Back-to-School, Back-to-Basics: A Communications Refresher

By Stephanie Sampson

Big Sky Public Relations Senior Account Executive

Every fall, classrooms across the country get a fresh start. Students crack open new notebooks, meet new teachers, and set new goals. For communications teams, the back-to-school season is a perfect reminder to reset, refresh, and make sure our strategies are ready for the year ahead.

At Big Sky PR, we believe communications work is never “done.” Like students, we’re constantly learning, adjusting, and improving. Here’s our back-to-school guide for sharpening your comms skills, grounded in research and field-tested by our team.

Do Your Homework (Audience Research Matters)

Remember how your teacher used to say, “Do your homework or you’ll fall behind”? The same rule applies to communications. Skipping audience research can leave your messages feeling generic or, worse, completely irrelevant.

Good audience research isn’t a one-and-done exercise, it’s an ongoing assignment. People change. Communities change. Even the best strategy from last year might be out of date today.

Here’s how to ace this homework:

● Revisit your audience profiles: Dust off those stakeholder personas or create new ones. Include what motivates them, their concerns, and how they prefer to get information.

● Ask questions: Host a short online poll, add a quick survey to your newsletter, or interview a handful of stakeholders directly. Sometimes a 10-minute conversation reveals more than months of guesswork.

● Look at the data: Review website analytics, social media insights, and past event attendance. Which posts, topics, or times of day got the most attention? That’s your cheat sheet for what resonates.

● Map your audiences: Visualize who your key groups are, how they’re connected, and who the influencers are. This helps you see where to focus first.

When you really know your audience, you can meet them where they are. With messages they truly care about, in the formats they’re most likely to read or watch.

Participate in Class (Invite Dialogue, Don’t Just Lecture)

Try to remember the classes where the teacher just talked at you for an hour. Talk about a snooze-fest. The best classrooms are the ones where you could raise your hand, ask questions, and shape the discussion. Your communications should work the same way with less monologue, more dialogue.

When you open the door to two-way communication, you’re not just sharing information, you’re building relationships. People feel heard, valued, and more likely to support your project or initiative.

Here’s how to keep it interactive:

● Host live sessions: Try Facebook Live Q&As, virtual town halls, or Instagram Stories polls where you can respond to questions in real time.

● Create space for feedback: Add a “questions corner” or comment form to your website and then be sure you follow up with answers.

● Use quick, fun polls: Include one-question surveys in your newsletters or social posts. Even a simple yes/no question can boost engagement.

● Show you’re listening: Share back what you heard. Post “you asked, we answered” updates so people know their input is shaping decisions.

Making your outreach a two-way street doesn’t just improve participation, but it builds trust and turns stakeholders into partners. Two-way communication can boost stakeholder trust by up to 76% (Edelman Trust Barometer). That’s a major win for engagement and long-term support.

Use Your Planner (Stay Organized)

When it comes to communications, organization is everything. Whether you’re juggling homework assignments, planning a major event, or rolling out a six-month engagement campaign… a well-organized plan saves time, reduces stress, and ensures that nothing slips through the cracks.

One of the most powerful tools in your organizational toolkit is a content calendar. Think of it as your roadmap: it outlines what messages you’re sharing, who you’re talking to, and when you’ll be talking to them. Instead of scrambling at the last minute for ideas, you and your team can see the big picture at a glance, which keeps everyone aligned and focused.

Pro Tips:

● Build your calendar to include key dates, project milestones, deadlines, and any recurring tasks.

● Revisit and adjust your plan monthly. Flexibility is key when priorities shift.

Speak Up Clearly (Clarity Builds Confidence)

If students can’t hear or understand the teacher, they tune out. Stakeholders are the same way. Clarity isn’t just about volume; it’s about making sure your message lands and sticks.

Start by using plain, conversational language. Drop the jargon and technical terms that make people work too hard to follow along. Lead with the “why.”  Explain why the message matters, why a change is happening, why people should care. This should be done before you get into the details of the “what” or the “how.” When you give context first, you invite your audience to lean in rather than check out.

