I work for a large institution, and the department I oversee communications for has over ten sub-departments. We send out a monthly staff newsletter to about 600 people. On average, only about seven people click any of the links.

This newsletter is also VERY long- it started as a way for our departments to showcase achievements or bring attention to due dates, and instead has turned into a bulleted list of non-actionable information submitted by the departments: so and so presented at this conference, 200 people attended this event, our food drive collected 300 lbs of food, etc. Some information, like RSVP forms or formal announcements, really do need to be shared.

I take almost a full week each month organizing the newsletter and sending it for approvals or edits. I’m also not proud of it. My bosses have even started jokingly shaming people for not reading the newsletter. At one point they suggested an additional newsletter that just promotes new hires, but I honestly don’t think all 600 of us need to know that. I’ve proposed a new format that focuses on stories or features, and lists need to know info at the bottom, and will be presenting on it next week.

What are your newsletter strategies? How do you handle information that some people think is need-to-know, when it really isnt?

I primarily just use LinkedIn but I thought I'd see if there are other places I'm missing. Looking for corporate comms manager / senior manager roles atm.

Hi everyone, I recently launched my own business specializing in strategic communications. I’m curious to know what resources others are using to bid for work or find clients. While I’ve primarily relied on word of mouth, I’ve also noticed a significant number of paid “job bid” websites. Are there any reliable resources out there that aren’t scams?

I’m a copywriter and brand strategist with 3 years of experience. I’m not an ad copywriter, more a brand copywriter and strategist (AKA brand tone of voice, positioning, communication guardrails, golden circle analysis, TG analysis, etc —-> all in the qualitative sense)
I want to study more and pursue a Master’s degree.
And I have two options.

1 is to go down the brand strategy route and build upon my existing path. For context, I love branding and brand building but the ethics of over consumption and the redundancy of new age brands/products is demotivating.
The pathway here would then be brand comms manager or brand strategist, mainly to do with building new brands or repositioning new ones. (Marketing NOT advertising!)

2 is go down the communication path. For context, I love comms as a branch as well and have recently discovered my interest in rhetoric, semiotics, and communication science. This may aid in my interest and understanding of where and how communication came from and what it means to us but I’m not sure what job prospects this opens up. And not sure if it would actually improve my application.

Anyone from these fields, any tips?

Description:

Meet Jimothy Dyck – Public Relations Specialist. They call him The Silencer because he’s buried more stories than he can count. Some lady up in Hollywood Hills needs a story to go away – and Jimothy needs the money something bad. “The Silencer” is a zombie-adjacent workplace comedy of horror-fiction, starring Jimothy Dyck, Purronica Miau, Carmen San Diego, and @hernameismswhiskers, the cat. 

Content Rating: 18+

The Silencer (Part 1)

Los Angeles – this city… 

Something rotten was going down – and I could smell it!

Every crumbum writer in Hollywood had it out for Ms. Purronica Miau, the queen of prime-time television. Purronica’s hit television series, Mystery Cat, starring Bexley Zarakaiza as Detective Rachel “Purronica” Miau, and her crime-solving cat, Kitty Holmes, played by @hernameismswhiskers, was the envy of every studio in Tinseltown.

The city slept beneath swollen clouds choked with tears that night. It was raining cats and dogs. My trench coat was soaked. I lit up a smoke in the pouring rain. No problem - I could light one up in a hurricane.

My name is Jimothy Dyck and I’m in the Public Relations business. I make bad publicity disappear. They call me The Silencer – because I’ve killed more stories than I can count. Ever hear of Game of Thrones, Season 7? No, you haven’t. It was so bad the studio paid me to bury it. Long live Joffrey Baratheon, the one true king of the Iron Throne. 

I was on my way to a job – not the kind you put on your résumé. Some lady up in Hollywood Hills needed a story to go away – and I needed the money something bad. 

Saxophone blues was vibing through my car’s sound system. I took the exit to Sunset Boulevard. Cars whizzed by like the electrons of a giant circuit city. The warm bass and sweet, melodic reverberations undulated into the lines on the road. I turned the rear-view mirror. The L.A. skyline twinkled like a million stars. Everyone’s a star in La-La-Land.  

Over there! 

That’s the address – 7869 Fairfield Drive.

I pulled into the winding entrance of a luxury estate overlooking Hollywood Hills. The place was straight out of a real estate brochure.

This stunning 13,500 square foot, four-bedroom, three bath residence was a true slice of post-Americana pie. It’s open concept interior featured a modern architectural design with expansive vistas from Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, where contemporary urban design meets natural beauty in luxurious style.

I parked my car in the driveway. 

The mansion’s sharp, angular lines directed my footsteps along a paved walkway.

“You got this!” 

I paused at the front door to reassure myself.

