Schedule of Events

In an era defined by disruption, where AI, hybrid work, and constant change challenge every assumption about leadership, communicators are uniquely positioned to help executives see what others won’t say. This interactive workshop offers a practical “reality check” on executive leadership. Participants will learn how to measure what truly matters when leaders speak, and when they don’t. Through case studies and small-group activities, they’ll build a Leadership Impact Scorecard that captures the trust, clarity, and accountability behaviors driving real influence in the C-suite.  Attendees will also practice evidence-based coaching conversations, learning how to guide executives from intention to measurable impact.  You’ll leave with ready-to-use tools like a Leadership Scorecard, coaching framework, and reflection guide to apply immediately with your own leaders or teams.  For communicators who want to move from messaging to measurable impact, this session delivers the insight, evidence, and confidence to help executives thrive through disruption.

• A Leadership Impact Scorecard that measures executive effectiveness through clear behavioral and communication indicators.
• The ability to coach and advise C-suite leaders using evidence-based communication and leadership frameworks.
• Practical, research-driven tools to assess and strengthen your own leadership presence in times of disruption and organizational change.

Generative AI will fundamentally transform communication, both how we practice it as professionals and the patterns of communication inside organizations. The world of generative AI changes each week, with new models and new capabilities. It can be dizzying to keep up, and many communication professionals are wondering what their role will be in the future.

We want to put communication leaders on their front foot.

In this session, we'll ground you in where the technology is today and show you what's possible when working at the frontier. You'll see real applications from Fortune 100 organizations and learn prompting strategies that turn AI from a drafting tool into a strategic partner for analysis, communication strategy design, and more. You'll walk away with concrete examples you can implement immediately, live demonstrations of frontier capabilities shaping the next 12-24 months, and practical prompting frameworks you can adapt to your organization's challenges.

This session is interactive. We'll workshop prompts together, share our screens to show AI working in real-time, and create space for your specific use cases.

Designed for communication strategists, change communication leads, and internal communication professionals who want to stay ahead of the disruption curve rather than react to it.

• Describe how Large Language Models work in clear and understandable terms.
• Use generative AI tools more effectively, at the limits of their capabilities.
• Bring immediately actionable best practices to their communication teams.

Effective communication isn’t about completing the brochure, video, or website — it’s about what the communication needs to accomplish and how successful it is at doing just that — it’s the WHY are you doing the communication in the first place.  

Join award-winning communication consultant Gabrielle (Gabi) Loring, FCSCE, as she explores how to disrupt how you think about metrics to reframe measurement as a powerful leadership tool — one that reveals what’s working or not working and how communication can influence real outcomes.  

The session will explore: 

• How to set goals worth measuring and tie them to business value
• Why many current measurement practices fall short and how to move beyond vanity metrics  
• Meaningful measurement through award-winning, real-world case studies
• The essential role of having a measurement plan in shaping strategy
• Using measurement to talk about the impact of your communication strategy to management and your manager, customer or client  

During the session, participants will have an opportunity to apply what they learned to their own work.  

• Set measurable, meaningful goals and objectives
• Recognize the difference between output-based and outcome-based objectives
• Use measurement to inform your communication strategy and tailor your communication

Trust can no longer be assumed. In a world where audiences begin from a place of distrust, and often for good reason, communication professionals must rethink both trust itself and its relationship to reputation, beyond traditional reputation management. This means redefining reputation through design, acceleration, and protection.

Trust 3.0 explores how to build and defend reputation as a living system, one that adapts to non-stop disruption, including from the newest disruptors of misinformation engines and synthetic crises to algorithmic influence and AI stakeholders.

Disruption today is continuous, fueled by AI-generated content, polarization, leadership changes, geopolitical shocks, digital manipulation, and everyday business volatility. In this reality, reputation has become both more fragile and more valuable than ever.

This session reveals how to build reputation as corporate currency, an asset designed for durability and credibility under constant stress. You’ll learn how to embed trust into your organization's DNA, protect it through modern crisis planning, intelligent monitoring, and an ethical response, and ultimately, how to transform disruption into opportunity.

Participants will leave equipped to move beyond reputation management into corporate reputation architecture, a model where trust is intentionally designed, continuously protected, and strategically leveraged to create lasting corporate value.

The gap is widening. While most professionals are still dabbling with ChatGPT for basic tasks, tomorrow's high impact leaders are building intelligent systems that multiply their impact without working longer hours.

