverman, APR, Fellow PRSA, were guests on the Oct. 26 episode of Member Mondays, PRSA’s professional-development series hosted by 2026 Chair Heide Harrell, MA, APR.

The commission studies “how our PR education must evolve to prepare graduates to think strategically, use AI responsibly, navigate ethical complexities, drive meaningful social change and understand how to excel and thrive in an ever-evolving dynamic workforce,” Cybulski said.

The group also advocates experiential-learning opportunities. Students might analyze communications campaigns, for example, or spend time working in a PR office.

Public relations curricula that emphasize experiential learning are “moving away from traditional tests and quizzes” and “helping our students apply these models in a manner that mirrors our professional practice,” Cybulski said. “The goal is to bridge from education in the classroom to the boardroom.”

This year, the commission’s research committee is working on the role of artificial intelligence in the public relations workplace, said Silverman, who is chair and professor of communication at SUNY Buffalo State.

‘Sophisticated practitioners’

Along with learning to write, learning to think critically “is a foundational point” in public relations and in PR education, Cybulski said. “But how do we help [the student] evolve to become a more sophisticated practitioner, one that actually can inform their practice with an understanding of how to make decisions?”

Data literacy informs today’s practice of PR, Cybulski said. “We need to help students understand how to collect data ethically, using tools such as artificial intelligence, to critically analyze and responsibly inform strategies that generate insights.”

Such training helps students make deductions and draw conclusions, the critical thinking that communications professionals need in their work, she said.

“How are they critically thinking when they’re creating content, how are they using these tools effectively and ethically, and in this age, are they challenging the data that’s being presented to them to make sure they are creating quality content?” Cybulski said.

PR as ‘a social and cultural practice’

The Commission on Public Relations Education also wants communications students to learn about “inclusion and engagement,” Silverman said. The organization, which says part of its mission is to foster diversity, inclusion, equity, ethics, and global perspectives in PR education, calls public relations “a social and cultural practice that shapes societal discourse.”

The commission aims to prepare students “for their role in driving social change, requiring them to be courageous in addressing challenging societal issues.”

This fall, the commission’s inclusion and engagement committee “is collecting public relations syllabi that have evidence of inclusion and engagement in course-readings and assignments,” Silverman said. “We’re hoping to make these syllabi available to public relations educators around the world.”

The commission will soon conduct a follow-up study on inclusion and engagement in the PR classroom, Silverman said.

Photo credit: Lucky Business

The post How PR Education Is Evolving in the Age of AI first appeared on PRsay.

Hosted by the PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group, the reception and fireside chat on Oct. 19 brought together members and allies for an evening of networking, conversation and celebration. Since its launch in 2022, Black Voices has worked to build community, foster inclusion, and create opportunities for members to network, exchange ideas and collaborate. 

ICON has become an important part of that mission. What began as a member meet-up grew this year into a dedicated reception and executive fireside chat, creating a larger platform for Black professionals to connect with one another and hear directly from leaders shaping communications, media and culture. 

“We wanted to create an evening that reflected the caliber, influence and range of the Black professionals who are helping lead this industry,” said Thomas Bennett III, co-chair of the PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group. “When you bring dynamic Black professionals into one room, you create opportunities for relationships and ideas that can extend well beyond one evening at ICON. That sense of community has guided Black Voices from the beginning, and seeing it come to life at this scale was incredibly meaningful.”

A Room Filled With Black Excellence

The reception welcomed professionals from across the communications ecosystem, including C-suite executives, corporate communications leaders, agency professionals, entrepreneurs, creators, journalists and emerging talent.

The evening reflected the community Black Voices has built over the past four years and the relationships that continue to fuel its growth across career levels, industries and geographies.

Navigating Communications and Journalism as a Black Professional

At the center of the evening was a fireside conversation, “Navigating Communications & Journalism as a Black Professional,” featuring three influential leaders whose careers span journalism, corporate communications, entertainment and sports:

• Kim Godwin, Former President, ABC News
• Eric Ryan, Chief Communications Officer, NASCAR
• Damon Jones, Chief Communications Officer, Procter & Gamble

Drawing from their experiences leading within some of the country’s most recognized media and consumer brands, the speakers shared candid perspectives on navigating their careers as Black professionals, leading with authenticity, building strong networks of mentors and sponsors, and creating opportunities for the next generation. 

