Hey Reader,
Last month, I did something I should have done ages ago. I stopped reading endless articles about how people could use AI and started investing more time in finding out how comms teams are actually using AI.
And jeepers, that was time well spent.
Because while everyone online is debating whether AI is going to save us or destroy us, and others are arguing about the theory and the semantics and the details, there are smart comms teams out there who are moving quietly and actually USING AI in their work (rather than just debating it). I’m discovering many comms teams who are using different AI tools in different ways all with the same broad goal: to make their work sharper, better and more strategic.
My unfair advantage
Here's the thing about me: I’m super lucky because as a comms consultant I get to peek inside dozens of different companies and see what they’re actually doing. I’ve always thought that internal comms is quite a secretive industry; I mean compare it to working in another field like marketing, for example. If you work in marketing and you want to know what other marketers are doing, you can get a good view of it by looking at their advertisements, their social media, their comms to customers and prospects, their lead magnets like webinars or reports.
But internal comms is different, isn’t it? You can’t easily get a peek into what other companies are doing. They tend to keep it quiet and in-house. This is where I can help you; I DO get to look inside tons of different companies. They pay me to be professionally nosy. And I get to see beyond the polished LinkedIn posts or the carefully selected case studies. I get to see the real stuff; the messy experiments, the surprising wins, the ideas and tools that are genuinely changing how communicators do their job to achieve great results.
I'm basically flying at helicopter height, watching patterns emerge across all these different organisations. And I'm seeing some fascinating things.
Like the comms manager who is using AI to map and analyse her stakeholders ahead of communicating an idea she needs them to support. Or the team using AI to analyse hundreds of employee survey responses in minutes, spotting themes that would have taken weeks to find manually.
These aren't people who've transformed their entire workflow overnight. They've been experimenting and trying new things and have landed on smart, specific ways to use AI that make their jobs genuinely easier.
I'm sharing my favourite examples in a free masterclass on December 9th. Why not join me?
The mindset that makes it work
And there’s something I keep noticing, too, beyond the tactics and the execution. The communicators getting real value from AI have a different mindset. They don't treat AI simply as a content creation tool that can churn out endless outputs or assets. They treat it like a thinking partner or like a junior member of the team who has enthusiasm for getting involved in any project.
For example, instead of asking AI to write draft blogs or articles, they're using it to explore different angles, test message clarity, adapt the tone of voice for specific audiences and make their call-to-action clearer. Then they bring their expertise to shape the output. This helps them to produce better work more efficiently and they can spend more time on strategic, creative work and less time on manual tasks a robot can help with.
Want to see what I'm seeing?
I want to share what I’m seeing and give you some inspiration on how you too can use AI in all sorts of different ways in your work.
I’m partnering with my friends in Workvivo to run a free masterclass on this for you. Join me on December 9th at 4pm GMT / 11am EST and I’ll share my favourite examples of how internal comms professionals are actually using AI right now.
Real use cases, real scenarios, real results and real approaches you can adapt for your own work. I'll talk about ways that comms pros are using AI that go beyond writing drafts or creating content; we’ll look at comms planning, implementation and even measurement & evaluation.
I’ll give you my best tips and advice on how to make AI useful instead of just another overwhelming tool or an extra chore on your already busy to-do list. And of course I’ll share practical examples that you can borrow for your own work.
This masterclass is totally free for you to attend, so what are you waiting for? Register now to save your spot.
If you can't make it live, no stress, you can still sign up and you'll get the recording afterwards.
My take is this: AI is moving fast. And some comms teams are keeping pace and figuring out how to use it well. They're not waiting around for someone to tell them the "right" way to do it. They're experimenting, learning and adapting and we can all learn from them.
Join me on December 9th and I'll show you exactly what's working.
Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Joanna
PS Register for the event here and I'll see you in the chat.
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Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book​
Want to work together?
- Join The Curious Tribe. This is my membership community for ambitious, curious communicators who want to achieve more in their roles and have fun at the same time. Membership allows you to work directly with me for 12 months, make deep connections with other communication pros who 'get it' and improve your skills through training and learning. More info here.
- Ready to review your channels and content but don't know where to start? Download my practical Internal Comms Audit Playbook to guide you through a DIY audit - no expensive consultant needed.​ This has ready-to-use templates and checklists to give you a systematic way to do your own audit which you can repeat every single year. Get it here.
- Take a shortcut. I've developed a collection of tried-and-tested templates, checklists and how-to guides for the key processes you'll need in your role as an internal communicator. You can download my Internal Comms Cheat Sheets here.​
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