Catalyst 2025: The Must-Reads, Must-Listens, and Can’t Miss Takeaways

This year brought change to the communication profession, from the growing role of AI to evolving expectations around culture and leadership. Communicators were asked to adapt, clarify, and lead through complexity. Throughout 2025, authors and thought leaders across the IABC community shared their experiences, strategies, and perspectives, helping peers navigate these challenges and shape the way the profession works today.

The Articles Everyone Talked About

1. 5 Ways to Boost Your Internal Communications With Behavioral Science, by Mel Loy, SCMP
2. State of Comms 2025: Industry Reports Highlight AI Impact, Surge in Grievance, Mismatched Employee Expectations, and More, by the IABC Professional Development & Content Committee
3. Drawing the Line: What Communications Is — And Isn’t, by Tanya Pikula
4. Starting Out as a Senior Consultant: An Action Plan, by Ashley Dennison
5. Change Fatigue Is Real — Here’s How Comms Professionals Can Fix It, by Soumik Roy, CMP, PMP, CCMP
6. Tech Grows But Human Touch Prevails: 10 Lessons From IABC World Conference 2025, by IABC Staff
7. Building a Strategic Internal Communications Team From the Ground Up, by Christine Clayton
8. Shaping the Future: How Communicators Drive AI Strategy, by Caterina Valentino, Ph.D., MBA, MPA
9. What Is Strategy, Really? Lessons From Award-Winning Communications Planning, by Dawn De La Torre, featuring Therésa Lee, SCMP, Mirko Petricevic, CMP
10. Missing the Point and 5 Things That Will Get Your Internal Comms Back on Target, by Mike Klein, IABC Fellow

Podcasts That Shaped the Conversation

These episodes offered practical takeaways and gave listeners a front-row seat to the thinking that’s moving the profession forward:

1. C-Suite POV: Moody’s Christine Elliott on Modernizing the Communications Function
2. Culture Leaks When Leaders Speak: Shane Hatton on the Communicator’s Role in Workplace Culture
3. Thrivers, Strivers, and Survivors: Gallagher’s Chris Lee Returns to Talk Internal Comms
4. In Under 10: Indigenous-Led Methods for Authentic Connection With Juli Holloway
5. In Under 10: What’s Really Holding Communicators Back?
6. Why Authenticity Matters in the Age of AI, Featuring Tim Johnson of UPRAISE

Through these contributions, the IABC community shared what they were learning, testing, and rethinking, helping communicators make sense of change and move their work forward with intention.

Interested in contributing to Catalyst? Send an email to catalyst@iabc.com.

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