The conversation also explored representation at the highest levels of the industry,and gave attendees an opportunity to hear from leaders who have navigated consequential moments, and helped shape how millions of people experience consumer packed goods, sports, media, and culture.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Organizations and leaders made the evening possible by investing in the Black Voices community and its mission.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our 2026 sponsors:

• BDC Strategy Group
• Chuck Wallington
• EGAMI Group
• Highwire PR
• HUNTER PR
• Images & Ideas
• KQ Communications
• M Booth and M Booth Health
• MikeWorldWide
• Padilla

Their support helped Black Voices create an elevated experience for members while extending the impact of the evening beyond ICON. Any net proceeds from the reception will be donated to the National Juneteenth Museum, connecting the gathering to an institution dedicated to preserving and sharing the history and significance of Juneteenth.

Passing the Baton

The evening also offered a glimpse at the next chapter of PRSA Black Voices.

Incoming Black Voices leaders Bernadette Davis, Renee Malone and TaQuinda Cylar joined members in Orlando as they prepare to assume leadership of the affinity group in 2027.

Their presence carried particular significance as Browne and Bennett prepare to conclude four years of leadership and pass the baton to a new team.

Black Voices will share more about Davis, Malone and Cylar, their leadership journeys and their vision for the community in an upcoming PRsay feature.

Black Voices, Together

Throughout the evening, the strength of the community could be seen across the room: longtime members reconnecting, new members introducing themselves, senior executives exchanging ideas with emerging professionals and Black communicators building relationships across companies, agencies, industries and generations.

That community is what Black Voices was created to foster.

“Since 2022, we’ve grown Black Voices from a single member to a thriving national community of 200 communications professionals. We’ve created a platform that champions Black excellence, expands access to industry leaders and opens doors for the next generation,” said Sabrina Browne, co-chair of the PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group. “Seeing our members come together at ICON was a powerful reflection of that vision in action. As we look toward 2027, I’m excited to see Black Voices continue expanding its influence and creating new pathways for Black professionals to thrive.”

As another ICON comes to a close, the reception celebrated how far Black Voices has come while making room for the leaders, ideas and relationships that will shape its next chapter.

Photos by Albert Chau

The post Celebrating Black Voices: Community, Leadership and Connection Take Center Stage at PRSA ICON 2026 first appeared on PRsay.

“When you do that, and you bring that perspective to leadership, the better a leader you will be,” said D’Angelo. “And that can be immensely rewarding.”

D’Angelo received the 2026 Gold Anvil Award, the PRSA’s highest individual honor, recognizing lifetime achievement and exceptional leadership, Oct. 18 at ICON 2026.

A professor of practice, chair of the public relations department and director of executive education at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, D’Angelo previously held corporate-communications roles at ITT and Carrier. He was PRSA’s 2018 chair.

On Oct. 29, D’Angelo was John Elsasser’s guest for Strategies & Tactics Live, PRSA’s monthly livestream series on LinkedIn.

Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics publication and host of Strategies & Tactics Live, asked what principles have remained constant during the various stages of D’Angelo’s career.

D’Angelo quoted public relations legend Patrick Jackson, APR, Fellow PRSA: “People want to be engaged, not told; served, not sold.”

Jackson’s adage “has been a touchstone for me throughout my career,” D’Angelo said. “You’re looking to engage, not dictate.”

When undertaking organizational changes, “Leaders and organizations tend to fly right to prescribing solutions,” D’Angelo said. “And that short-circuits what should be an iterative learning process for the organization. It should be collaborative.”

Leaders help others grow

Elsasser asked how Jackson’s philosophy applied when D’Angelo served on PRSA’s board and how his understanding of effective leadership grew during that time.

“It evolved from the idea that I should be focusing on what I’m doing … to a perspective that welcomes and encourages all voices,” D’Angelo said. “The leaders that I’ve admired do that, and it’s something that I continually aspire to.”

How does a good manager become a strong leader?

“A good manager does things right, and a good leader does the right thing,” D’Angelo said. “The best leaders bring out the extra in someone. Maybe they don’t even know they have it. I’ve had leaders who, to my undying gratitude, stretched me. It wasn’t always comfortable, but I am so glad it happened, because I wasn’t necessarily seeing that in myself.”

