Public Trust Starts on the Inside: Earning the Buy-In from Your Team

A critical incident has occurred, your team is in crisis mode, and the public demands answers. To ensure the credibility of your message, trust must first be built internally. Brand management is a collective effort—every member of your agency plays a role, whether they realize it or not. This session will explore strategies for public information officers (PIOs) to cultivate internal trust, secure team-wide buy-in, and develop an external communications strategy that starts from within. Participants will learn how to align public relations goals with agency values, identify internal influencers, and keep personnel engaged in the mission. That internal foundation becomes essential when facing a critical incident, recruitment cycle, or emergency—because in those moments, trust is invaluable.