This interactive, three-part Master Class isn't theory. You will get access to a practical playbook that separates strategic communicators who get promoted from those who get left behind.

• AI Systems Thinking: Stop working harder. Start working at scale. Learn the workflow mapping methodology that reveals blind spots in any business process and how to identify the right opportunities to solve problems.
• AI-utomation 101: Understand the right approach to build tangible skills, systems, and solutions with AI, automation, and agents. Learn how to take advantage of different tools and templates so that you’re ready to go by tomorrow. This is your shortcut to becoming the "AI expert" that everyone turns to.
• Career Storytelling: The job market has fundamentally changed. Learn the insider system for creating a "Career Walking Deck" that positions you as a powerhouse candidate in job interviews. Understand what it takes to make a strong first impression, build personal connections, and stand out with AI-powered practices.

Get Certified. Get Strategic. Get Ahead.

If you’re serious about being recognized as a strategic communication professional, this is where you prove it.

The GCCC Certification Master Class isn’t another fluffy “overview.” It’s an intensive 3.5-hour immersion that gives you the confidence, clarity and competence to walk into the CMP or SCMP exam and walk out successful.

Participants consistently tell us this masterclass gives them exactly what they need to approach the CMP or SCMP exam with confidence — clarity on the mindset, the framework, and what “good” looks like at the highest level. It removes guesswork and sharpens how you think, structure responses, and demonstrate strategic communication capability.

You’ll unpack what strategic communication management really looks like in practice, through the lens of the Global Standard of the Communication Profession. You’ll refine how you think, plan, and advise, and you’ll discover how to articulate value in business terms that decision-makers can’t ignore.

• A working knowledge of the Global Standard and how to apply it, not just quote it.
• The tools and insights to shift from communicator to trusted strategic advisor.
• The ability to assess your readiness for certification and design your personal preparation plan.

In today’s crowded communication landscape, messages compete for attention like never before. Emails go unread, campaigns are ignored, and audiences scroll past important announcements. Creativity has become the most powerful tool for communicators to cut through the noise and make an impact.

In this session, Eduvie Martin and Jide draw on their combined expertise leading creative campaigns across banks, FMCGs, and entertainment platforms like Comic Republic. They will show how to turn any brief, no matter how routine, into vibrant, engaging content that captures attention, inspires action, and drives results.  

Participants will explore how storytelling, design, video, audio, and innovative formats can transform communication across internal, external, and corporate channels. Through interactive exercises and real-world case studies, attendees will learn how to manage creative teams, tailor content to diverse audiences, and why creativity and storytelling are important.  

This session is ideal for communicators, content creators, and leaders who want to push boundaries, elevate engagement, and lead disruptive initiatives. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to harness creativity across all channels, amplify their influence, and turn everyday messages into memorable experiences that resonate long after they are delivered.

• Design engaging communication strategies across internal, external, and corporate channels that capture attention and inspire action.
• Apply creative storytelling, multimedia, and visual techniques to transform routine briefs into high-impact campaigns.
• Manage creative talent effectively to deliver consistent, innovative, and audience-centered communication results.

The most effective internal communication doesn’t just share information — it connects with both the hearts and minds of employees. In an age of constant disruption and growing disconnection, stripping communication of its humanity is a costly mistake. Change is, at its core, an emotional process — and organizations that acknowledge and support that reality unlock higher performance, adaptability, and wellbeing. 

In this talk, Andrea Greenhous explores the power of communicating with emotion: why it’s essential in today’s world of work, what gets in the way, and how to turn emotional connection into a measurable driver of success.  

She shares the story of a hospital undergoing significant transformation. When launching its new strategic plan, Andrea and her team made emotion an explicit goal — measuring how employees felt about the change and using those insights to guide next steps. The result? Communication that not only informed and inspired but also helped people move through change with confidence, compassion, and clarity.  

Because when communication connects with the heart, it drives everything else that matters.

• Understand the neuroscience behind emotion and how emotional connection shapes attention, memory, and behaviour — making communication more impactful and lasting.
• Apply creative storytelling, multimedia, and visual techniques to transform routine briefs into high-impact campaigns.
• Manage creative talent effectively to deliver consistent, innovative, and audience-centered communication results.

We've overcomplicated this.