Elsasser asked how communicators who work with C-suite executives can find the courage to disagree.

To deliver what might be an unwelcome message, “You have to have competence in what you are doing,” D’Angelo said. “You have to have confidence in yourself.”

To back up your argument, “Speak softly, with loud data,” he said. “Leaders respect the data.”

PR’s progress — and AI’s challenges

Where has the PR profession made the greatest progress during D’Angelo’s career?

“With the advent of digital and social media, now supercharged by artificial intelligence, we’re surrounded by actionable data,” he said. “We’ve had to learn to swim in it. And I think that’s a good thing. It’s given us opportunities for measurement and analysis that didn’t exist before. And I think the profession is getting more comfortable with that.”

At the same time, as artificial intelligence ascends, “I worry about the phenomenon that’s been described as ‘cognitive offloading,’” D’Angelo said. “Rather than applying critical thinking skills ourselves, we’re gonna ask Claude for the answer, or ChatGPT. And I think that interferes with the learning process.”

He worries that AI will erode people’s communication skills.

“What we try to do in the classroom is equip students to answer this question in a job interview: ‘How are you going to add value to these AI platforms?’” D’Angelo said.

The answer “is that you have to be a professional writer and editor,” he said. “The differentiating value that we bring is professional communication.”

Here, D’Angelo takes part in our lightning round:

The post S&T Live Recap: Tony D’Angelo, PRSA’s 2026 Gold Anvil Recipient, on What He’s Learned first appeared on PRsay.

That question sat at the center of a dynamic conversation between Sabrina Browne, co-chair of the PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group, and Fatou Barry, founder and CEO of The PR Girl Manifesto, during PRSA ICON 2026 in Orlando, Fla.

Their session, “The Power of Presence: Women Defining the Future of PR,” on Oct. 19, brought together two Black women whose careers reflect different paths through the profession. Browne has built her career counseling leaders and brands at major global organizations while developing a national platform through her leadership in the industry. Barry turned an idea for connecting women in communications into The PR Girl Manifesto, a growing community that has created space for networking, professional development and opportunity.

Together, they explored what women are building across communications, how culture and community are influencing the profession, and the choices that allow women to develop careers grounded in confidence, clarity and purpose.

Building the Spaces You Want to See

Barry shared the story behind The PR Girl Manifesto and the experience of building a platform centered on access, visibility and community. The conversation examined entrepreneurship as both a professional path and an opportunity to respond to needs that traditional industry structures have not always addressed.

Her experience also opened a broader conversation about the value of relationships. Networks can introduce an opportunity, but strong communities can sustain careers through promotions, pivots, entrepreneurship and the inevitable uncertainty that comes with professional growth.

Presence With Purpose

Browne brought the conversation inside the rooms where communications leaders increasingly advise executives, navigate reputational issues and influence business decisions. She reflected on the importance of developing the judgment and confidence to contribute meaningfully in those environments while remaining connected to the experiences and values that shape how we lead.

For women of color in particular, presence can carry additional layers. Visibility creates opportunity, but visibility without support, sponsorship, and meaningful access to decision-making has limits.

Browne and Barry also discussed the importance of knowing when to advocate for yourself, when to create your own opportunity and how to build relationships with people who will speak your name in rooms you have yet to enter.

Women Are Already Shaping What Comes Next

The conversation ultimately turned toward the future and the influence women already hold across public relations.

Women are building agencies and communities. They are leading corporate communications functions, advising CEOs, developing emerging talent and creating new models for how communications professionals connect. For the next generation watching these shifts, the possibilities for a career in PR continue to expand.

Browne and Barry encouraged attendees to consider the role they can play in that evolution, particularly leaders with the authority to hire, sponsor, promote and invest in talent.

The session closed with a challenge that extended beyond the women on stage. Leadership creates the greatest impact when it also creates opportunity for someone else.

For the women shaping the future of communications, presence can open the door. What they build, change and make possible once they enter the room will define the legacy they leave behind.

Photos by Albert Chau 

The post The Power of Presence: Sabrina Browne and Fatou Barry on Women Defining the Future of Public Relations first appeared on PRsay.