Another secret? Keep it short and structured. Chunk your message into bite-sized, easy-to-digest pieces. Use headings, bullets, or numbers if needed. And repeat key takeaways across multiple channels because repetition builds understanding.

Pro Tips:

● Test your message: if you can’t explain it in a single sentence to someone outside the project, rewrite it.

● Record yourself saying your main message out loud. If it sounds stiff or complicated, simplify it until it sounds natural.

● Use visuals (infographics, photos, quick videos) to make your point faster than words alone.

● The average attention span is just 8.25 seconds. That’s shorter than a goldfish. The clearer and more concise your message, the more likely it will break through the noise and be remembered.

Make It Visual (Because No One Likes a Boring Lecture)

Even the best lessons are forgettable if they’re bland and the same goes for your communications. People process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, which means pairing your words with strong visuals isn’t just a nice touch, it’s essential.

Think beyond stock photos. Compelling visuals tell a story. Use graphics, infographics, maps, charts, or even short videos and GIFs to make complex information simple and memorable. For example, if you’re announcing a new project phase, a quick progress graphic can show an at a glance view of where you are, what’s next, and why it matters.

When used consistently, visuals also build trust and recognition. A cohesive look and feel consists of same fonts, colors, and logo placement. This helps your audience instantly know the message is coming from you.

Pro Tips:

● Use visuals to highlight one key takeaway per slide, post, or page.

● Keep text minimal. Your audience should be able to “get it” in under five seconds.

● Repurpose visuals across channels: that infographic you made for a meeting can become a social media carousel or a flyer.

Recess Is Important (Build in Breathing Room)

Just like kids need recess to reset and refocus, your communications campaigns need built-in breaks. Running at full speed without pause almost guarantees burnout for you, your team, and your audience.

Instead of cranking out content nonstop, schedule intentional “pause points.” These are moments in your plan to step back, measure progress, and ask key questions:

● Are we reaching the right audience?

● Which messages are resonating, and which are falling flat?

● Are we overloading our audience, or leaving them wanting more?

These pauses also give your team space to regroup, brainstorm fresh ideas, and adjust strategy before charging ahead. Think of them as pit stops; they keep the campaign running smoothly and prevent wasted effort.

Pro Tips:

● Build check-ins into your content calendar every 4–6 weeks.

● Use quick surveys, social listening, or web analytics to see what’s working.

● At Big Sky PR, we celebrate small wins during these pauses. You should too! It keeps morale high and energy up.

Report Cards Matter (Measure and Share Results)

Just like students need report cards, your stakeholders need to know if your efforts are working. Measuring results isn’t just about data, it’s about building trust and showing accountability.

Start by deciding which metrics matter most for your campaign. This might include:

● Engagement rates on social media (likes, shares, comments).

● Survey participation and feedback scores.

● Media hits and earned coverage.

● Website traffic and time spent on key pages.

● Event attendance or sign-ups.

Once you have the data, don’t keep it hidden in a spreadsheet. Share it widely. Regularly reporting results keeps your team motivated, shows progress to decision-makers, and helps stakeholders feel involved in the process. Even if the results aren’t perfect, transparency builds credibility and helps guide smarter decisions next time.

Pro Tips:

● Turn your data into a simple visual report (charts, graphs, or infographics) so it’s easy to digest.

● Pair numbers with a short narrative that explains why the results matter and what’s next.

● Celebrate successes publicly. A quick “look what we accomplished together” post goes a long way in boosting community morale.

Be the Teacher’s Pet (Over-Communicate with Clients and Stakeholders)

Strong relationships keep projects running smoothly.

Send regular updates, even if there’s nothing big to report. It builds trust and helps everyone feel in the loop.

Final Bell: Keep Learning

Communications isn’t a “set it and forget it” profession. Like school, it’s a place where we keep growing, keep experimenting, and keep striving to be better. This fall, sharpen your pencils, update your plan, and set yourself up for straight A’s in stakeholder engagement.