Leaders today are drowning in advice about how to communicate through change. Master storytelling. Leverage AI. Navigate hybrid teams. Stay authentic while staying on-message. The list is endless—and exhausting. Here's the disruption nobody's talking about: What if the most radical thing leaders could do right now is get back to basics?

As a senior and C-suite leader turned coach and consultant working with executives navigating chaos, I've watched leaders exhaust themselves chasing the next communication trend. Meanwhile, the fundamentals - empathy, authenticity, accountability, simplicity, and influence - sit unused like power tools gathering dust.  

This keynote isn't about adding more to your leadership toolkit. It's about stripping away what's not working and rediscovering the core communication principles that actually move people through change. Through stories from boardrooms and communities, from tech giants to grassroots organizations, we'll explore why the basics aren't basic at all — they're revolutionary.  

You'll leave with renewed clarity about what matters most when leading through disruption, practical wisdom you can apply with your team Monday morning, and permission to stop doing the performative leadership communication that never worked anyway.  Sometimes the most disruptive thing a leader can do is return to what's always been true.

• Identify the five fundamental communication principles that enable leaders to move people through disruption effectively and distinguish these from the noise of trends, tools, and performative leadership tactics that undermine trust.
• Articulate how returning to human-centered communication basics serves as a disruptive leadership strategy that builds followership and accelerates change adoption more effectively than complex frameworks or polished corporate messaging.
• Apply at least one "back to basics" communication principle with their team within 48 hours, using a simplified decision-making model that prioritizes genuine human connection over leadership theater.

What if the rules that move planets could also move people at work?  

This energetic session reframes classic science ideas into a practical playbook for modern communicators. Chuck and Pinaki  translate Force, Energy, Gravity, and Newton’s Laws into everyday planning tools that help you build messages with substance, speed and stickiness.  

You will learn how to give your message “mass,” when and where to add “acceleration,” and how to use culture as a multiplier rather than a blocker. We will run quick labs, do safe mini “experiments,” and map a real campaign to the Force Equation so you can see what creates motion and what creates friction.  

Expect fun, not fluff. You will leave with a reusable playbook, a simple adoption scorecard, and language you can use with leaders and teams to explain why a message will move people, not just inform them. Ideal for communicators who want fresh thinking and practical tools that fit frontline and hybrid realities.  

Disruption is here; this session gives you the science to harness it.

• Map any communication initiative to the Force Equation by defining message mass, selecting two acceleration levers, and predicting expected impact.
• Design a micro-experiment that increases adoption, including a hypothesis, a cultural fit check, and one metric for engagement.
• Anticipate likely resistance using Newton’s “equal and opposite reaction” and draft tcounter-messages that reduce friction.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we create, share, and consume content — and not always for the better. This session explores how AI-generated “slop” and mass content production are disrupting authenticity, trust, and the value of human creativity in communications.  

Join Samuel Chen as he unpacks real-world examples of how communicators are navigating this disruption and reclaiming authenticity in the age of automation. Attendees will discover the best AI tools used today, learn ethical practices for integrating them into workflows, and explore strategies to outpace competitors who rely solely on machine-generated content.  

Through live demonstrations and interactive discussions, participants will gain hands-on experience using AI responsibly while reinforcing their unique human advantage — empathy, storytelling, and strategic thinking.  

This session is ideal for communication professionals in marketing, public relations, and corporate communications who want to stay ahead of the curve, strengthen trust with audiences, and lead with authenticity in an increasingly AI-driven world.

• Understand their value as communicators when dealing with their organization and potential clients
• using selective AI tools the right way and showcasing the efforts of trust with their community
• identify the risk of using certain AI tools within an organization that could harm their current workflow consistency

Inaccessible information is the biggest unintentional unwanted disruptor for your audience. If people can’t see, read, download or engage with your information you’re creating barriers rather than making connections.

Save time, create a bigger impact and make your communications more accessible with these practical tips and digital tools in this session.  Learn how to improve your communications and craft beautiful campaigns that attract rather than distract your readers. Lisa and Matisse will show you the latest digital tools that you can use to make sure you cause the right kind of disruption and get better results, with content that really resonates with your audience.  

You'll get practical, hands-on tips and digital tools to:

• Make your messaging more understandable
• Structure your content so that it’s scannable
• Check your colour contrast so it’s readable
• Write the calls to action that are actually actioned!  

