IABC World Conference: Time for communicators to step up

There's never been a greater need for the communications profession. We have to call on all our skills to meet the global societal challenges ahead. The annual International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) World Conference is a chance to pause, learn and discuss the hottest topics and the tools that can help us.

Key themes I heard at this year's conference:

• Stepping up as communicators - to enhance employee experience, educate ourselves on artificial intelligence (AI) and call out disinformation.
• Trust and transparency - in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and use of AI.
• Purpose, values and storytelling - people want to buy into organisations not just buy from them.
• The importance of data - partnering with data scientists and using insights to inform strategy and priorities.

Here are some highlights from the sessions I found most insightful.?

1. The best ‘dot connectors’ will always get a seat at the table

In this opening spotlight, Megan Noel DiSciullo described communicators as ‘the dot connectors.’ Other speakers picked up on this theme during the week. My interpretation is that we see the big picture, help people make sense of it and know the key people to bring together around our organisation.

Kimberley Goode made one of my favourite points from the whole conference:

“Be the best dot connector in your organisation. If you bring that superpower to the table, you’ll never have to worry about getting a seat.”

I couldn’t agree more that connecting dots is one of our superpowers as communicators. The strategic value this brings to organisations is often overlooked.

Kimberley also mentioned BMO's new storytelling tool that helps employees easily share key stories. When many organisations are cautious of employees posting on social media, it’s refreshing to see one (a bank!) making it easier. As John Yoon said, “If people are singing in a choir, you give them the same song sheet. Why wouldn’t you do that for your employees?”

2. AI won’t replace communicators but it will change our jobs

Unsurprisingly, AI was a hot topic. I took reassuring messages from the panel session with Shel Holtz, SCMP , Dave Fleet , Alison Gelata, MCM , Alex Sévigny, PhD, APR and Martin Waxman, MCM, APR .

“When everyone has the same base technology, people become the differentiator”?

• AI will enable us to become more strategic - just as Google Translate has enabled translators to focus on style and tone.
• Trust and transparency will be key - disclose if you’re using generative AI and have a fact checking process.
• We need to educate ourselves and get involved in the internal AI tools our organisations will be building.
• Communicators need to partner with data scientists to become effective supervisors of AI tools.
• Writing is the “least interesting thing” AI can help us with. The panel had used it to come up with questions for a workshop, reduce a first draft by 30% and anticipate issues an audience might disagree with.

Go deeper: Open AI has published a guide for ‘prompt engineers’ and Google has free AI training modules

3. Communicators have power and with power comes responsibility?

“Communication has the power to change people, society and the world.”?

Helio Fred Garcia appealed to us to step up and help companies communicate honesty and trust.?

“The world faces a ‘pandemic of disinformation (deliberately spreading false information) and misinformation ( unwittingly passing that false information on)."

He told us that detecting disinformation will become a core competency for communicators, to “recognise patterns and prevent disinformation from taking root.”

Why it matters: The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that business is the most and only trusted institution globally. Social media means disinformation now goes global. What used to take weeks to spread now takes minutes.?

4. We’re never so far apart that we can’t find common ground

Stacey Laforme, Chief of The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations opened day one with a poem from Mother Earth - especially poignant as we experienced smoke in the city from wildfires hundreds of miles away.

He also reminded us we are all individuals. That individuality is important but we’re never so far apart that we can’t find common ground.?Also that all stories are connected (back to connecting those dots!).

5. Length is fear. Brevity is confidence.

I was already familiar with the Smart Brevity? formula for clear communication but I wanted to learn more. I wasn’t disappointed, with actionable insight delivered at pace.

The tips I took away:

• Closing traditional wordy emails to read later builds anxiety.
• People want to know what’s new and why it matters.
• Aim for short, not shallow. It’s better to exclude something if it’s not worthy?

“You have 2-3 mins to grab employees’ attention at the beginning of the day. By lunchtime, that’s shrunk to 12 seconds.”

Five steps to creating communications that are worthy not wordy:

1. Audience first
2. Grab their attention
3. Write like a human
4. Keep copy scannable
5. Stop if enough is enough

I’ve aimed to follow the advice in this article. I’ll let you judge if I’ve succeeded!

6. Connecting the dots on planet, people and purpose

Alice Brink, IABC Fellow reminded us that communicators bring five strengths to environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting:

1. Research and measurement - IABC helps us understand the impact of our communication activity.?
2. Setting objectives - using metrics for past, present and future performance.
3. Translating data - using context, analogy and visuals.
4. Storytelling - framing the ESG report as a story as well as highlighting individual stories.
5. Collaboration - acting as the ‘dot connectors’ for ESG.

By the numbers

Almost 1,000 communication professionals from 34 countries came together in Toronto for the annual IABC World Conference across four days in June 2023.

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a vibrant global membership association for communicators of all disciplines, with thousands of members around the world.

?? Save the date next year’s IABC World Conference will be in Chicago from 23-26 June.

Lucy Eckley is founder and lead consultant at The Leading Story, a boutique communication consultancy helping organisations increase employee engagement and speed up adoption of change through narrative and storytelling.