As I sat on my mat, struggling to calm my mind and focus on the practice at hand rather than my PR practice, I began to think about all the things the two disciplines have in common. Sure, at first glance, it may seem these two disparate areas of study are nothing alike, but over the course of my yoga class, I realized they are more alike than one might think.

Here are eight ways the two practices are alike. Why eight? In yoga, the number eight is significant, representing the eight limbs of yoga and symbolizing harmony and balance. Plus, it’s also this author’s favorite number.

1. Balance is key

Anyone who’s tried one-legged yoga poses, such as Tree, Warrior III, or Dancer, knows that balance is paramount to holding the pose without toppling over. PR pros use their balancing skills every day; juggling brands if we’re in-house, or multiple clients if we’re at an agency.

2. Alignment 

This one is a given. Out of alignment in certain poses, we risk stumbling or falling, or even an injury. When out of alignment with our clients or team members, we risk poor communication, which can lead to mixed messaging and even account loss.

3. As Known As (AKA)

For every yoga pose, there is a Sanskrit name and an English name. Garudasana is Eagle pose, Adho Mukha Svanasana is Downward Facing Dog, Halasana is translated as plow pose, and so on. PR people, too, have multiple roles we play daily:  storytellers, pitching powerhouses, compelling copywriters, or counselors to CEO’s, just to name a few.

4. Flexibility

The more flexible you are, the better you will be in both yoga and public relations. As PR pros, we must often pivot strategies, be prepared to adapt our story angles based on the current media landscape, and shift in our counseling to our stakeholders. The more rigid we are in yoga, the greater the risk of injury. The more rigid we are in PR, the better the chance for a campaign backfiring.

5. Breath work and centering

As yogis, we are taught to practice our breathing (pranayama) in difficult poses to stay calm and focused. As PR leaders, we must stay calm and centered during a crisis and other challenging situations. I learned a long time ago that clients and co-workers mirror your reactions, often unconsciously. Remaining calm on the outside (even if it’s a different story inside!) sets the tone and is a good leadership quality.

6. Connections are crucial

Yoga is all about the mind-body connection, but connections are paramount for PR pros as well. We have to create meaningful connections with our stakeholders, brands, consumers, and most importantly, the media.

7. Practice is ongoing and evolving

As with anything, the more you practice something, the better you get at it. I can tell a change in my body if I’ve missed a week of yoga. Poses are harder to get into. My endurance in that hot studio is not the same. Conversely, if I practice yoga several times a week, I find myself able to go deeper into poses. Like yoga, if we, as PR practitioners, get out of the habit of writing, media pitching, or any of the many facets we handle as PR pros, it’s harder to get back into the groove. And, like with yoga, we have to keep refreshing our skills to grow into better PR practitioners.

8. Intentionality is key

Often at the start of a yoga class, the teacher asks students to set a (silent) intention for the class. As PR practitioners, we should also be setting intentions at the beginning of every campaign, through using the RPIE process.

Whether you prefer a slow flow or a sweaty Vinyasa class, yoga is fluid and flowing — just like PR.

Amy Preske, APR, is the president and founder of Booze PR, specializing in brand building, public relations and strategic marketing for the distilled spirits industry. In 2026, Preske was named Communicator of the Year, Icons of Whisky, at the World Whiskies Awards, America, and also one of Bourbon Women’s “Women Who Shape Whiskey.”  She is a past president and current secretary of the PRSA Thoroughbred Chapter in Lexington, Ky.

Photo credit: ThisDesign

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As communicators, storytellers and leaders, Juneteenth also challenges us to think critically about the narratives we shape, the voices we amplify and the responsibility we carry to build a more informed, inclusive and connected profession.

The PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group created this 2026 Juneteenth Guide as a resource for communications professionals, organizations, students, agencies, brands and allies looking to engage with greater intentionality throughout the month of June and beyond.

Inside this guide, you will find cultural experiences, leadership resources, communications insights, books, films, Black-owned businesses, wellness recommendations and ways to celebrate Juneteenth with authenticity and impact.

We hope this guide inspires conversation, education, celebration and continued action across our industry and communities.

Why Juneteenth Matters in 2026

In 2026, Juneteenth continues to hold profound significance as conversations around equity, representation, belonging and cultural identity evolve across workplaces, communities and media landscapes nationwide.