You'll leave ready to:

• Jump on social media trends while staying accessible
• Create reports that land better with senior leadership
• Apply accessibility principles to any communication, for any audience

Whether you're crafting a quick social post or a strategic report, you'll gain the confidence to create content that works for everyone and gets better results.

• Write more compelling messages that resonate with their audience
• Identify the most appropriate format to present information
• Use digital tools to check the accessibility of their emails, reports and web content

In a world where algorithms decide what we see, and what we don’t, communicators face a new kind of disruption: reality itself.

Every audience lives inside a personalized feed that reinforces beliefs, reshapes trust, and fragments perception.  In this session,  Angus will explore how communicators can break out of those echo chambers and rebuild audience understanding through empathy, data, and creativity.

Drawing from his work leading marketing at Fullintel and campaigns for brands like Bevi, Google, and Disney+, he’ll share actionable frameworks to balance AI-driven insights with human-centered storytelling.  As both a content strategist and viral creator with over 100K followers across platforms, he's seen firsthand how authenticity drives connection — and how creator-style storytelling is redefining PR and communications. 

You’ll leave with a five-step “Media Diet” toolkit to audit your feeds, diversify your inputs, and use AI responsibly, all while strengthening trust and creative impact in an age of algorithmic disruption.

• Decode the Algorithmic Mind: Understand how algorithms quietly shape public perception — and learn to use data, empathy, and curiosity to see beyond your own feed.
• Design a Healthier Media Diet: Audit your team’s “information intake” and rebuild it with diverse sources, creator perspectives, and AI insights that sharpen strategy instead of reinforcing bias.
• Turn Disruption into Connection: Apply creator-era storytelling and real-time audience awareness to build brand trust, transform PR blind spots into opportunities, and make your next campaign genuinely scroll-stopping.

What if you could make your communication strategies as captivating and unforgettable as a magic trick? In this engaging and fast-paced session, you’ll uncover The Magic Behind Award-Winning Communication Strategies, a practical and entertaining look at how creativity, curiosity, and strategy combine to drive measurable impact in disruptive times.  

Led by multi-Gold Quill “Best of the Best” Recipient and Blue Ribbon Panel Judge Jeff Pekar, this session uses live magic demonstrations to reveal the secrets behind communication that truly connects. Each illusion becomes a teaching tool – a simple, memorable way to recall key principles such as linking tactics to strategy, focusing attention where it matters most, and turning disruption into opportunity.  You’ll explore real-life case studies from global award-winning programs, learn proven tips and tricks for crafting measurable strategies, and discover how to mystify your audience for all the right reasons.

Expect plenty of interaction, laughter, and a few surprises along the way.  Ideal for early- to mid-career communicators, this session blends insight, inspiration, and showmanship, helping you master the real magic of communication that informs, engages, and endures.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to identify and describe the key components that make communication strategies award-winning – including clarity of objectives, alignment of tactics to strategy, and the use of measurable outcomes.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to apply simple, magic-inspired mnemonics and frameworks to plan and evaluate their own communication programs in disruptive or changing environments.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate how creativity, storytelling, and audience engagement techniques – the “tricks” of the trade – can be used to capture attention, sustain interest, and improve results.

In a world defined by growing uncertainty, organizations face unprecedented pressure to make sense of long-term change. Geopolitical shifts, technological acceleration, and evolving cultural expectations are reshaping every industry, creating a landscape that is more volatile, complex, and contested than ever before. In response, leaders across strategy, insight, risk, and innovation functions are investing in horizon scanning, scenario planning, and long-term decision-making frameworks. Yet in many organisations, something critical has been missing: the communicator’s voice.

Building on the success of the 2025 IABC World Conference session, this practical, energizing session introduces new insight, tools, and case studies to help communicators fill that gap. Attendees will learn how to build their own horizon-scanning practice, translate external signals into internal meaning, and prepare people to engage with change confidently and constructively. We will explore how to connect foresight to behavior — equipping employees to adapt, stay curious, and make decisions that support long-term resilience. Attendees will leave with actionable methods to shape future-ready communication strategies, embed strategic thinking into everyday workflows, and strengthen their role as trusted advisors in an age of constant disruption.

• Define horizon scanning and explain how it equips strategic communicators to add value by anticipating disruption, identifying emerging risks and opportunities, and guiding informed decision-making.
• Apply a structured framework for horizon scanning within their organization to identify, interpret, and prioritize trends that could shape future communication, reputation, and stakeholder engagement.
• Translate emerging trends into actionable insight, using practical techniques to craft proactive, future-ready communication strategies and messaging that help their organizations navigate and thrive amid disruption.