At PRSA ICON 2026 in Orlando, Fla.,  Thomas Bennett III, SVP at FleishmanHillard and Co-chair of the PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group, brought together three senior communications executives for a candid examination of the forces reshaping the profession during “2026 Communications Trends: What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Over?”

Joining Bennett were Erica Ettori, SVP of corporate communications at Universal; Damon Jones, chief communications officer at Procter & Gamble; and Hannah Vazzana, chief brand & communications officer at Hilton Grand Vacations.

Together, the group explored the evolving expectations facing communications leaders, the trends influencing how organizations engage their stakeholders and the skills professionals will need as the industry enters its next chapter.

What’s Now: Communications Has a Bigger Business Mandate

The panel began with the realities communications leaders are navigating today. Reputation, culture, technology, employee expectations and an increasingly fragmented information environment have expanded the scope of the function.

For senior practitioners, that evolution requires a sophisticated understanding of the business behind the brand. Communications leaders increasingly need to understand how their organizations operate, where growth is coming from, what concerns executives and how external events could affect business priorities.

The conversation also addressed the pressure communicators face to respond quickly while maintaining sound judgment. Speed matters, but so do context, credibility and an understanding of when an organization genuinely needs to enter a conversation.

What’s Next: Technology Will Raise the Bar for Talent

Looking ahead, the panel examined how emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, is changing the way communications teams research, create, analyze and operate.

Rather than focusing solely on the tools themselves, the conversation considered what technological change means for talent. As routine tasks become easier to automate, distinctly human capabilities such as judgment, creativity, curiosity, relationship building and cultural intelligence become increasingly valuable.

The implications also extend to leadership development. Organizations will need to think carefully about how junior professionals gain the experiences that historically helped communicators develop judgment when technology can now perform portions of that foundational work.

What’s Over: Communications for Communications’ Sake

The session also challenged attendees to examine habits the profession may have outgrown.

The panel discussed encouraging practitioners to evaluate whether longstanding approaches still serve audiences, organizations and business objectives.

That willingness to let go can be as important as adopting something new. Strong communications teams continuously assess where their time creates value and where convention may be standing in the way of progress.

Staying Ready for What Comes Next

The conversation reinforced the value of staying curious, understanding the business, investing in relationships and continuing to develop skills that technology cannot easily replicate.

For emerging professionals, that means building breadth alongside technical expertise. For senior leaders, it means building teams that can adapt without losing the strategic judgment and credibility that make communications valuable in the first place.

No one can predict every shift the profession will face. Leaders who stay close to culture and their businesses, and who are willing to evolve, will be better prepared to shape what comes next.

Photo by Albert Chau

The post What’s Now, What’s Next and What’s Over: Comms Leaders Take Stock at PRSA ICON 2026 first appeared on PRsay.

Many PR professionals work within tight budgets and established processes. How can they develop a pioneer mindset when there’s little room to experiment?

I shared three questions during my presentation: What are the stories? What are the opportunities? And, especially, what are the white spaces that you are uniquely qualified to identify?

When you tap into everything that makes you who you are and use it to your advantage, you begin to see opportunities differently.

I’ve always been an underdog. That’s been the story of my life, whether in television or other areas of my career. The key is to use what makes you unique to your advantage and find that white space where you see an opportunity hidden in plain sight.

Maybe there’s a blind spot in an industry or a company. Everyone complains about something, or something isn’t as efficient as it could be, but nobody does anything about it.

That’s where the opportunity comes in.

If you identify that white space and get there before everyone else, you’ve got a fortune. You’re not competing. You’re there, and it’s all yours to take.

For leaders who want their teams to challenge conventional thinking, how can they create an environment where people feel comfortable proposing new ideas?

If you’re a leader and you want to create a culture of pioneering, the first thing is emotional safety.

People won’t share their crazy ideas or more about themselves if they don’t feel safe. You need to make sure everybody knows their opinions and experiences are welcome and that they belong.

The second thing is to make it intentional.

Take some time to ask your team, and yourself: What are we doing just because we’ve always done things this way? What are we doing out of inertia that we could do differently?

That could be on an individual level, a team level, a company level or even an industry level.

You might realize there’s something your entire industry has been doing simply because it’s always been done that way.