As organizations navigate increasingly complex cultural conversations, Juneteenth remains an opportunity to honor Black history while also investing in the future of Black leadership, creativity and innovation.

For communicators specifically, this moment serves as a reminder that storytelling shapes perception, trust and community connection.

Featured 2026 Cultural Moment

One of the most anticipated cultural openings of 2026 will take place during Juneteenth weekend with the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side.

The center represents a historic investment in civic engagement, leadership, education and storytelling. Visitors can expect immersive exhibits, community spaces, cultural programming and experiences centered on the legacy of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

For PRSA members and communications professionals, the opening also reflects the power of narrative, leadership and representation in shaping generations to come.

Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth in 2026

• Support Black-Owned Businesses: Consider supporting Black-owned restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, fashion labels, beauty brands and wellness companies within your local community.
• Visit Museums and Cultural Institutions: Explore Black history museums, galleries, cultural centers and traveling exhibits throughout June.
• Attend Local Juneteenth Festivals: Many cities across the United States host Juneteenth parades, concerts, panels, markets and community celebrations.
• Support Black Creators and Media: Subscribe to Black-owned publications, follow Black journalists and content creators, and intentionally amplify diverse voices across your platforms.
• Volunteer or Donate: Support nonprofits and grassroots organizations focused on education, youth leadership, social justice, health equity and economic empowerment.

Communications in Action

• Lead With Education: Ground communications in historical context and meaningful storytelling.
• Avoid Performative Messaging: Audiences can quickly identify messaging that lacks sincerity, investment or long-term commitment.
• Center Community Voices: Engage employees, creators, historians, community leaders and cultural experts in planning and storytelling efforts.
• Support Year-Round Efforts: Representation and inclusion should not begin and end during heritage months.
• Invest Beyond Social Media: Consider mentorship programs, scholarships, partnerships, creator investments, supplier diversity efforts and employee engagement initiatives.
• Internal Communications Considerations: Encourage employee dialogue and learning opportunities, and provide educational resources and programming.

Books to Read

• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
• The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah Jones
• Begin Again by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Content to Inspire

• Summer of Soul
• King Richard
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• High on the Hog
• Stamped From the Beginning
• Black Barbie
• Rustin

Featured Organizations and Resources

• NAACP
• National Urban League
• The Obama Foundation
• The National Museum of African American History and Culture

Wellness and Community

Black joy is an essential part of the Juneteenth experience.

This month can also be a time to prioritize restoration, healing, creativity and connection.

Consider:

• Attending wellness retreats or community walks
• Supporting Black therapists and wellness practitioners
• Hosting intentional dinners and conversations
• Taking time for rest and reflection
• Creating space for joy, music, art and celebration

Social Media Conversation Starters

• What does Juneteenth mean to you?
• Which Black leaders and storytellers inspire you most?
• How can organizations move from statements to sustained action?
• What stories should communicators be telling right now?

Closing Reflections

The PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group was created to foster connection, mentorship, professional development and community among Black communications professionals and allies across the industry.

Juneteenth reminds us that progress is built through courage, community and continued commitment. As communicators, we each play a role in shaping conversations that inform, inspire and move people forward.

We encourage all PRSA members to continue supporting and investing in the communities and voices that help shape our profession every day.

Happy Juneteenth! 

Illustration: Olga Tsikarishvili

The post 2026 Juneteenth Guide: Culture, Community and the Future of Leadership first appeared on PRsay.

Margaret Ann Hennen, APR, Fellow PRSA, a respected public relations leader, mentor and advocate for ethical practice whose service helped shape PRSA at both the Chapter and national levels, died June 7 after a battle with cancer. She was 78.

For more than four decades, Hennen was a dedicated leader within PRSA and the PR profession. Colleagues across the country knew her as a trusted advisor, thoughtful mentor and tireless volunteer who generously shared her expertise with professionals at every stage of their careers.

“Margaret Ann became a constant part of my career from the time she joined PRSA,” said James E. Lukaszewski, APR, Fellow PRSA. “She did for me what she has done for all of us — encouraged, supported, suggested, coached, introduced and inspired.”

Hennen joined PRSA in 1984 after an earlier career as a high school teacher. She brought to public relations the same qualities that defined her work as an educator: curiosity, patience, discipline and a deep commitment to helping others succeed. Throughout her communications career, she held leadership roles with Unisys, Fairview, Minnesota Public Radio and her own consultancy, Hennen Communication, LLC.

