The Best PR Happens Before There's a Story to Tell

Great communications doesn't just support business strategy. It helps shape it.

I've heard this phrase countless times over nearly 20 years in public relations and communications: "Can you help us figure this out?"

Sometimes it's a reporter asking difficult questions, an executive navigating a complicated decision, or a crisis unfolding with incomplete information. Other times, it's an ambitious idea nobody quite knows how to bring to life. And frankly, I love those assignments.

Communicators thrive in ambiguity. We connect dots across departments, navigate competing priorities, anticipate stakeholder reactions, and turn complicated situations into actionable plans. But experience has taught me there's an important distinction between being the person who can figure things out and being the strategic partner who helps determine what should happen in the first place. The best communications leaders need to be both.

When “figure it out” becomes the job

I've encountered plenty of moments when the communications playbook wasn't immediately obvious.

In crisis communications, I've learned the most important question is rarely, "What should we say?" It's usually, "What do we know, who is affected, and what are we going to do about it?" I've navigated situations involving evolving facts, competing priorities, and leadership needing clear recommendations quickly. Those experiences reinforced that the strongest crisis response begins long before a crisis occurs, through preparation, trusted relationships, and communications having a voice in decisions before they become reputational challenges.

Other assignments have been considerably more creative. At Vistaprint, I conceived and helped build Power Forward, a small-business grant program with the NAACP and Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. What began as an opportunity to connect a brand with the communities it served became a meaningful partnership supporting small-business owners. Communications wasn't simply responsible for announcing the initiative. We helped shape the program, identify partners, and create something worth talking about.

More recently, I confronted an entirely different challenge: What happens when AI starts telling your company's story for you? Traditional reputation management was no longer enough. Search results, earned media, thought leadership, owned content, and AI-generated answers were increasingly interconnected. Addressing that challenge required bringing together communications, digital, SEO, and reputation specialists to develop a more comprehensive strategy.

Different challenges, but one common thread: Communications wasn't simply translating someone else's strategy into words. We were helping develop the strategy itself.

The problem with being called in afterward

There's tremendous value in being known as someone who solves difficult problems. I pride myself on earning that reputation. But there's a risk when organizations view communications primarily as the function that makes decisions understandable, announcements compelling, or problems manageable after the fact. If PR first learns about a major business decision when someone requests talking points, a press release, or crisis response, we've missed an opportunity.

Communications leaders understand stakeholder expectations, public perception, organizational credibility, and the long-term consequences of business decisions. That perspective can influence everything from partnerships and product launches to employee engagement, and crisis preparedness.

As Axios reported in July 2026, communications leaders are increasingly evolving from translating executive priorities into becoming trusted advisers to CEOs. But earning that influence requires understanding the business well enough to contribute meaningfully when decisions are being made.

Reputation is built before the announcement

The need for early involvement becomes clearer when we consider how reputation forms today.

Edelman's 2026 Trust Barometer underscores the challenges organizations face building trust across divided audiences. Meanwhile, Muck Rack's 2026 research, analyzing more than 25 million AI-cited links, found that earned media and other nonpaid sources accounted for 84% of citations. (That's huge!)

Organizations are evaluated continuously through their actions, employee experiences, customer interactions, third-party reporting, and increasingly what AI systems surface about them. Communications can help shape that ecosystem, but credibility cannot be manufactured through messaging alone. Reputation requires consistent evidence of what an organization says, does, and delivers.

That means collaborating with Legal, HR, Marketing, Operations, Digital, and executive leadership early enough to influence decisions, not simply how they're presented.

From 'problem solvers' to 'strategic partners'

Resourcefulness and adaptability will always be essential communications skills. Some of my most rewarding work has involved walking into an unfamiliar challenge and helping build something that didn't exist before. But we should aspire to more than becoming exceptionally good at reacting.

The strongest communications functions anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, strengthen relationships, and help organizations make decisions that reinforce their long-term reputation. They don't need to own every business decision, but their perspective should inform the ones that matter.

The best time to bring in PR isn't when you need to explain a decision. It's when you're still deciding. Because sometimes the most valuable communications advice isn't about what to say. It's about what to do.