What’s one thing PR professionals can do when they return to work to start thinking more like pioneers?

One key takeaway, based on the questions I received today, is the importance of visibility.

We talked about embracing excellence and consistency, but many of the questions from PR professionals highlighted the challenge of making their own work visible.

There’s an irony here. We’re used to making our clients or companies shine, but we’re often the hidden geniuses. We have the consistency and the excellence, but for some reason, we don’t have the visibility.

Some of the people I spoke with don’t even feel comfortable embracing that visibility.

But we need to recognize visibility as a critical tool for raising awareness of what we’re doing and the contributions we’re making — individually, collectively and as an industry.

Photos by Albert Chau

The post PRSA ICON Q&A: Gaby Natale on Thinking Like a Pioneer, Challenging Convention and Making Your Work Visible first appeared on PRsay.

Gaby Natale knows what it’s like to hear “no.”

Early in her career as a public relations professional in Washington, D.C., she pitched clients to major newsrooms without established contacts, budget or fluency in English.

Cold calls often ended in quick hang-ups, and on tough days, she recalled retreating to the office restroom in tears to compose herself before heading back to her desk to try again.

“If I learned something in this industry, it’s that we don’t take no for an answer. We persevere,” Natale told attendees today during the closing General Session at PRSA ICON 2026 in Orlando, Fla.

Those early experiences helped shape the core message she brought to the conference: Rather than following paths established by others, communications professionals should recognize what makes them unique and use those qualities to build something new.

From emulating to pioneering

Natale contrasted two distinct approaches to professional and personal growth: the “emulator mindset” versus the “pioneer spirit.”

The emulator approach involves using someone else’s accomplishments as a blueprint for success. While that playbook can produce solid results, she noted, it rarely challenges the status quo. The alternative is embracing a pioneer spirit—believing in a vision before there are metrics to validate it and moving forward without an established roadmap.

“Every time we choose to pioneer, we move the world forward,” she said.

That shift required overcoming deep personal doubts about whether she belonged in certain professional spaces. Arriving in the United States from Argentina, Natale admitted her biggest fear was public speaking in English, worried her thick accent would cause audiences to question her credibility.

Lacking visible role models on major stages, she turned to an unlikely source of inspiration: Arnold Schwarzenegger. If someone with a heavy Austrian accent could become a Hollywood star and governor of California, she reasoned, perhaps there was room for her as a speaker, too.

“I couldn’t see people like me on stages. I couldn’t see people like me in leading roles,” she recalled. That realization led to the question at the heart of her presentation: “How to be what you can’t see?”

Her answer was to trust her inner vision rather than waiting for someone else to show what was possible.

“Inner voice over outer noise,” she told the crowd.

Turn discomfort into action

For Natale, developing a pioneer spirit requires three steps: embracing uniqueness, breaking barriers, and redefining what’s possible by joining forces with other pioneers. She urged communicators to pay close attention to discomfort, which often acts as an early indicator that an established approach no longer fits.

“Discomfort is our wake-up call to pioneer,” she said.

Early in her broadcasting career, producers pressed her to adopt one of two familiar television personas: the glamorous entertainment reporter or the formal, serious news anchor. Neither felt authentic.

“I don’t wanna be a wannabe. I wanna be me,” she recalled deciding.

She left her anchor position and began producing an independent television program from a carpet warehouse in West Texas. The local show eventually expanded into a regional and then nationally syndicated program, earning three Emmy Awards along the way.

The Pioneer’s Growth Trifecta

To help communicators advance their careers or pitch bold ideas, Natale outlined her “Pioneer’s Growth Trifecta,” a framework where three core elements — excellence, consistency, and visibility — must work in tandem.

Excellence requires delivering work that can withstand the extra scrutiny innovation often brings, while consistency demands showing up regularly and intentionally rather than relying on sporadic bursts of effort.

Visibility, however, is where PR professionals frequently struggle, as they spend most of their careers positioning other people and organizations in the spotlight.

“Visibility is not about being selfish. Visibility is not about being vain,” she said, drawing nods across the room. “Visibility is a critical tool that we have at our disposal to raise awareness about the contributions that we and our teams are making.”