A leader at every level

Her contributions to PRSA spanned decades. In the Minnesota Chapter, she served in every elected leadership position, including chapter president in 1997. Nationally, she served on the PRSA Board of Directors from 2005 to 2008 and contributed to numerous initiatives that strengthened the profession, including service on the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards, the Universal Accreditation Board and the committee that developed the APR Study Guide.

Former PRSA Chair Michelle Olson, APR, Fellow PRSA, recalled first meeting Hennen as a student member.

“Margaret Ann was one of the first professionals I met when I was a student PRSSA member in Minnesota, and her first question to me was, ‘How can I help you?’” Olson said. “I happily found myself in her circle of influence for the next 40-plus years.”

Throughout her career, Hennen championed professional development, ethical leadership and Accreditation. Colleagues frequently sought her counsel on complex issues, knowing she would offer thoughtful guidance grounded in experience and principle.

Her service was recognized with numerous honors, including the Minnesota Chapter’s Donald G. Padilla Community Classic Award, the PRSA Patrick Jackson Award for Distinguished Service, the PRSA Midwest District Platinum Award and the College of Fellows Outstanding Leadership Award.

A strong belief in mentorship

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Hennen was known for her kindness, generosity and unwavering belief in the power of mentorship. She devoted countless hours to helping emerging professionals navigate their careers and encouraging experienced practitioners to become more engaged in the profession.

“Margaret Ann could identify talent and encourage you to get involved and was tireless in her advocacy for the profession,” said David Hakensen, APR, Fellow PRSA. “She has done so much to increase the visibility of leaders within our profession and to honor those who came before us.”

A lifelong volunteer, Hennen also served numerous nonprofit and community organizations throughout Minnesota, bringing the same passion for service that characterized her professional life.

Those who knew her remember not only her leadership and accomplishments, but also her thoughtful listening, wise counsel and genuine care for others. Her impact can be seen in the generations of PR professionals she mentored, encouraged and inspired.

Hennen is survived by her sister, Mary Ellen, of St. Paul, as well as extended family members and many friends and colleagues throughout the public relations profession.

Services and a celebration of live will be held on June 24-25. Information here.

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I’m preparing for a conference breakout on how to use AI to tap into your readers’ needs so you can write pieces that speak to their hearts, not just to their inboxes.

I started out with the obvious prompts: What keeps XX up at night? How does YY feel about this messaging? What objections does ZZ have to ABC? And I got predictably boring answers.

So I asked my favorite bot — this week, Gemini — for help. “What are ways that I might not know about that you can help professional communicators connect with their audiences?”

And here’s what I got …

1. Find the micro-triggers.

You’ve heard it a million times: Ask a boring question, get a boring answer.

• Obvious prompt: What are the main pain points for high school principals?
• Boring answer: Student test scores, budget cuts and teacher retention.
• Boring lead: School administrators: Manage staffing and resource allocation efficiently with our software.

To get specific, concrete, creative, provocative answers, ask a specific, concrete, creative, provocative question.

• Micro-trigger prompt: What is a specific, mundane operational nightmare a high-school principal faces at 7:15 a.m. on a rainy Tuesday that ruins their entire day?
• Specific answer: The automated sub-calling system glitched, three teachers called out sick, and I have to pull in the art teacher and guidance counselor to cover freshman algebra while standing in a wet hallway dealing with a bus that arrived 20 minutes late.
• Micro-trigger lead: For those mornings when the sub-calling system glitches and you’re personally re-routing the art teacher to cover freshman algebra at 7:15 a.m. …

OK, I thought. Now we’re getting somewhere.

2. Run an empathy simulator.

How will your readers respond to your message. Find out by asking your AI bot to roleplay your most burned-out skeptic, reading line by line to flag where it triggers defensiveness, cynicism, or confusion.

• Original message: In our ongoing commitment to fostering an agile, collaborative culture, leadership has decided to optimize our hybrid work model to a three-day schedule.
• Feedback: Ongoing commitment …I’m already defensive because you’re hiding bad news behind a PR phrase. Optimize our model … You didn’t optimize anything for me. You added an hour to my commute. Just say you want us back in the building.
• Rewrite: We know you value the flexibility of working from home, and making a change to your schedule is tough. But starting next month, we’re moving to a mandatory three-day, in-office week. We’re doing this because our cross-team projects have increased. We know this affects your daily routines, and we want to be upfront about the shift.