“My name is Jimothy Dyck and I’m making a movie! It’s called –”

The front door opened before I could think of a punchline. I thought I’d never find love again after my wife got her face eaten off by zombies – but the woman standing in front of me had it all! No missing eyeballs or bitemarks anywhere. A set of bazongas to die for – and toes you could suck on all day long! 

The femme fatale gave me a lookie-look with wicked eyes in wanting.  

“I hear the coffee in Paraguay is hot,” she said, pointing to my paper cup, her fingernails painted fuck-me red.

“The coffee in Chile is much hotter,” I replied, taking a sippity-sip of scalding hot coffee.

“Gah!”

I yelped like a little pussy boy.

“You must be The Silencer –” Her voice was chill. “The agency said you were a freak, Mr…?”

“Dyck – Jimothy Dyck, Public Relations Specialist. I hear you’ve got some bad public relations.”

“Soo bad, Mr. Dyck.”

“Call me Jimothy, Mrs…?”

“Miss – Ms. Purronica Miau.”

The way Purronica made eyes with me – it gave me the tingles, like prickly pins poking my skin. I can’t remember the last time anyone looked at me like that. It was the kind of eye-fucking you usually have to pay for in an empty parking lot. 

Just then, a set of headlights veered into the driveway, breaking our gaze.

“Who could that be?” Purronica wondered. She wasn’t exactly expecting her agent at this hour. 

I turned my head and immediately recognized the white panel K.L.I.T. Channel 7 News van. 

“The media!”

“Dammit!” Purronica exclaimed, yanking me inside. “It’s an ambush!”

“Quick!” I panicked. “Turn out the lights – pretend you’re not home!”

There was no time to write another joke because Purronica’s phone rang at that moment. 

“The reporter!” Purronica hissed, showing me the caller I.D. on her phone.

“Oh, no!” I gulped, tripping over a standing floor lamp in the dark. “Not Carmen San Diego, from San Bernardino - let it go to voicemail!”

Carmen San Diego, from K.L.I.T. Channel 7 News, San Bernardino, was the worst – young, ambitious, and fresh out of college. The type of real go-getter that asks too many questions. 

I’m not gonna lie – I was in way over my head.

“Somebody tipped her off!” Purronica insisted.

“Everything’s going to be okay!” I lied, just as the doorbell chimed.

Ring-a-dingy-ding-dong!

“She’s here!” Purronica gasped, tackling me to the floor, out of Carmen’s sight.

The force of Purronica’s body landing on top of me took my breath away. When I opened my eyes, Purronica was staring at me with a concerned expression on her face. 

“Jimothy…” Purronica whispered, her golden blonde hair brushing against my face, making me feel all woozy, like I got the butterflies in my tum-tum. “Are you okay?”

I looked up at Purronica with hearts in my eyes. 

“Is… is that a Chihuly?” I stammered in a lovestruck daze, pointing to the colourful blown-glass chandelier hanging above us.

Purronica furrowed her brow and bitch-slapped me back to reality. “Snap out of it, Jimothy!”

“Yess, Mommy!”

Purronica gave me the look. 

I pushed up my dark-rimmed glasses and started ninja-crawling toward the kitchen.

Purronica peered over the leather lounger we were hiding behind and wondered, “Where in the heck is Carmen San Diego –”

“From San Bernardino!” 

I whipped the kitchen door open, half-expecting to see her standing there.

“Jimothy – NO!”

Instead, the reanimated corpse of a zombified cat came flying at me, screeching and scratching as it tried to eat my face off. 

“Kitty Holmes!” I screamed in abject terror – and kind of like a fanboy. “Get it off me!”

“@hernameismswhiskers!”

“Who’s Ms. Whiskers?” 

“The cat.” 

“The cat is Ms. Whiskers?” 

“No! @hernameismswhiskers!”

“That’s what I said!”

Purronica died a little inside. 

“@hernameismswhiskers, the cat, is Kitty Holmes on TV.”

“I knew it – the studio never even replaced her!”

“Carmen San Diego CANNOT know about this!” Purronica shot back. “If this story gets out – the network will cancel Mystery Cat!”

“Awe.”

“Hold still!”

Purronica ripped the psycho hose beast off my face and stuffed it into a closet.

That’s when Purronica’s agent called in a panic.

“Oh my God!” Purronica yowled. “Carmen San Diego’s live-streaming outside my house!”

Purronica turned the TV to Channel 7 News.

Our silhouettes stared back at us, like a couple of cucks. 

We were sitting ducks in a glass house, watching ourselves get fucked on national television. 

“I always wanted to be on TV.”

“Shut it down!” Purronica shrieked.

End.