When any single element is missing, distinct breakdowns occur. High visibility and consistency without excellence leads to the “infomercial dilemma,” where audiences might try an offering once but never return. Pairing excellence and visibility without consistency creates the “one-hit wonder dilemma,” producing a splashy initial impression that quickly fades.

The most concerning gap for Natale is the “hidden genius dilemma,” where talented professionals lack visibility altogether. Fear of rejection often keeps capable communicators from claiming the recognition and opportunities they deserve.

“Underplaying our own contributions to look humble is helping no one, and it’s hurting all of us,” she warned.

Finding opportunities others overlook

Natale’s final lesson focused on identifying strategic white spaces through the lens of one’s own life experience. She challenged communicators to evaluate three questions: What stories are you uniquely qualified to identify? What emerging opportunities can you recognize? And what overlooked needs exist within your industry?

She illustrated the point with a deeply personal story. On Valentine’s Day in 2024, Natale nearly skipped a routine mammogram. Keeping the appointment led to a breast cancer diagnosis. Following surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy, she drew warm applause when she shared her latest news with the ICON audience: She is completely cancer-free.

That experience reshaped her professional focus. Combining her communications background and bilingual skills, she partnered with Susan G. Komen as an ambassador.

Later, after experiencing a hot flash on live national television brought on by treatment-induced early menopause, she searched for reliable medical resources in Spanish — only to find information scattered across disparate sources with minimal bilingual options.

Recognizing an unaddressed need, she launched Menopausia.com, a bilingual platform focused on perimenopause and menopause. The venture merged her personal story, professional toolkit, and an underserved audience — the exact combination she urged attendees to look for in their own work.

The experience illustrated Natale’s larger message: Opportunities to pioneer can emerge from unexpected places, including personal challenges.

“Pioneers are ordinary people who chose to see the world and themselves in an extraordinary way,” she said.

Photos by Albert Chau

The post At PRSA ICON 2026, Gaby Natale Challenges PR Pros to Embrace Their Pioneer Spirit first appeared on PRsay.

You’ve studied the signals people send before they even begin speaking. What do communicators often overlook about how others perceive them?

They don’t see the cause and effect of the signals they intentionally or unintentionally send, and how those signals are going to be received by their listener.

Imagine you’re walking into a room where you’re going to have a really important meeting. It might be a pitch, a job interview, a media interview or a difficult conversation with somebody in your family.

Anytime you need to communicate in a way that’s going to be heard, remembered and acted upon, it’s not just about what you’re saying. It’s very much about how you communicate and what will be most persuasive to the person on the other side of the table.

If I walked into an important meeting and focused only on the details, the bullet points and the follow-through, I could do it. But I wouldn’t be as effective or as likely to influence the decision unless I were communicating authentically in a way that inspired confidence — not only in myself, but more importantly, in the other person.

What makes someone immediately credible, and what can undermine that credibility?

We’ve done a great deal of in-depth research on the science of confidence. What we’ve found is that when you’re confident, you inspire confidence in the person who’s listening to you.

We’ve all had meetings where everything is going really well. The words are flowing, you’re articulating exactly what you mean, and the other person is hearing you, remembering what you’re saying, writing it down and nodding.

Conversely, we’ve all had meetings that go the other way. Suddenly, you say the wrong thing or the other person isn’t getting it. Your mouth dries up, and you freeze.

Whether they realize it or not, the other person senses that discomfort. Your chances of having a successful meeting can quickly go down the drain.

There are a few ways to make sure you inspire confidence.

First, be very clear about how other people perceive you.

Second, do your homework. I like to know something about the people I’m meeting. For example, I went to your website and looked at some of your work. That gives me context.

Third, think about the mutual outcome. What’s the best possible result for both people in the meeting? That applies whether you’re deciding where to go for lunch or negotiating a multimillion-dollar contract.

When hiring, what should leaders look for that might not appear on a résumé or in a performance review?

What you’re interviewing for is not a job description. You’re interviewing for problem-solving abilities.

Some people solve problems in a very analytical, linear way, which can be great in a finance department. But it might not be the best fit for someone working on social media campaigns who needs to develop a wide range of ideas in 24 hours.

A résumé shows someone’s skills, but it doesn’t reveal their innate advantages.

We worked with a wealth management company that had very high turnover, even though its hiring process seemed to be going well.

