Be Human: Why Strategic Communications Professionals Are More Valuable Than Ever
By Victoria Crockford
2 February 2026
The first month of 2026 set the scene. A US military operation capturing Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro, Trump administration threats to seize Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, escalating tensions with Iran, and European leaders scrambling to defend sovereignty and NATO cohesion. Academics call this confluence of disruptions the "polycrisis."
I call it having 100 browser tabs open while your screen has frozen.
And quite often, the tools of our communications trade are actively hindering our ability to decipher this noise, not helping us cut through it.
But strategic communications has a critical role to play in helping navigating communities and customers through noise and in responding to the eroding trust environment.
Facts Don't Change Minds (But Stories Do)
The influential Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 is out, and it is rather doom-laden. For those of us working with executives and decision-makers, the most worrying (but perhaps unsurprising) statistic is that fear that leaders lie to us is at an all-time high. Globally, 70% worry that government leaders purposely mislead people, 69% feel the same about business leaders, and 70% about journalists and reporters — up 11 points across the board since 2021.
In this context, it is tempting to sling facts at the problem. But when trust in institutions erodes, facts alone won't rebuild it. Nearly all research confirms what communications professionals instinctively know: our brains are wired for storytelling. From birth, we recognise patterns and make sense of information through narrative.
Yet "mythbusting" often persists as the default approach. It doesn't work. Not because facts should be absent, but because the challenge is getting facts to connect with people.
So how to connect? Consider Ngāi Tahu's Alpine Fault 8 preparation video, “Don’t be scared, be prepared!”
Rather than leading with seismic data and structural engineering specifications, they created a narrative-driven engagement featuring characters on a journey filled with excellent facts bundled into storytelling with humour and heart. The technical information lands because it's wrapped in something we're attuned to connect with.
Listen to Lead
A senior infrastructure leader recently commented to me that they were "completely jaded on engagement, none of it is working." This cynicism is understandable when outraged voices seem to halt those hard fought and well-evidenced strategies.
But the answer isn't less engagement — it's better facilitation. Structured conversation ensures diverse voices are heard and creates opportunity for active listening. Or listening to hear, not to respond.
The latest Trust Barometer shows people with high grievance are 2.3 times more likely to have zero-sum thinking — where what helps others comes at my cost. Facilitated face-to-face engagement becomes critical here, where it can be done safely.
Focus Relentlessly on Audience
Six in 10 people globally hold grievances against business, government, and the wealthy according to Edelman. These grievances manifest differently across demographic, which makes relentless audience focus critical.
Generic approaches fail because audiences are messy and unique. Our job is to meet this complexity and communicate in ways people can actually hear, see, or feel.
When 63% of people globally worry about discrimination (up 10 points in one year), designing inclusive engagement isn't optional — it's essential for reaching audiences where they are.
Be Nice to the Robots (But Stay Human)
AI is transforming our profession as profoundly as social media did 20 years ago. And it’s scary for a lot of people - for many good reasons. At Heft, we use AI every day. For productivity, for research, for administration, and –yes – to help structure articles!
But as neuroscientist Paul Zak reminds us: "Humans are just too complex for an algorithm to generate art."
Strategic communications professionals are translators and storytellers. In a world where 61% of people hold moderate to high grievances, where trust in employers declined globally, and where elections failed to improve trust in 11 of 13 countries — our skill is critical to the social fabric.
Use all the tools that can work in service of your communities and your sanity. But don't forget to BE HUMAN. Your humanity is more valuable than ever.
Adapted from a keynote presentation to the IAP2 Australasia New Zealand Symposium 2025 (now the Engagement Institute).