Don’t replace, but augment conversations

When I was a magazine editor, I used to get to know my readers by calling a different subscriber every day and finding out what was on their mind. I loved the regular, ongoing, human interaction.

But today, the best bet might be to use AI as your digital subscriber line — not to replace those conversations — but to give you the exact questions, blind spots, and counter-arguments to test against the next time you pick up the phone.

And, note to self: Ask your bot how to use your bot.

Ann Wylie (WylieComm.com) helps PR professionals Catch Your Readers through writing training. Her workshops take her from Hollywood to Helsinki, helping communicators in organizations like Coca-Cola, Toyota, Eli Lilly and Salesforce draw readers in and move them to act. Never miss a tip: FreeWritingTips.wyliecomm.com.

Copyright © 2026 Ann Wylie. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: THAWEERAT

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AI is both “the opportunity of our time” and a growing source of public concern, said Ray Day, APR, during PRSA’s June 8 installment of “AI Pulse.” For communicators, the challenge is learning how to use the technology responsibly while helping organizations navigate its risks.

Recent news headlines have warned that “The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam” (The Wall Street Journal), “The ‘Techlash’ Against AI Is Here” (Rolling Stone), and “Silicon Valley Confronts AI’s Big PR Problem” (Bloomberg).

As the Journal reported, “In one poll after another in recent weeks, respondents have overwhelmingly voiced concerns about AI,” as “a wave of anger has brought protests, swayed election results and spurred isolated acts of violence.” Job cuts attributed to AI have deepened Americans’ mistrust of the technology, the paper reported.

For PR professionals, “It’s important to come up with some rules of the road for how you’re engaging with AI,” panelist Amanda Carl-Pratt said during “AI Pulse,” PRSA’s monthly livestream hosted by Day, vice chair of Stagwell, executive chair of Allison Worldwide, and PRSA’s 2026 immediate past chair.

“The first rule of engagement is to own the output,” said Carl-Pratt, who leads communications at Google DeepMind, the company’s AI-development lab. “The buck stops with the human. The AI can draft, it can edit, it can optimize, but the human always has to be behind the final product.”

Communicators “bear the responsibility of making sure that the material we’re putting forward is free of errors, free of hallucinations, free of misinformation, regardless of what tools generated it,” she said.

When using artificial intelligence in their work, PR pros should also “fight cognitive offloading, which is when people defer to AI outputs without fully evaluating them,” she said. “You need to use AI as your collaborative partner” to challenge your hypotheses, poke holes in a crisis strategy or simulate stakeholder push-back.

“But never let it replace your original strategic thinking or critical judgment,” she said. “Make sure that the things that make us uniquely good at what we do are not being offloaded to AI.”

Carl-Pratt urged communicators to disclose their use of AI and avoid misleading audiences.

“As people who are responsible for company reputations, it’s important that we always operate with radical transparency,” Carl-Pratt said. “If you’re using AI to inform your message, you should say that.”

When using AI, communicators should also protect the privacy, security and copyrights of their company’s data, she said.

‘Irresponsible’ for communicators not to use AI

“We have to be able to stand behind the outputs that we produce,” said panelist Steve Mnich, head of product communications at Anthropic.

Communicators need to understand AI’s strengths and weaknesses, he said. “Where is it less factual? Where is it more likely to hallucinate?”

At the same time, Mnich said, for public relations practitioners it’s “irresponsible to keep AI to the side, to not lean in” to the technology “and hope at some point that you’re going to figure it out.”

Mnich said the communications professionals he sees using AI “the best, who are really thoughtful about the pros and cons of it, who are leaning in and taking the responsibility of being engaged with AI” are studying the models and seeing what they can do.

“Without that hands-on experience on a day-to-day basis,” Mnich said, “you’re going to continue to see two paths within the communications industry, and within companies: Teams that are really leaning in, experimenting, and asking AI to do more and more work. And teams that are slow, that are lagging.”

As new and improved versions of AI continue to roll out, “the teams that are leaning in and being encouraged to lean in” have a greater “ability to stand out,” he said. “It’s an interesting re-frame of what responsibility means.”

The discussion ultimately framed responsible AI use not as a reason for communicators to avoid the technology, but as a reason to engage with it more.

Illustration credit: Antony Weerut

The post How Communicators Can Use AI Responsibly first appeared on PRsay.

Do you actually know this audience?

