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Every message you craft—whether in digital ads, social media, or other external communications—is an opportunity to influence decisions and drive action, sales, and exposure. But what makes messaging truly persuasive? This webinar breaks down the psychology of influence and behavioral science to help you create more compelling, effective communications. Walk away with actionable strategies to refine your messaging, increase engagement, and drive results—skills you can apply immediately to elevate your organization’s external presence. Learning Outcomes: Understand the psychology of influence and persuasion and how to use these in external communications Explore the 3 Basic Human Truths of change and decision making Apply key psychological principles in your communications role Read more

Attending IABC World Conference for the first time? Join us for a webinar designed to help you feel confident, prepared, and ready to make the most of your experience. This year’s theme, CONNECT, is all about building relationships and finding opportunities to engage with new ideas, new people, and your professional community. In this session, we’ll walk through what to expect at the conference, how to plan your schedule, and tips for navigating the event with ease. You’ll also hear from conference organizers who will share advice on how to make meaningful connections and get the most value out of your time. Whether you're attending solo or with a team, this session will help you feel ready to hit the ground running.  Read more

Welcome to the IABC Master Class: Advanced Digital Acumen for Business Communicators.  This 3-part advanced webinar series, led by Dr. Lilian Ajayi-Ore, Ed.D, Lecturer and Research Scholar at Columbia University, is designed for seasoned professionals aiming to excel in digital communication. An award-winning Chief Learning Officer, Data Scientist, and Marketing Executive with over 17 years of experience, Dr. Ajayi-Ore has collaborated with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, driving business growth through innovative digital strategies. In this interactive series, she will guide participants through cutting-edge digital communication techniques, audience engagement strategies, organizational digital transformation, and sophisticated performance measurement tools. Central to the course are The Hawke Method and Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), both of which will be integrated with broader concepts in digital strategy and transformation to create a well-rounded learning experience. Upon completion, participants will earn a certificate and leave with actionable insights for immediate implementation. Session Dates & Times:  17 July 2025, 11:00-12:00 PM CT 24 July 2025, 11:00-12:00 PM CT 31 July 2025, 11:00-12:00 PM CT This course requires pre-work. Please view the "pre-work" module upon registering  Read more

Navigating Accessibility Compliance: A Guide for Communicators Worldwide with Matisse Hamel-Nelis and Lisa Riemers As digital spaces become the primary communication stage, accessibility has become essential for all professional communicators. This webinar is here to help you confidently navigate global accessibility laws and ensure your digital content is open to everyone—across social media, websites, videos, and more. This session simplifies the most important accessibility regulations, from the ADA, AODA, and European Accessibility Act to WCAG guidelines and PDF/UA standards, translating legal language into clear, actionable steps. You’ll leave equipped with a toolkit of compliance strategies, real-world examples, and best practices tailored to your work. Join us to make accessibility a powerful part of your communication strategy. This isn’t just about staying compliant—it's about building a culture of inclusivity, reaching wider audiences, and leading the way in accessible digital storytelling. Three Session Takeaways: Understand essential global accessibility regulations and their impact on digital communications. Learn practical steps for ensuring accessible, compliant content across social media, websites, videos, and documents. Take home a toolkit of best practices to embed accessibility into your communication strategy, broadening reach and fostering inclusivity. Brought to you by the IABC DEI Committee Read more

Are you a business communicator struggling to translate your company’s expertise into impactful thought-leadership content? Do you find yourself wrestling with blank-page syndrome, stuck in endless revision loops, or spending hours trying to make your subject-matter experts’ ideas shine? You’re not alone. Our masterclass, Using AI to Boost Your Thought Leadership, is designed to help you overcome these barriers and transform your thought-leadership content. Led by Rhea Wessel, founder of the Institute for Thought Leadership, this three-part course will show you how to wield AI tools not just as shortcuts, but as genuine partners in the creative process—tools that can dramatically improve the way you conduct research, generate ideas, and turn insights into publishable pieces. Why You Need This Course  AI isn’t here to replace writers. It’s here to help you write smarter, faster, and more strategically. Imagine being able to consistently produce fresh, thought-provoking articles that resonate with your audience and elevate your brand, without compromising quality. Whether you’re looking to enhance your own writing or get better results out of your subject-matter experts, this masterclass will equip you with the strategies you need to succeed. Who Should Attend?  This course is perfect for communications professionals, content strategists, and anyone responsible for thought-leadership content who wants to break through creative blocks and get better results out of their time and resources. With expert guidance from Rhea Wessel and team member James McCabe, you’ll leave each session armed with new skills, fresh ideas, and a clear pathway to producing thought-leadership content that positions your organization as a true leader in its field. Ready to take your thought leadership to the next level? Sign up now and unlock the power of AI to transform your communication strategy and elevate your brand! Rhea Wessel is an American writer and thought-leadership strategist who helps people grow their business by creating and publishing thought leadership.  Offering fractional thought-leadership services, she and her team advise and train on ideation, messaging, AI writing and how to find and articulate your best ideas.  As a journalist, she wrote thousands of stories on hundreds of topics and was published in outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BBC. As a writer for companies, she has penned and edited thousands more stories across 30 industries. Rhea founded and leads The Institute for Thought Leadership, a B2B training and consulting company that helps clients take their ideas to scale with thought-leadership publishing, research and programs. Her book, Write Like a Thought Leader, was published in 2022. Rhea’s next book, “Thought Leadership for Small Firms: How to use AI to punch above your weight” will be available in early 2025. She is a regular contributor on thought leadership for organizations for Forbes.com. Read more

In this course, you will learn what IABC specifically looks for in evaluating award entries allowing for consistent application and interpretation of criteria across our large number of evaluators.  As an evaluator, you are not setting the standards or criteria for the awards. You are scoring entries based on the criteria in the Evaluating Excellence Guide and providing feedback to entrants using your expertise. While this course is designed for the evaluation of IABC Gold Quill awards, it can be used to train evaluators for all types of IABC awards. Read more