In today’s rapidly shifting communications landscape, disruption is constant, but so is the opportunity to lead with purpose. This dynamic session explores how KPMG’s Global Values Week united 275,000 colleagues worldwide to strengthen trust, foster ethical decision-making, and drive engagement during times of change.

Attendees will discover proven best practices and real-world case studies — such as the high-impact Ethical Avengers Quest and global speaker broadcasts — that empowered employees to connect, collaborate, and put shared values into action.  Through interactive scenarios and peer discussion, participants will gain actionable strategies for embedding core values in communications, cultivating resilience, and building cultures of trust,even amid uncertainty. You’ll leave equipped with practical tools to activate ethical frameworks, design engaging campaigns, and measure impact across diverse teams.

This session is tailored for internal and external communications professionals, change agents, and leaders seeking to future-proof their organizations. Whether you’re navigating global transformations or inspiring local teams, join us to reimagine the communicator’s role as a catalyst for positive disruption and sustainable success.

• Describe how to embed organizational values into communications strategies by leveraging real-world examples from KPMG’s Global Values Week, including the Ethical Avengers Quest and global speaker broadcasts.
• Demonstrate actionable techniques for fostering engagement, collaboration, and ethical decision-making within teams during periods of disruption, using interactive scenarios and best practices shared in the session.
• Measure the impact of values-driven campaigns by identifying key indicators of trust, employee participation, and behavior change across diverse and global audiences.

In an era defined by disruption — rapid technological shifts, evolving ethics, and global energy transformation — how do organizations keep employees aligned and engaged?

Hydro-Québec faced this challenge head-on during a period of unprecedented change: multiple leadership transitions, bold strategic pivots, and the launch of a transformative 2035 Action Plan. This session explores how we turned complexity into clarity and disruption into opportunity. Through innovative internal campaigns, gamified tools, and multi-channel strategies, we empowered employees to embrace strategic priorities and measure success with tangible performance indicators.

We’ll share how we adapted messages for diverse internal audiences, leveraged creative engagement techniques, and built a culture of understanding and ownership around strategic goals.

Attendees will gain actionable insights on:

• Simplifying complex messages for diverse internal audiences.
• Driving engagement through creative, interactive communication methods.
• Measuring impact to prove ROI and sustain momentum.

Beyond practical tools and examples, participants will also gain fresh ideas and perspectives on how they can tackle similar challenges in their own organizations, turning disruption into a catalyst for stronger internal alignment and engagement. If you want to learn how to communicate strategy in times of uncertainty — and walk away with strategies you can implement immediately — this session is for you.

• Describe key challenges in communicating strategic priorities during disruption.
• Identify innovative techniques to simplify and personalize internal messaging.
• Develop metrics to evaluate the success of internal communication campaigns.

What does it really take to build a fulfilling, future-proof career in communication, one that thrives amid disruption?  In this energising and deeply personal session, award-winning podcaster and agency leader Katie Macaulay shares surprising insights from more than 200 interviews with the pioneers, change-makers, and rebels redefining our profession.  First presented to rave reviews at the 2024 IABC World Conference in Chicago, this session has been fully revised and updated after another two years of interviews and research, offering fresh perspectives and new lessons from leading voices in our field.  Drawing on six years of The Internal Comms Podcast — nearly 300 hours of conversations — Katie reveals six timely lessons for communicators seeking to stay curious, courageous, and relevant in a rapidly changing world.  You’ll explore how to “institutionalise curiosity,” speak truth to power, build networks that last, and turn failure into fuel for growth.  Expect stories and audio clips from industry luminaries, along with moments for reflection and peer conversation. Designed for communication professionals at every level, this interactive session will equip you with practical tools, proven habits, and renewed confidence to navigate disruption and shape the future of communication from the inside out.

• Identify six key traits and mindsets, including self-awareness, honesty, curiosity, courage, and interdisciplinary thinking, that define the most fulfilled and successful communication professionals.
• Apply practical strategies to build stronger professional relationships, such as cultivating generosity in networking, institutionalizing curiosity, and speaking truth to power to enhance their influence and impact at work.
• Reflect on and reframe their approach to professional growth by embracing experimentation, learning from failure, and defining success in alignment with their personal purpose and values.

