Effective communication relies on three core principles: clearly defining your goal, deeply understanding your audience, and consistently using data to listen and learn what resonates. This creates a powerful feedback loop for refining your message and strategy.
Don't default to your own channels. Stanford's communication team strategically evaluates if a story is best told through their platforms or pitched to journalists. Leveraging external media can provide greater reach, credibility, and impact than self-publishing.
The most critical step in crisis communication is preparation. Before a crisis hits, identify the top five most likely scenarios for your organization. Then, plan the necessary tools, people, and responsibilities to address them. This ensures you're managing curveballs, not basics, when pressure is high.
An essential but often overlooked role of a communications leader is to educate internal decision-makers. Don't assume your bosses have the same context you do. Proactively informing them ensures they make better decisions, which leads to stronger communication outcomes for the entire organization.
To encourage AI adoption, Stanford's comms team requires each member to set a personal AI goal. The focus is on learning and skill-building—from taking prompt-writing classes to daily integration—rather than a top-down mandate. This frames AI as a crucial future competency, boosting buy-in.
During a crisis, transparency is more valuable than certainty. It's better to communicate early and often with the information you have, even if that means admitting you don't have all the answers. People value truthfulness, and saying "we don't know yet" is a valid and crucial update.