10 Takeaways on Clear Communication, Crisis Planning and AI Misinformation from PRSA’s Public Affairs and Government Conference
By Gina Stegner, SMS, Senior Account Executive
I attended the Public Relations Society of America Public Affairs and Government Conference in June. The theme was “Public Service: Fostering Civility, Trust and Credibility,” which felt very timely.
Civility, trust and credibility are important to the Rasor team. We serve as a communications partner for multiple government agencies and projects, including the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor, Boone County Fiscal Court and the City of Mason.
A lot of our work involves taking complex topics and turning them into information people can actually understand and use. We help explain road projects, construction impacts, public programs, planning efforts and other issues that affect people’s everyday lives.
These aren’t just “projects” or “initiatives” to the people affected by them. They’re the road someone takes to work, the construction that changes a school drop-off routine, the public meeting someone finally worked up the courage to attend or the detour that adds 10 minutes to an already stressful day.
Our job is to build trust, not only with our clients, but also with the communities they serve.
This conference reinforced that. Here are 10 takeaways, or maybe reminders, that stuck with me.
1. Personal Social Media Can Affect Your Professional Brand
We’ve all seen it. An 18-year-old who had a college scholarship revoked because of something they posted on social media when they were 13. The employee who was fired because of their personal actions in a viral video. The neighbor everyone avoids because they spread gossip.
It’s easy to think, “Well, that’s my personal page,” or “I was just chatting with my neighbors,” but those moments can shape what people think of when they think of you. What we say, share, like, comment on or joke about can become part of how people see us. It can affect how people see our professional work, too.
2. Communicators Build Trust Between Experts and the Public
It’s our job to take information from engineers, physicians, scientists, planners, elected officials and other experts and make it understandable for the people who need it.
Clear communication requires knowing what to leave in, what to take out and what people actually need to know. It also means anticipating the questions the public will have and proactively answering them.
When we do that well, we create the kind of clarity that helps build trust between the organization and the community.
3. Better Questions Lead to Better Communication
One reminder I liked was that asking questions can lead to better information and better discussion than jumping straight to judgment or annoyance. This works in crisis communication, public engagement and even parenting.
Instead of going straight to scolding your kid, you might say, “Can you help me understand why you hit your sister in the head with a brick?”
Not that I’m recommending the brick situation. The point is questions help us understand what’s really going on. They help us find out what people are thinking, what they’re missing and what they need from us.
As communicators, that matters. If we don’t understand the concern, we might answer the wrong question. And when people are upset, confused or scared, answering the wrong question can make things worse, even if the information is technically correct.
4. People Resist Change
OK, I already knew this one.
But one speaker talked about the idea that people can usually handle small changes better than big, sudden ones. That applies to social media, branding, public programs, workplace culture and probably most of life.
If Smashburger changed its entire menu overnight and no longer had a Smashburger, you probably wouldn’t go back. But if they kept the menu people know and added a new specialty item, you might try it.
You can’t suddenly change your entire social media approach, brand voice or public communication style and expect people to immediately come along. Change needs to feel connected to something people already understand.
And when the change affects people’s routines, neighborhoods, jobs or sense of safety, we have to be even more thoughtful. What feels like a small operational change inside an organization may feel much bigger to the people living with it.
5. Communication Teams Need Clear Priorities
OK, I knew this one, too.
But one speaker offered a reminder I needed to hear: The more we say no to things that don’t matter, the more we can say yes to the things that do.
That’s hard in communications because everything can feel urgent. Everyone needs a post, a flyer, a press release, a statement, a meeting, a plan or “just a quick graphic.” But we can’t keep adding things to the plate without removing anything.
Part of our job is helping clients and teams focus. Sometimes that means asking, “What are we trying to accomplish?” Strategy is just as much what we decide not to do as it is what we do.
6. AI Misinformation Has Changed the Burden of Proof
AI has made it harder for people to know what to trust.
The World Health Organization uses the word “infodemic” to describe too much information, including false or misleading information, in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak. But that idea feels bigger than public health now.