You may know the demographic profile, but do you know the people? Where we live online? Who shapes how we think? What we’ve fought for and what we’re watching brands do right now?

That question has serious stakes. Considering the political headwinds around diversity, equity, and inclusion are as volatile as ever, the pressure on brands to go quiet is real. And so is the cost of getting this wrong — in both directions.

How do you do your homework? Get to know your public:

Know where we are.

We’re on TikTok, and there’s a reason for that. Feeling safe and understood in at least one online space is associated with lower suicide risk and lower rates of recent anxiety for all LGBTQIA* young people, and for LGBTQIA+ young people of color in particular. Research from the Trevor Project suggests TikTok has become one of those spaces for many LGBTQIA+ young people.

Queer creators describe TikTok as a platform that delivers content tailored to your interests and identity — one that becomes a space for people to come together and connect in ways that feel more individual and intimate than anywhere else. For the LGBTQIA+ community, the For You algorithm goes beyond offering entertainment or educational content – it offers a safe community, especially for those in environments where being out carries real risk. For many, it is their lifeline.

GLAAD’s 2026 Social Media Safety Index found that with the exception of TikTok, platform scores dropped across the board — hitting historic lows for Meta, X and YouTube in their protections for LGBTQIA+ users. TikTok maintained strong protections for LGBTQ people in its Community Guidelines while other platforms rolled them back.

When every other platform pulls up the welcome mat, the community moves toward the one that keeps it out. That migration is cultural intelligence your client needs.

So when a brand asks where to show up, the answer in 2026 is specific, and it requires understanding what kind of presence earns trust in a space the community built for itself.

Know who shapes the conversation.

This community has never been one audience. The creators shaping it reflect that, each one speaking to a different intersection of identity, experience, and platform.

The creators who carry cultural weight in this community build it through proximity, authenticity and consistency.

• V Spehar (@underthedesknews) has built a community of over 5 million between TikTok and Instagram by breaking down current events with clarity and empathy. They have covered gender-affirming care, Gen Z voter engagement, and major political moments in a voice the community trusts. That trust took years of consistently showing up as themselves, unapologetically.
• Brielle Winslow-Majette (@thats_y_yuh_wins_low ) first built her TikTok following by challenging beauty norms and advocating for the representation of women with PCOS. She is now the first (Acting) Black executive director of Garden State Equality, presenting on LGBTQIA+ policy at Rutgers, while continuing to create content that reaches her community directly. Her audience follows her because she’s never performed her identity for a brand. Any partnership that asks her to would show.
• ALOK (@alokvmenon) has performed in over 40 countries, sold out the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, released a comedy special executive-produced by Christopher Guest, and had a documentary about their life executive-produced by Jodie Foster at Sundance. Their TikTok moves between poetry, provocation and cultural commentary.
• Matthew and Paul (@matthewandpaul) are a gay couple whose TikTok is built around one of the most underrepresented intersections in LGBTQ+ content — love and disability. Matthew has Retinitis Pigmentosa, leaving him with 95% vision loss. Their daily life together as an interabled couple is the engine of everything they create, and they have extended that platform into LGBTQ+ children’s books, writing stories that reflect families like theirs.
• Eden & Jay (@edenxjay) are a queer Latina married couple and new parents whose TikTok documents life at the intersection of love, culture and family. When gay marriage became legal throughout Mexico, they returned to Oaxaca — one of the country’s most traditionally indigenous communities — to get married. They also host Preciosa Night, one of the largest queer Latina events in the country.

Follower counts are easy to find but the cultural context — why the community connects and why it matters to us — takes actual research and understanding.

Know your own people.

There’s one audience most Pride briefs skip entirely: the LGBTQIA+ employees already inside your client’s organization.

A SurveyMonkey poll of more than 2,000 LGBTQIA+ adults and allies found that around 40% consider a company’s gravest Pride error to be overlooking internal issues such as discrimination, harassment, or the absence of inclusive policies. That ranked higher than insensitive marketing campaigns. Higher than failing to include LGBTQIA+ voices in external communications.

Around 34% of respondents don’t believe companies listen to LGBTQIA+ perspectives when planning for Pride at all.

One group consistently missing from both internal and external Pride communications: LGBTQIA+ Latinos. The U.S. Latino LGBTQIA+ population is large, growing, and largely invisible in brand strategy — addressed in Spanish only when budgets allow, and rarely with the cultural specificity that actually earns trust. That gap is worth naming in the brief before someone else does.

