PR Explored: The Podcast for Public Relations and Communications Pros

A Quiet Shift - How Polarization Is Reshaping Corporate Speech

In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer, interviews her guest, Fred Cook, director of the Annenberg Center for Public Relations at USC and chair emeritus of Golin, about USC’s 2026 Global Communication Report, “A Quiet Shift,” on how political and social polarization is reshaping communications.  Based on a survey of about 800 PR professionals worldwide and CCO interviews, the report finds polarization is seen as harmful to the country and mental health yet beneficial to PR’s value; corporate advocacy support has dropped 38% since 2023 as companies say less about DEI, sustainability, and purpose.  Government/regulators have become the top stakeholder focus, resources are shifting toward crisis communications and government relations, silence is increasingly used as a strategy, departments anticipate restructuring, and most PR pros still expect positive growth while needing stronger political, crisis, and financial skills. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:37 Fred Cook Background 02:02 USC PR Program Highlights 03:37 Report Theme Quiet Shift 05:55 Key Findings on Polarization 08:14 Generational Views and Public 09:50 Stakeholders and Government Focus 13:39 Corporate Advocacy Pullback 14:54 CEO Silence and Defensive Comms 18:51 Budget Shifts and New Skills 23:24 Restructuring and AI Readiness 27:11 Future Outlook and Apocaloptimists 32:05 Industry Risk and Brand Examples 34:51 Wrap Up and Final Thoughts Show notes:  Follow Fred Cook on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredhcook/ View USC's 2026 Global Communication Report, “A Quiet Shift": https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations/global-communication-report Follow the host:  Website: www.michellegarrett.com [http://www.michellegarrett.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs [https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs] X/Twitter: https://x.com/PRisUs Threads: https://www.threads.com/@prwritergal Michelle's book - B2B PR That Gets Results - is available now [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/] Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here [https://calendly.com/michellegarrett/30-minute-call-to-chat-about-your-pr-needs].  About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/], an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker and podcast guest on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals. [https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-experts-influencers/]

Social Media Strategies to Boost Your B2B PR Efforts

In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer talks with her guest Andy Lambert, co-founder of ContentCal (acquired by Adobe) and author of Spheres of Influence, to discuss how B2B companies should approach social media and PR, especially on LinkedIn and YouTube. Lambert highlights LinkedIn’s algorithm shift toward personal profiles and subject-matter expertise, advises prioritizing original content over reshares, and notes strong performance from carousels and polls when used thoughtfully. He explains LinkedIn’s crackdown on automated AI comment tools while distinguishing useful AI assistance from low-quality AI-generated posts. The conversation emphasizes consistency, content pillars, and quality over “hacks,” plus the growing importance of LinkedIn and YouTube for AI-driven search, including the value of long-form YouTube and LinkedIn articles/newsletters. Lambert also shares practical AI search wins like creating a Wikipedia page and aligning messaging across profiles and review sites. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:54 Andy Lambert Background 02:55 Being Everywhere to Audience 04:56 LinkedIn Trends and Algorithm 06:54 Formats Video Carousels Polls 09:56 Reshares Versus Original Posts 11:34 AI Comments and Content 19:40 Posting Frequency and Timing 23:21 Quality Over Hacks 26:21 Hashtags on LinkedIn 27:05 Why LinkedIn and YouTube 29:51 AI Search Proof Point 33:14 Think Like Media 34:00 Search Is Audience 36:50 Long Form and Articles 38:48 Newsletters and Repurposing 41:42 Do You Need YouTube 44:07 Budget and Authenticity 46:21 Trust and Human Stories 49:24 Algorithm Proof Strategy 50:18 Three AI Search Wins 53:19 Wrap Up and Thanks Show notes: Subscribe to Andy Lambert’s Substack: https://spheresofinfluence.substack.com Follow Andy Lambert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyrlambert/ Andy Lambert’s latest book, Spheres of Influence: https://spheresofinfluence.co/ Follow the host:  Website: www.michellegarrett.com [http://www.michellegarrett.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs [https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs] X/Twitter: https://x.com/PRisUs Threads: https://www.threads.com/@prwritergal Michelle's book - B2B PR That Gets Results - is available now [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/] Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here [https://calendly.com/michellegarrett/30-minute-call-to-chat-about-your-pr-needs].  About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/], an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker and podcast guest on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals. [https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-experts-influencers/]

Staying Crisis-Ready: What Matters Most?

In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer talks with her guest crisis communications expert Shawna Bruce, who shares her 40-year communications background, including 25+ years in military public affairs, work at Dow Chemical, and her current focus (since 2018) on training organizations to prepare for crises. They discuss why crisis communications is now operational infrastructure, how to anticipate risks by studying incidents in your sector, and the importance of preparation, practice, reviews, succession planning, and internal coordination. Bruce emphasizes message maps, fast approvals (including pre-approved holding statements), using owned media as a crisis hub, and having backups/shadows and realistic exercises ranging from lunch-and-learns to multi-day shift-based drills. They address AI-driven misinformation, the need for trusted official channels, careful use of AI for planning (not unsupervised response), and how trust is tested and reinforced during crises rather than built from scratch. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 01:57 Shauna’s Crisis Background 04:46 Preparation Over Parachuting 06:01 Why Crisis Comms Matters Now 09:33 Anticipating Risks by Sector 14:07 Comms as Part of Response 17:04 Air Canada Language Lesson 21:34 How to Practice Crisis Drills 29:09 Small Business Crisis Basics 33:23 Preapproved Holding Statements 35:35 Trust and Cadence in Crisis 38:02 Internal Comms Ripple Effects 40:20 Track Issues Before Crisis 41:20 AI Misinformation Reality 43:36 Own Your Channels 50:59 Build Trust With Humanity 52:36 AI For Planning Not Response 57:10 When Everything Feels Crisis 58:57 Educate Leaders And Triage 01:05:18 Preparedness Resources Wrap Show notes: Follow Shawna Bruce on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnabruce/ Visit Shawna Bruce’s site: https://www.mdbruceandassociates.com/ Follow the host:  Website: www.michellegarrett.com [http://www.michellegarrett.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs [https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs] X/Twitter: https://x.com/PRisUs Threads: https://www.threads.com/@prwritergal Michelle's book - B2B PR That Gets Results - is available now [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/] Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here [https://calendly.com/michellegarrett/30-minute-call-to-chat-about-your-pr-needs].  About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/], an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker and podcast guest on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals. [https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-experts-influencers/]