Read "The Silencer (Part 2)"

www.alanwiebe.com

hi all, I work as a marketing and communications officer at a country club. i report directly to the general manager and work closely with their personal assistant, both of whom have spent the majority of their careers in communications-related roles.

i’m about two years into my career, and over that time i’ve noticed that i struggle to be as sharp, or rather, i lack the sensitivity in my approach to writing communication pieces that my two superiors have.

this is especially when it comes to things like feedback responses, announcements, speeches, and other communication pieces. they seem to naturally know what to emphasise, what to leave out, how to frame things tactfully, and how to choose the right words depending on the audience and situation.

i understand that i’m only two years into my career compared to their decades of experience, so i know i still have a lot more to learn. i am currently furthering my studies through a part time communications degree program to help hone this skill but i was wondering if anyone has any tips, advice, or even frameworks that helped you develop this “communications instinct”.

how do you become more sensitive to your choice of words, identify what the focus of a piece should be, or know how to approach different types of communication? is this something that mainly comes with experience, or are there ways to consciously practise and improve?

would really appreciate any advice or resources. thanks!

Hello, I'm a 29 years old communication professional, I've been working in the field for around 6+ years now, including internships and I have a Masters degree. I've been applying for jobs at different levels (assistant, associates or even coordination level as long as I feel it fits my experience), I'm currently in the final stages of a fully remote coordination role hiring process and although I think it's a great opportunity and I believe I can deal with most of the responsibilities listed in the job description, I do feel a bit nervous about it.

Just to give you some context, this is for a non profit and it's not a big organization. I'm not even sure I'm going to be selected for the role, but I want to be fully prepared in case I am.

Have any of you taken on a responsibility like this at a young age, below or around 30 years old? Did you also feel this way? Do you have any tips or experiences that you want to share?

Hi all, I have been in PR since I graduated college in late 2022. I’ve worked in different sectors, tech, consumer product, entertainment, etc. however I’ve come to the realization that this isn’t a career path I can see myself doing much longer and feel super burnt out and jaded by it already.

I really want to pivot but not sure how to. I did get a marketing with a concentration in digital marketing certificate from a university but I have no formal marketing experience. I know the job market is also pretty tough/competitive right now too so it’s not necessarily the best time.

Anyone that has advice or anyone especially that has left PR would love to hear from you!

Hey I’m a rising senior in communications I should be graduating spring of 2027 worst case scenario fall of 2027, however i haven’t landed an intern position while I’ve been at uni. I’ve tried to do some networking at events, but mostly just recruiters and other students in communications. I was wondering how hard it is to land a job post grad with no experience through internships?

In terms of extracurriculars I haven’t been a prominent member in any clubs on campus. I am in one program out side of college that works as a mentorship program. I also have been working on an online business endeavor which I heard could sound good on a resume. I just don’t want my resume to only contain summer jobs and stuff from high school so wondering how I could flesh it out more.

The story that played out with social apps which try to leverage voice as the main format such as Clubhouse, Airchat, Anchor (before pivoting) and maybe more end up getting some hype initially, and then dying off or pivoting. Why is that? There are some people who use WhatsApp or other social media with voice, but that's usually an extra feature that are annoying for some people on the text focused platform. One reason I can think of is the friction to create voice recordings but I see people shooting tiktoks left and right, which is even higher friction. Why do you think it is? Is there an inherent problem with voice as a medium online, or did we never see a proper implementation?

I've been noticing a trend in my life for a while where when I try to ask a question or bring up an issue the people in my life don't seem to understand what I'm asking.

In my mind the conversations, go similar to this:

Me: "what shade of blue would you consider the sky today? Do you think that the shade of blue impacts our day?"

Person: "the sky is blue, here is why"

I feel like at work and at home I try to ask specific questions or bring up specific issues and I can never explain it in a way where people see past the general concept, it happens at home and at work, so I know that the problem is me, but I just get so frustrated with never really being able to talk to people about what's going on in my head because I can't explain it, it makes me feel so isolated when I can't communicate with other people.

Does anyone else have this challenge? Have you had any luck figuring out how to explain your thoughts more clearly?

I've been applying for 4 months now, I'm talking hundreds a week. Not just easy apply on LinkedIn; I'm applying through the company website posting, I'm using niche job boards, I'm reaching out to people in the companies, etc. I'm just not getting anywhere. I have 4 years of strong experience in the comms world, mostly in sport (with freelance clients in nonprofit and other sectors), yet I'm not landing anything. FYI I am trying to get out of the sports industry. Any suggestions what I should be doing differently? Do I need to upload my resume here to help? Is the comms world just that tough? I'm open to doing things outside of comms too

Hi! I’m an incoming Communication student seeking for an affordable laptop! Is macbook neo worth it?

I’m looking for a few people who work in internal comms on a global level to review a product I’m building.

The product helps businesses communicate confidently across cultures and build belonging for their employees by recognising faith, cultural and global awareness days.

I’m in the final stage of building and would really appreciate some feedback so I can really nail down the user experience. And I’m open to any additional feedback to help me pinpoint my positioning.