The most genuine initiatives are educational panels, workshops, and gathering feedback from the community before June 1, not after.

If a client’s external Pride messaging is stronger than their internal reality, that gap will surface quickly. It always does.

Know your resources.

Two resources every communicator should be familiar with:

• The HRC Corporate Equality Index is the most authoritative benchmark for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion in the country. In 2026, 108 Fortune 500 companies earned a perfect score of 100. Pay particular attention to how your client scores on transgender and nonbinary inclusion, as those numbers consistently lag behind the overall CEI score. That gap is exactly what the community is watching. If your client is on that list, that’s a credibility asset worth knowing about. If they’re not, it’s a strategic conversation worth having.
• The GLAAD 2026 Social Media Safety Index is required reading before advising any client on platform strategy this month. The sixth annual evaluation covers TikTok, YouTube, X, and Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — assessing each platform’s policies on LGBTQIA+ safety, privacy, and expression. If you’re recommending where a client shows up, you should know which platforms the community trusts and why.

Two more worth bookmarking: the 2026 Curve Power List, published annually during Lesbian Visibility Week, and OUT100, Out Magazine’s annual since 1994. Between the four, you have your platform strategy, your workplace benchmarks, your influencer research, and your cultural landscape.

Most Pride briefs are built backward. The message comes first and the audience comes second, if at all. Flip that order and suddenly the platform strategy, the partnerships, the tone, the timing all make sense in a way no approved messaging list can manufacture.

June is the deadline. The homework was due months ago.

Andrea Gils Monzón is a strategic communications consultant, PRSA Board member, and founder of Shiftmakers Agency. She counsels organizations at the intersection of AI, ethics and marketing communications.

Photo credit: hooyah808

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Nine in 10 reporters surveyed said they’ve received a “no comment” response in the last three years, as politicians, government officials and other public figures have become less willing to engage with reporters.

Audiences were also surveyed. Some 39% believe “no comment” indicates the source — whether it’s a person or an organization — is hiding something.

The study suggests that journalists may be better served by explaining their efforts to obtain information rather than simply reporting that a source had “no comment.”

“It’s clear that saying someone ‘had no comment’ doesn’t cut it anymore,” said Randy Picht, executive director of the Reynolds Journalism Institute. “We need a new approach that shows the public how hard reporters are working to collect the facts.”

For an experiment within the survey, audiences were shown two different versions of a TV news story. One included the phrase “no comment,” while the other said: “The story will be updated when we hear back.” Audiences found the latter version more credible.

Major Garrett, chief Washington correspondent for CBS News, said the PR infrastructure around public figures disengages them from the journalistic process.

“Fewer and fewer people are now empowered to say anything on the record, even though they might be directly involved in it,” he said. “So, the ‘no comment’ thing is reflective of that impulse.”

Sources who require reporters to go through their media relations teams “want to have one story, and they want to put that story through an internal process before it goes out,” Garrett said.

Fernanda Camarena, a journalist and faculty member at the Poynter Institute, suggested that instead of telling the audience that a source had no comment, reporters can say: “Here is what the public still does not know because this office declined to answer.”

Illustration: Dzianis Vasilyeu

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The tournament will feature 48 teams, double the number that competed in the 1994 World Cup. The athletes will play a total of 104 matches in 16 venues.

“More tickets will be sold, and at much higher prices,” said Jeff Bliss, who led the World Cup organizing committee and is now CEO of the Javelin Group marketing firm in Alexandria, Va. “There will be a lot more player- and team-sponsorship opportunities.”

Bliss moderated PRSA’s World Cup webinar on May 12, hosted by PRSA’s Sports & Entertainment Professional Interest Section. The larger number of teams and matches this year, and the three different countries where the games will be played, create logistical and transportation issues, language and cultural challenges, and political and security concerns, he said.

“The other issue is the lower quality of some of the matches in the first round,” he said. “Only four of those 72 matches will feature top-15 teams.”

But the largest controversy surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup involves ticket prices.

For example, the Portugal–Colombia game is averaging over $2,500 in buy-in — the upfront cost to enter the highest-demand ticket categories — with tickets reportedly listed for several million dollars.

A reason for hope

Nina Beeston is a London-based senior director of partnerships and public relations at THE·TEAM, a marketing and talent agency for sports, media and entertainment.