People are surrounded by information all day. A lot of that information is incomplete, misleading or completely false.
AI has made that even more complicated. Have you ever scrolled through Facebook, stopped on a photo or story, and thought, “There’s no way that’s real,” or “He didn’t really say that,” only to find out it is and he did?
We used to have to prove something was fake. Now, in some cases, we have to prove something is real.
A photo, video, quote, voice recording or screenshot can look legitimate and still be manipulated, taken out of context or completely created. That puts even more pressure on public agencies, organizations and communicators to be clear, consistent and credible.
It requires using official channels consistently, responding quickly when misinformation starts to spread and giving people a clear place to go for accurate updates. It also means understanding that if we leave a communication vacuum, someone else will fill it.
The reminder for me was that trust is no longer built only by saying something clearly. We also have to help people believe what they’re seeing, hearing and reading is real.
7. Public Trust Starts With Trusting the Public
Sometimes public communication can fall into the trap of assuming people won’t understand, won’t care or will automatically react badly. But if we want the public to trust us, we have to trust them enough to communicate clearly and honestly.
That doesn’t mean sharing every internal detail or overwhelming people with information. It means respecting people enough to explain what we know, what we don’t know yet and what happens next.
It also means remembering that “the public” isn’t some random group of people. We live here, too. We’re also inconvenienced by the road closures and bridge construction, but we understand the benefits and the why behind the work. It’s our job to share that with everyone else.
8. Public Communication Should Reflect the Audience’s Reality
Good communication starts with the audience’s reality, not the organization’s internal language.
We need to use words people understand. We need to pay attention to what they’re worried about. Getting outside of our own circles and listening to people who don’t think, live, work or communicate exactly like we do helps us understand the community better. We need to understand how people talk about issues in real life.
A resident probably isn’t talking about “project phases” or “road diets” at the dinner table. They’re asking whether they can get to work on time, whether their kid’s bus route is changing or if their business will still be easy to reach.
If our words don’t match their world, the message won’t land.
9. Internal Communication Matters During a Crisis
It’s one thing to have a communications plan before something happens. It’s another thing to keep everyone aligned when you’re in the middle of it.
When a situation is unfolding, communications teams need to know how leadership wants people talking about it. That includes internal staff, frontline employees, leadership, partners and anyone else who may be asked questions by the public. If employees don’t know what to say, they may unintentionally create confusion because they’re trying to be helpful without having the full picture.
That’s why leadership has to keep communications in the loop and make sure the message is shared internally, not just externally. If we want the public message to be clear, the internal message has to be clear first.
10. Every Organization Needs a Crisis Communication Team and Plan
Nobody wants to think about a crisis before it happens. But waiting until the middle of one is too late. Teams need a crisis plan before they need it. That plan should make roles, approvals and information flow clearly before pressure is high.
A lot of public agencies, and even brands, don’t have large teams who are trained in crisis communication. Your response team can include more than your coworkers. When flooding happened in Kentucky a few years ago, the communications director of Kentucky Emergency Management reached out to me to monitor social media because he knew I had KYEM and FEMA training.
At the government agency where I worked, my crisis plan included staff from neighboring agencies. The last thing you want to do in a crisis is spend time recruiting help, making introductions and figuring out what each person will be responsible for.
Final Thoughts
The conference reminded me why this work matters.
People aren’t sitting around waiting for our perfectly crafted message. They’re trying to get to work, pick up kids, run businesses, care for families and make sense of whatever information is coming at them that day.
That’s what makes public communication so important. When we do it well, we don’t just explain a project or respond to a concern. We help people feel a little more informed, a little less left out and, hopefully, a little more willing to trust the process.
Rasor is an award-winning marketing agency in Cincinnati, delivering communications, design and public relations strategies to industries including healthcare, municipal and infrastructure and B2B/B2C. Contact us at info@gorasor.com or 513-793-1234 to find out how Rasor can help your organization build trust with its customers, create a crisis communications plan or build your brand strategy.