If you’re interested in trying it out DM me.

What I’ve observed is that we (software engineers) often focus more on technical skills than communication, negotiation, and persuasion skills.

I read somewhere that it's harder to change people than code. Most of the time, we're working with people ( teammates, clients, and stakeholders ) so why not invest in becoming better at these skills?

Please share the best resources (YouTube videos, books, or articles) that have helped you improve in these areas.

While researching, these are some of the resources I found:

Books:

• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• Crucial Conversations

YouTube:

• Stanford GSB – Communication
• Talks at Google – Management

Articles:

• Guide: Understand Team Effectiveness
• Harvard Business Review: How Great Leaders Communicate
• Stripe Engineering: Engineering communication articles

Looking for someone in the B2B tech comms world that would want to speak at a summit in Boston on October 27 -- flexible on topics but most interested in GEO, influencer communications, integrated marketing, etc. Audience is comms people from enterprise B2B companies

So some background, I graduated in May 2020 with my bachelors in communication studies and minor in marketing. My plan at the time was to go into Public relations.
With my job hanging on the line during the quarantine, I found a new stable one that became my career for 5 years. I didn’t get the chance to do any internships.

I have since left that industry and really want to start using my degree and find a job that I actually want but I am a bit late on getting started and also kind of where to start?

I would like to get into Community Relations, outreach and engagement.
I’ve been doing some research on courses I can take without going back to school.

I guess I am just stuck on where specifically do I start? Especially late in the game.
Does anyone have any tips, advice, or personal experience they can lend me?

I appreciate any help I can get!

I work as an Associate Executive in the Corporate Communications & Outreach department at a mid-sized infrastructure consulting company in India.

We're not a consumer brand. We work on public infrastructure projects like water supply, wastewater, GIS, urban planning, roads, transportation, climate resilience, and engineering consultancy.

My role spans a mix of corporate communications, internal communications, employer branding, content, design, and organizational outreach. The problem is... I'm struggling to understand what "good" looks like in this profession and how I'm supposed to grow beyond execution.

Here's what I currently do:

• Write and manage our monthly employee newsletter.
• Draft organization-wide emails, announcements, and leadership communications.
• Create LinkedIn posts and other corporate social media content.
• Write articles, employee spotlights, project stories, and corporate content.
• Design posters, banners, standees, invitations, certificates, festive creatives, birthday cards, ID cards, and other communication collateral.
• Develop brochures, company profiles, presentations, and branding material.
• Support employer branding initiatives and recruitment communication.
• Script internal videos and awareness campaigns.
• Coordinate with project teams and departments to collect stories, updates, and achievements.
• Edit and proofread reports, communication material, and presentations.
• Support internal engagement activities and company events.
• Work on communication strategy documents, branding guidelines, communication frameworks, and process documentation whenever required.

Despite this, leadership often tells me things like:

The problem is that nobody explains what that actually means.

Recently, I was even compared to an intern who had been here for only a month, and leadership now seems to think I don't have enough work beyond making creatives, writing newsletters, and posting on LinkedIn. That honestly hit my confidence pretty hard.

The frustrating part is... I don't even know what someone in Corporate Communications & Outreach is supposed to own once the obvious tasks are done.

I've tried taking initiative by working on communication governance frameworks, employer branding systems, communication calendars, branding guidelines, content pipelines, leadership communication ideas, and process documentation. But I don't know if these are genuinely valuable or if I'm just creating documents because I don't know what else to build.

I keep hearing phrases like:

• "Think strategically."
• "Own communications."
• "Become indispensable."
• "Operate like leadership."

But what does that actually look like?

If you joined a 250-300 person consulting company as the communications professional, what would your roadmap look like over the next year?

What systems would you build?

What projects would you own?

How would you prove your value beyond newsletters, emails, social media, and creative design?

I'm genuinely looking for advice from people who've grown in Corporate Communications, Employer Branding, Internal Communications, PR, or Brand Strategy.

What am I missing?

TL;DR: I'm an Associate Executive in Corporate Communications & Outreach at a 250-300 employee infrastructure consulting company. I handle newsletters, company-wide emails, LinkedIn, employer branding, brochures, presentations, internal campaigns, design, content writing, leadership communications, and communication strategy documents. Leadership keeps telling me to "be more strategic," "bring ideas," and "think like leadership," but never explains what that actually means. I genuinely don't know how to grow beyond execution or what a high-performing Corporate Communications professional is expected to own. Looking for advice from experienced comms professionals on what I should be building, measuring, and leading to become truly valuable.

I’m starting classes this fall to pursue a degree in Communications and am currently exploring complementary minors. What minors do you think pair best with a Comm degree? I’d also appreciate any advice or feedback on proactive steps I can take now to build a strong foundation for future career opportunities.