The expanded number of teams and matches for the 2026 World Cup brings “more opportunities for countries outside the traditional football powers and for their players, and that can only be a positive thing,” she said.

“The flip side is that teams competing don’t automatically mean more meaningful visibility for every player. It’s a lot harder to cut through when there are more matches, more storylines, and more players competing for attention.”

Panelist John Kristick is co-head of Playfly Sports Consulting. Before joining the company, he led the successful bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America.

“The awareness of the sport in our country is as sophisticated and significant as any place in the world,” he said. “We’re very optimistic that this will go down as the greatest World Cup in history.”

Mark Levinstein runs a sports practice at law firm Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., and he is executive director of the players association for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team.

“The ticket prices are a concern, but kids will be inspired whether they watch it on television or they go to a game,” he said. “The biggest hope is that fans of soccer will get together with people who are not fans of soccer. They will celebrate, they will have parties, they will watch games, they will learn about the sport, and they will stay fans of the sport.”

A ‘toxic event’

Panelist Scott M. Reid is a sports and investigative reporter for the Orange County Register who has covered five World Cups. This year’s World Cup “is the most toxic event I’ve ever covered,” he said, pointing to ticket-pricing controversies and criticism of planning efforts by FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football. “It’s all negative, and there’s a lack of conversation on the actual tournament.”

Reid said there’s a tone-deafness to FIFA.

“They don’t understand the sophistication of the soccer market. That’s reflected in the ticket prices. The West Coast games are really poor. I think you’re going to have a hard time selling those matches to a sophisticated soccer audience. This is just another opportunity for FIFA to cash in.”

Panelist Patrick Wixted is a senior vice president at Ketchum Sports in Washington, D.C.

“I have a lot of clients like New Balance, MasterCard and PNG that are leveraging the culture of soccer around this time frame,” he said. “From a sponsor perspective, we’re trying to celebrate the game, celebrate the culture of soccer, and stand out from a sponsorship standpoint in a media landscape that’s as busy, and as fragmented, and as crazy, as ever.”

Photo credit: kovop58 — stock.adobe.com

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“‘Operationalizing values’ means getting an organization’s values — what they believe, what they say they stand for — out from where they’re typically hidden in the employee handbook, in the careers page of the corporate website, and putting them to use where people get the work done,” he said.

Goldberg, founder and chief reputation architect of Reputation Architects Inc., a crisis communications firm, was PRSA’s guest on May 28 for Strategies & Tactics Live. (Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here.)

For the crisis-themed May issue of Strategies & Tactics, Goldberg wrote a piece called “Why Culture Drives How Organizations Decide Under Pressure.”

Organizations often “treat values as messages to communicate, and relegate them to inspirational wall-art” or “fodder for townhall-meeting speeches … that nobody’s going to remember,” he said.

Conversely, organizations that embed values into their culture “see them not as communications assets, but as tools” to help them stay on course when waters turn choppy. During a crisis, an organization’s values “guide employees in their daily work, the thousands of decisions, collectively, people in an organization make every day.”

Not just for crises

When a company sets clear values-statements that are simple for people to understand, employees can ask themselves: “Is what I’m about to do consistent with our values? Is this email I’m about to send transparent? Is it what I would expect of an organization I were doing business with?”

Guided by a framework of values, “organizations will find themselves having far fewer crises,” Goldberg said. “Because you’re giving employees tools to make better, faster, safer decisions” that help prevent self-inflicted problems.

“By using values, you not only give yourself a framework for dealing with a crisis, but for keeping crises from happening in the first place,” he said.

John Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics publication and host of S&T Live, asked why some organizations might believe that values guide their decisions — until a crisis strikes.

Organizations tend to confuse values with messaging, Goldberg said, “because both tend to be written in the same kind of aspirational language. But they’re very different animals. Messages are designed to influence perception, a kind of external theater, if you will. Values are meant to guide behavior” and internal decisions.

In a business environment that rewards arithmetic, “values are like a foreign language,” he said. “When the pressure hits, people tend to default to the behavior that the culture has consistently told them they will be rewarded for: to maximize revenues, protect market share, et cetera. And that happens because values exist in a sort of no-man’s land between what leadership wants to believe about itself and what the system actually rewards.”

When a crisis strikes, “speed is everything,” Goldberg said. “The public’s not going to give the organization the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what the organization does before forming judgment. Their first impression, what they see and hear or don’t see and hear immediately, is going to set the narrative.”

