Using Our Voices to Lead Change

One could argue that this country has never experienced a time when true equity-based civil discourse existed. But that’s changing quickly and communicators must be prepared.

Driven by a complex mix of social activism, political brinkmanship, new media economics, self publishing technologies, personal and corporate branding, and a generational desire to change the status quo, our society has reached a point where every voice expects to be heard and each of those voices has the power to exert influence, some with great impact.

Many use this power to affect positive change, but some do not. How can communicators prepare themselves to respond when their brand has the opportunity to share its voice in public discourse or defend itself from others?

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Understand the drivers leading to true civil discourse.
• Ensure external communications – websites, social media, advertising,
  etc. – optimally reflect your brand’s position on important social matters.
• Employ “bridge-builders” to find common ground with diverse publics.
• Develop proactive communications to move from division to discourse.
• Define a civil discourse plan and understand how it differs from a crisis
  communications plan.

Speaker

Fred Cook
Chairman Emeritus, Golin 
Director, USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations

Hyperpolarization is pitting Americans against each other in ways previously unimaginable. Trust in politicians, institutions, and the media are at all-time lows and corporations have been caught in the middle. Companies must address these issues to give consumers confidence their dollars are supporting organizations that are good corporate citizens. This begins with corporate civic engagement.

Civic engagement is evolving rapidly, requiring new strategies for companies, both large and small, to serve as a catalyst for constructive change.

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Determine new communication leadership strategies for aligning
  organizational goals and objectives.
• Apply appropriate ways for organizational leadership to engage with
  community stakeholders and policymakers.
• Build an effective grassroots advocacy strategy, including the tools available
  to professional communicators to implement a successful grassroots
  campaign.

Speakers

Brian Clancy
Chief Civic Engagement Officer
The Bridge Alliance

Sarah Bonk
Founder and CEO
Business for America

Kristin Hansen
Executive Director
Civic Health Project

What factors shape how you see the world? What factors shape how the world sees you? This interactive workshop will explore the neuroscientific processes that guide our automatic associations, the patterns of socialization that reinforce snap judgments, and strategies for recognizing and mitigating implicit assumptions.

Through dynamic exercises and group dialogue, participants will grapple with internalized assumptions and acquire personal and organizational tools for creating a bias-conscious work environment. Participants in this session can expect to:

• LEARN about unconscious bias, system one and system two thinking, and the
  human tendency to default to pattern-thinking.
• EXPLORE how our own context and socialization shape how bias shows up in
  our work.
• PRACTICE metacognition and other strategies for mitigating unconscious bias.
• COMMIT to continued learning and action to bring bias-awareness into our
  professional practice.

Speaker

As PRSA’s Code of Ethics states, our role as professional communicators is to “adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public.” How do we combat the abundance of disinformation and misinformation that assaults us online, in the media, and in personal conversation every day? How do we help others spot information that is simply misleading or incorrect and that which is deliberately or covertly false and being spread to influence opinion?

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Define the differences between disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information.
• Discern what to look for and types of sources and situations where these occur.
• Exercise the role of PR and the communications professionals in fighting disinformation, including tactical steps to take.
• Anticipate for misinformation issues and get ahead of potential issues.
• Effectively combat and manage misinformation moving forward.

Speakers