Many brands still mistake visibility for inclusion. This keynote dismantles tokenism and offers a roadmap for authentic engagement across race, gender, ability, and orientation. Jefferson combines personal stories with organizational case studies to illustrate how empathy isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s a market differentiator.  A fresh perspective on marketing and communications and how the disciplines relate to corporate social responsibility and intersect with diversity and inclusion; each session is customized on the spot as participants select the B2C and/or B2B case studies that are most relevant for them​​.  What are the “3 Bees of Woke Marketing?” Be Authentic. Be Prepared. Be Present.  Learn how Purpose-Driven Marketing  or “Woke Marketing” will improve an organization’s bottom line and revenue usually in one of three ways:  Cultivating new audiences and customers  Creating brand new products  Affecting real world human rights legislative change  Includes inspirational real life B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) examples covering diversity and inclusion issues that include: race, indigeneity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, and more.  We finish with the “3 Eh’s” of “Woke Marketing – key takeaways for marketers to execute on the “3 Bees.”

• What are the “3 Bees of Woke Marketing?” Be Authentic. Be Prepared. Be Present.
• Learn how Purpose-Driven Marketing or “Woke Marketing” will improve an organization’s bottom line and revenue usually in one of three ways: Cultivating new audiences and customers. Creating brand new products. Affecting real world human rights legislative change
• We finish with the “3 Eh’s” of “Woke Marketing – key takeaways for marketers to execute on the “3 Bees.”

Disruption isn't just operational, it's emotional. After repeated restructures, layoffs, and whiplash pivots, your people aren't just tired. They're traumatized. "Change trauma" is real: a state of chronic psychological threat that shuts down trust, engagement, and the capacity to move forward. And traditional change communication? It often makes it worse. This session equips communicators to recognize when audiences are operating from fear, not curiosity - and to communicate in ways that prevent trauma from taking root or avoid deepening it when it's already there. Through neuroscience-backed insights and live message redesign, attendees will learn what triggers the stress response during change, what minimizes it, and how tone, timing, and transparency either build psychological safety or erode it further. This session presents a trauma-informed messaging framework and conversation tools to guide communications through disruption without breaking trust or re-injuring teams already on edge. Because when change hurts, how we communicate determines whether people can still follow or whether we've lost them for good. This session will be beneficial for mid-to-senior communication professionals leading transformation, culture, or internal engagement during ongoing disruption.

• Identify signs of change trauma in individuals and teams by recognizing behavioural, emotional, and communication patterns that signal threat, not resistance.
• Apply a trauma-informed communication framework to redesign messages, adjusting tone, timing, and transparency to reduce defensiveness, fear and anxiety, and rebuild psychological safety.
• Re-shape communication approach from the perspective of the stabilizers, not motivators.

In a world shaped by disruption — from hybrid workplaces to AI-driven communication — in-person events are being reimagined. No longer just gatherings, they’re becoming purpose-driven experiences designed to connect people, spark emotion, and build community in ways digital platforms can’t replicate.  This interactive session explores the evolving role of face-to-face events in a disrupted communication landscape.  Involving experts who’ve led corporate and industry-level conferences in this changing environment, , we’ll examine how communicators are blending technology, neuroscience, storytelling and collaborative agenda-setting to create memorable, measurable impact.   This session is ideal for internal communication, corporate affairs, and event professionals who want to transform traditional meetings into immersive, human-centered experiences that thrive amid disruption. Leave with practical insights and examples, fresh inspiration, and a renewed understanding of how in-person events can strengthen connection in an increasingly digital world.

• Reassess the Role of In-Person Events: Understand how disruption — from AI to hybrid work — is reshaping the purpose of live gatherings, shifting them from information delivery to experience design that drives connection, culture, and engagement.
• Apply Human-Centered and Data-Informed Design: Learn practical frameworks and tools for crafting in-person experiences that combine behavioral science, storytelling,collaboration and measurement to achieve lasting impact and organizational alignment.
• Create a Future-Ready Events Approach: Identify actionable strategies to transform traditional meetings and conferences into immersive, inclusive, and scalable experiences that thrive in a disrupted communication environment.