By using the Fascinate assessment before interviewing candidates, the company could better identify what a particular position required.

For example, one project manager might need to work well with chaos, stress and creative minds. Another might need to keep everything on budget, on time and on task.

Those are two very different types of people, even though their résumés might look the same.

The goal is to identify someone’s differentiating qualities and determine whether those qualities solve the problem your organization needs to address.

How can someone with a quieter, more understated personality stand out in a crowded professional environment?

People who have more subtle, understated personalities often feel uncomfortable tooting their own horn. And when they do, it’s uncomfortable for them as well as for other people.

The important thing to recognize is that we live in a noisy, crowded world.

The ability to listen, to remember and to communicate in a way that gives other people space is just as valuable — or even more valuable — than being high-profile, charismatic or funny.

Photo by Albert Chau

The post PRSA ICON Q&A: Sally Hogshead on Confidence, Credibility and Standing Out first appeared on PRsay.

Branding expert and author Sally Hogshead delivered that central message during her General Session presentation today at PRSA ICON 2026 in Orlando, Fla.

Hogshead challenged communications professionals to reconsider how they capture attention, arguing that the strategies that once helped build recognizable brands no longer guarantee an audience.

“When we lived in an unsaturated world with three channels, you could have a boring message because people were so desperate for any kind of stimulation that they would listen to you,” she said.

Brands such as Kellogg’s and AT&T benefited from an era when repetition and consistency were enough to establish recognition. But today’s audiences face a constant stream of competing information.

“If you have a boring message, you’re actually damaging your brand because people are less likely to listen to you the next time,” Hogshead said.

Her advice was straightforward: “Stand out or don’t bother.”

Give audiences a reason to care

Hogshead said the need to communicate in a compelling way extends beyond advertising and public relations.

Even everyday conversations, including those around the dinner table, can benefit from moving past routine exchanges and addressing what people genuinely think and feel.

For organizations, she argued, the most valuable brands don’t simply repeat messages. They communicate what they believe.

“The most intensely valuable brands express their beliefs consistently, persistently, insistently and courageously,” she said.

To help communicators develop stronger messages, Hogshead offered a three-part framework built around relevance, urgency and a clear reason to act.

To help communicators move past generic claims, Hogshead offered a simple three-part formula for building messages that demand attention. Every strong pitch or campaign, she argued, must establish immediate relevance by defining a clear audience benefit, convey urgency by explaining why it matters right now, and define sharp positioning by showing why that specific organization is uniquely qualified to solve the problem.

Stop trying to be everything

Another challenge, Hogshead said, is the tendency to combine conflicting messages to appeal to everyone. She illustrated the problem with a dog analogy.

A watchdog has a clear purpose: protection. A lap dog has an equally recognizable role: companionship and charm. But when communicators try to combine an aggressive message with an overly friendly one, the result can become muddled.

She pointed to the familiar corporate phrase “We’re pleased to announce” as an example of language that often fails to establish a distinctive point of view.

To make the lesson more memorable, Hogshead introduced attendees to her own dog, Bob Ross.

Named for the late television painter, Bob Ross has become something of a branding experiment in her household.

Hogshead described how she and her family embraced the dog’s resemblance to his namesake, giving him a goatee-like haircut and even grooming a painter’s palette onto his backside, with his tail serving as the paintbrush.

Over time, Bob Ross has appeared in other elaborate looks, including Willy Wonka, Tigger and a Key West-inspired parrot.

Rather than combining unrelated qualities into a message that tries to please everyone, Hogshead encouraged communicators to identify what makes a person, organization or brand distinctive — and build from there.

From one of many to the only one

Hogshead also introduced her Fascination Advantage assessment, a tool she developed to help people understand how others perceive them when they’re at their best.

She noted that her work developing the assessment included clients such as NASA.

For PR professionals navigating an increasingly crowded communications environment, Hogshead’s message was clear: Familiarity alone is no longer enough. Organizations need to communicate what matters to their audiences, why it matters now and what makes them different.

She summed up that challenge with a call to action:

“Refuse to be one of the many. Start being the only.”

Photos by Albert Chau

The post At PRSA ICON 2026, Sally Hogshead Makes the Case for Standing Out first appeared on PRsay.