Making a good impression soon after a crisis occurs “buys you some time to make the next set of decisions,” he said. “Values are a decision-accelerator so that you can be more certain in your decision-making.”

Here, Goldberg takes part in the S&T Live lightning round!

The post S&T Live Recap: Culture, Crisis Comms and Operationalizing Organizational Values first appeared on PRsay.

In part one last week, I argued that judgment used to be built almost accidentally — through proximity to pressure, consequence, and the small daily tasks that quietly trained an entire generation of professionals. AI has dismantled much of that apprenticeship. The instincts that protect a business haven’t become obsolete; they’ve become harder to develop. Which raises the practical question early-career professionals keep asking me: if no one is going to hand you judgment, how do you build it yourself?

Judgment starts early

Here’s the part students rarely get told explicitly: you don’t have to wait for authority to start developing judgment. You can begin building it deliberately, right now.

Judgment develops through a loop: making decisions, living with the consequences, and reflecting honestly on what happened. Earlier generations fell into that loop by accident. You’re going to have to step into it intentionally.

Start by slowing yourself down before you act. Not outwardly — mentally. When you’re given a task or a problem, ask what happens if nothing is done. Ask who gains and loses influence from this situation. Ask what could go wrong—not catastrophically, but plausibly.

Practice second-order thinking. Don’t stop at “What should we say?” or “What should we do?” Push yourself to ask, “What happens after that?” Then ask it again. Over time, this becomes instinct.

Creating artificial pressure

Create pressure before reality does. One practical way to do that is to use AI and real business news as your training ground. Take a recent business event — a product failure, an earnings miss, a recall, a cyber incident, a regulator letter, a labor issue — and freeze it before the outcome. Ask: What decision has to be made right now? What do we know, what don’t we know, and what can’t we say yet? Who actually has authority, who has influence, and what are the constraints?

Then use AI to role-play the stakeholders you’re likely to face: the skeptical customer, the angry employee, the board member, the journalist, the regulator. Let it challenge your assumptions and force tradeoffs. After you choose a course of action, fast-forward and compare your decision to what the company actually did and how it played out. The goal isn’t to guess right. It’s to build the habit of framing, pressure-testing, and reflecting — because that habit is judgment.

Take ownership seriously, even when the stakes are small. Own a piece of work end-to-end. Own the outcome. When something doesn’t go as planned, resist the urge to explain it away. Ask what you would do differently next time — and actually change your behavior.

Reflect deliberately. After decisions — good or bad — ask which assumptions held and which didn’t. Ask whether timing mattered more than content. Ask whether restraint would have served you better than speed. This reflection is where experience turns into judgment.

Pay attention to your emotions under pressure. Decisions are rarely made in calm environments. Fear, ego, urgency, incentives, and reputation are always in the room. Most bad decisions aren’t caused by ignorance — they’re caused by anxiety, pride, or the need to appear decisive. Notice when fear is driving urgency. Notice when ego is pushing certainty. Judgment improves when you can recognize those signals in yourself and compensate for them.

Where bad decisions begin

Watch, too, for whether ethics show up before a crisis forces them to. Most operational failures I’ve seen didn’t start with bad intent. They started with small rationalizations under pressure — because something was technically allowed, because speed felt necessary, or because no one would notice in the moment. Building judgment means catching those rationalizations early, in yourself, when the stakes still feel low.

Judgment doesn’t require authority to begin forming. It requires intention.

AI can help you explore options, test scenarios, and accelerate learning by exposing you to patterns faster than experience alone would allow. But it will never replace responsibility. You will still be the one whose credibility is on the line, whose decisions affect real people and real outcomes, and whose judgment will be remembered.

The truth is simple. Judgment isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you practice.

You don’t need to recreate the work of the past. You need to recreate the pressures that made that work matter.

AI doesn’t replace judgment. It reveals whether you’ve begun to build it.

That’s the work that lasts.

David J. Chamberlin is the managing director of the Strategic Communications Advisory Team at Orrick, where, alongside Orrick’s lawyers, he advises clients on reputation risk, communications strategies to address those risks, and global business operations issues. He previously served as the head of global communications at Nortel Networks, the chief communications officer at PNC Bank, and the chief marketing officer at SonicWall.

Illustration: Daria

The post How to Teach Yourself Judgment, On Purpose first appeared on PRsay.