Master the human skills that make you impossible to replace. As algorithms take over tasks once seen as secure, many professionals are asking: why should they keep me? The answer lies in your human edge. Empathy, authenticity and influence are the new currency of relevance. If you’re worried about being replaced, or struggling to prove your worth in a workplace transformed by automation, this keynote is for you. Learn how to command trust, inspire action and become the person your organisation can’t afford to lose.  

• Project Certainty in Uncertain Times: Show up with confidence even when your company is resizing.
• Build Human Connection That Lasts: Create trust and rapport that no algorithm can replace.
• Read the Room, Not Just the Data: Spot emotions, priorities, and unspoken needs to influence outcomes.
• Secure Buy-In Without Force: Position your requests so people say yes willingly.

• Build instant and lasting rapport.
• Find out other people's decision making criteria.
• Make proposals that will get accepted through advanced influencing techniques.

Since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, three out of four communicators have started using AI in their work. I’m one of them. I use it every single day. It’s fast. It’s clever. It’s a great BFF, researcher, and editorial assistant. But, there are two problems: 1. Readers are turning away from AI-written messages. They recognize that the generic, untouched by-human-hands, chemical-vanilla-candle scent of AI writing. Smooth, but soulless. Researchers at the University of Michigan and others have found that readers prefer human-written messages to AI-written messages by as much as 30%. They can feel the difference. 2. Worse, the rush to AI is starting to cost IABC members their jobs. Writing roles now rank fifth most likely to be lost to AI, according to Microsoft. Let’s disrupt that risk. Let’s use AI, for sure, but use it better. In my session, you’ll learn: how to outwrite a robot, how to bring human intelligence to artificial intelligence, and how to win back our readers — and our jobs — by making writing human again.

• Connect with your audience, use AI to tap into what keeps your readers up at night, then write pieces that speak to their hearts, not just their inboxes. Turns out, a robot can help you relate better to humans.
• Outwrite a robot. ChatGPT can’t tell stories. Co-Pilot doesn’t have personal examples and observations. Grammarly doesn’t get goosebumps. Learn to craft content so real, so resonant, only a human could write it.
• Go beyond AI. Walk away with smart, free tools — better than AI — for writing subject lines that get opened and messages that get read, remembered, and shared.

What if your next communication strategy was more like a DJ set than a content plan? In this high-energy, music-infused session, Monique Zytnik and Pinaki Kathiari explore what communicators can learn from the world of club DJs, masters of reading the room, crafting emotional journeys, and building shared experiences that move people to action. Together, they’ll remix traditional communication thinking by shifting our role from content production to creating multisensory, shared experiences. You’ll discover how to “read your dancefloor,” when to turn up the volume or dial it back, and how to tell stories that make people feel part of something bigger. This interactive session includes live music moments, storytelling techniques, and practical tools to help you design communication experiences that resonate. It’s about rhythm and melody. Perfect for communicators ready to move beyond content and start orchestrating connections.

• Read the Room Like a DJ: Learn how to sense audience energy, emotion, and engagement, and adapt your communication “setlist” in real time for maximum resonance.
• Design Multisensory Experiences: Move beyond content delivery to create communications that engage sight, sound, and emotion, turning information into shared experiences that connect and inspire.
• Master the Rhythm of Engagement: Discover how pacing, pauses, and storytelling flow can sustain audience attention and prevent “message fatigue” - the communication equivalent of an overplayed track or not enough recovery tracks.

In today’s era of disruption, emotions can run high and technical information can be overlooked with the swipe of a finger. For communicators faced with sharing complex, technical information on emotionally charged topics, building audience trust and confidence is critical to organizational success. Now consider that your topic is the safe, long-term storage of nuclear waste. In this session, attendees will learn how the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is tackling this challenge, including insights from the 2025 Silver Leaf Award winning communications and community relations strategy, which helped the organization to successfully navigate finding willing host communities to be the future home of a deep geological repository for radioactive waste.

• Understand how to use continuous monitoring to assess sentiment and adapt communications: Hear how the NWMO used continuous monitoring and analysis of community sentiment to develop community focused, proactive communication strategies
• Takeaway actionable and practical approaches to empowering communities: Practical approaches to empowering local communities and integrating their voices into communications including co-creating content with Indigenous Knowledge holders, deploying diverse engagement tools, providing fact-based information and addressing critical voices respectfully.
• Learn techniques to build trust on emotional and technical topics: How to effectively communicate complex, technical information to counter misinformation and disinformation using fact-based explainers, transparency, local community voices and direct engagement.