Modern media training: Rethinking how we prep executives

In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer talks with her guest Katie Suiters of Brighton Media to discuss modernizing media training for executives.  Suiters contrasts outdated, scripted talking-point memorization with a hyper-custom approach that builds authentic, teachable communication skills across scenarios, including media interviews, internal all-hands, social video, panels, and crisis moments.  She recommends starting with intention-setting: defining the business objective of an opportunity and how the spokesperson and organization should be perceived, then measuring success against those goals.  They address misconceptions that journalists are “out to get you,” the importance of taking pauses, and avoiding jargon because it erodes trust and loses audiences.  Suiters advocates ongoing monthly or quarterly prep instead of one-time sessions, explains how to deliver constructive feedback, warns that “internal” remarks can leak, and notes AI increases demand for human, credible delivery and voice-aligned messaging; outside trainers can provide candid third-party coaching. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 01:02 Rethinking Media Training 02:05 Beyond Broadcast Scenarios 03:33 Effort and Practice Payoff 05:20 Evolving Past Talking Points 06:14 Set Goals and Perception 08:45 Debrief and Say No 11:50 Misconceptions About Training 14:46 Journalists Are Not Enemies 19:40 Pause and Speak Clearly 22:29 Avoid Jargon and Acronyms 28:38 Ongoing Prep Sessions 29:26 Always Be Ready 30:53 PR As Insurance 31:51 Short Tailored Sessions 33:59 Handling Training Resistance 36:14 Introverts And Authenticity 37:46 Giving Executive Feedback 41:56 One On One Vs Group 43:31 Assume Everything Leaks 47:14 Difficult Questions And Bridging 50:03 AI And The Human Premium 53:42 When To Hire A Trainer 56:59 Media Training Wrap Up Show notes:  Follow Katie Suiters on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiesuiters/ Follow the host:  Website: www.michellegarrett.com [http://www.michellegarrett.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs [https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs] X/Twitter: https://x.com/PRisUs Threads: https://www.threads.com/@prwritergal Michelle's book - B2B PR That Gets Results - is available now [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/] Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here [https://calendly.com/michellegarrett/30-minute-call-to-chat-about-your-pr-needs].  About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/], an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker and podcast guest on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals. [https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-experts-influencers/]

PR and Search – What Really Matters When Advising Clients

In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer talks with her guest Katie Robbert, CEO of Trust Insights, about how SEO and GEO (generative AI engine optimization) affect PR work. Robbert explains GEO as serving a new “business to machine” audience—LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude—which summarize information from sources such as listicles and quoted articles, making PR placements and strong SEO fundamentals still essential. Rather than throwing out playbooks, she recommends reverse-engineering AI results by asking for sources, targeting high-quality publications (including trade media), and measuring impact via analytics segments and “how did you hear about us” form fields. They discuss EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness), avoiding low-quality AI content, and making “machine-readable” content more detailed across owned and Google properties. Robbert also notes using constrained-source tools like NotebookLM and improving accessibility to help machine readability. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:16 Why GEO Matters Now 02:00 Defining GEO vs SEO 03:29 Trust Insights GEO Course 06:46 SEO Not Dead Explained 11:05 No Need to Overhaul PR 13:19 Paid Placement and Authority 16:18 Measuring LLM Discovery 20:01 Are LLM Leads Better 24:30 PR Priorities for SEO GEO 27:07 Avoiding AI Content Slop 29:21 Google AI Mode Question 29:42 Critical Thinking vs AI 30:27 Sniff Test and Skepticism 33:27 Ask for Sources 34:07 Control the Inputs 35:10 Notebook LM Workflows 37:11 Trade Media Strategy 40:49 Press Releases for Machines 43:24 Wire Services and GEO 46:16 Start Your Own Publication 47:42 Be Everywhere for LLMs 50:50 Accessibility as SEO 52:14 Final Optimization Takeaways Show notes: Katie Robbert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katierobbert/ Trust Insights GEO 101 course: https://academy.trustinsights.ai/courses/geo-101-for-marketers Trust Insights site: https://www.trustinsights.ai/ Follow the host:  Website: www.michellegarrett.com [http://www.michellegarrett.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prstrategist/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs [https://www.youtube.com/@PRisUs] X/Twitter: https://x.com/PRisUs Threads: https://www.threads.com/@prwritergal Michelle's book - B2B PR That Gets Results - is available now [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/] Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here [https://calendly.com/michellegarrett/30-minute-call-to-chat-about-your-pr-needs].  About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results [https://michellegarrett.com/b2b-pr-book/], an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker and podcast guest on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals. [https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-experts-influencers/]