Professional Speechwriters Association

REGISTRATION IS OPEN. Only 19 seats remain. Smart exec comms pros are becoming AI savvy. Smart exec comms *leaders* are becoming AI proof, by learning how to think more strategically, influence their organizations more profoundly and help their executives navigate our unruly cultural, political and economic sea. They do that at Leadership Communication Academy, the only certificate course designed specifically for executive communication leaders. Led by renowned leadership communication coach and teacher Helio Fred Garcia, this rigorous course teaches executive communication professionals how to apply the principles of strategy to help their senior leaders advance an organization’s goals. You’ll learn how to: • Think clearly and strategically about every challenge you confront and opportunity that presents itself • Define desired outcomes and organize communication to achieve them • Deeply understand audiences and what it takes to change their behavior • Use language more effectively to provoke behavioral change • Enhance your ability to become a trusted advisor to all the leaders you serve Register now to secure your seat. https://lnkd.in/g8DtUez6

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN AN *AI WORKING GROUP* of exec comms colleagues who want to get good at this, together? A number of participants in our September webinar, “AI for Speechwriting and Executive Communication,” asked for ongoing support, collaboration and workshopping, as we all work to integrate AI strategically and ethically into our work in leadership communications. There are still a few slots left in this small collegial cadre who will gather monthly (and collaborate spontaneously) with our lead AI instructor Brent Kerrigan and one another—to get better at AI, to keep up with new developments, to find innovative applications. The vision: By the end of 2026, participants in this working group will be among the most AI-savvy practitioners in the leadership comms business. Costs $1,995 to join for the year; first come, first served. (PSA members get 25% off) For more information, write to Jen Mazurek, at jen.mazurek@prorhetoric.com.

FOR SPEECHWRITING, CEOs PREFER AI to working with "a top-tier communications professional," a new survey says. (Or does it?) https://lnkd.in/gG8pZnnM

AN ALL-NEW COURSE FOR ALL EXEC COMMS PROS ... LinkedIn posts. Video scripts. Talking points. Social posts. Employee emails. Investor call scripts. Briefing docs. The variety of exec comms writing has risen just as fast as the stakes—and, the degree of difficulty. Let one of the world's leading lights in exec comms—longtime Walmart CEO comms chief Jerry Wohletz —make your writing faster, better, stronger. "No matter how good an exec comms writer you are now, you’ll leave this course wondering how you did this job before you took it," says Executive Director David Murray, "and maybe a little annoyed at us, for not having offered it sooner." Register yourself, register your whole team, to get MUCH better in four short sessions. (PSA members get 25% off) https://lnkd.in/g8uEpNjy

*Point of Privilege Post* DO COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS MAKE BETTER PARENTS? I allow myself to hope we make more eloquent ones, anyway. And that's my first qualification for writing “Soccer Dad,” described by the publisher as “the story of a soccer-ignorant, sports-ambivalent writer who saw his daughter from the kiddie leagues through the travel-sports gauntlet to a coveted Division I scholarship. And then realized his work had only begun.” I wrote this book not just for soccer parents, but for all sports parents … and really, all parents of talented kids—parents who must ask themselves every day: “How do you guide without steering, motivate without pushing, and protect without smothering? And how do you learn from other parents—their good instincts, and their bad?” Called “wise and funny and wonderful in every way” by Jonathan Eig, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King, “Soccer Dad” is out in April 2026 from Disruption Books. It’s available for pre-order now wherever books are sold, and I hope my fellow communicator parents will show faith in a colleague and order your copy today. https://lnkd.in/gXp-eXD3

FOMO IS A MOFO. Attend last week's PSA World Conference in arrears, through this photo scrapbook. More coherent thoughts from me later this week (I hope). https://lnkd.in/gCAXaxhy

HIGHER ED LEADERS ARE TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER. So must the people who help them communicate. Join your colleagues for an important conversation at a critical moment in higher ed, and learn: • How to develop and nurture a relationship with your president that will allow you to navigate anything and everything--together. • Lessons for working with a chief of staff--from a comms VP turned chief of staff. • AI: How higher ed writers should be using it. And how they shouldn't. • The state of the art in president's statements: institutional restraint, in policy and practice. • The state of the art of commencement addresses, and how to meet the moment. • The president's role in fundraising. • How to prep yourself and your leaders for what's next: The closest thing to a communicator's crystal ball. • And how to handle the higher-ed perma-crisis without losing your perspective, your spirit, and your sense of humor. (PSA members get 25% off.) https://lnkd.in/gAFmN5NG

NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER for World Conference Webcast. Don't miss out on next week's crucial conversation. Registration deadline, midnight Friday. (PSA members get 25% off) https://lnkd.in/eWFGdH3

REGISTRATION DEADLINE, midnight tonight. https://lnkd.in/eWFGdH3

NOW AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND. Catch up with your peers who took this course live. Enhance your value as a professional by using AI to get better and faster at: • Research • Writing and Editing • Strategic Executive Communication (PSA members get 25% off) https://lnkd.in/g9JYUCYR