Exec Comms Isn’t Just for the CEO: Here’s how to Scale It Across the Org (Expert Advice)

When most people think of exec comms, they picture a CEO stepping up to the microphone. 

But what if your company’s most powerful advocates aren't just in the corner office? What if your CTO, CPO, or even your Chief AI Officer could help shape your brand's narrative, inside and out?

We’ll be getting into all of that in today’s Q&A with our guest expert Lizzy Harris, CEO at The Colab, a PR & comms agency for high growth tech companies. 

Lizzy has loads of experience helping companies scale executive comms beyond the CEO. From coaching technical leaders to managing delicate internal politics, she's seen firsthand what it takes to build a bench of strong, strategic voices across an organization. 

In this interview, we explore the real challenges — message dilution, CEO ego, media readiness and training — and the smart, scalable solutions that comms pros can use to scale exec comms.

P.S. We’re capturing all our experts' insights via Leaps, the Expertise to Content platform. At Leaps, we believe in amplifying real human expertise and experience, and that’s what this content series is about. We’re sharing the experience and expertise of experts in PR, brand, and marketing like Lizzy.

Aligning messaging across different leaders

Q: When exec comms are scaled beyond the CEO, how do you prevent message dilution or misalignment across different leaders in the organization? 

A: Message dilution and misalignment occur long before a spokesperson decides to start interviewing with the media. 

Aligning on messaging is a key component, not only in working with the press, but also for internal buy-in and alignment. 

Your entire team — from the C-suite to the interns — needs to be bought in on the messaging, value prop, and areas to avoid.

Different spokespeople will approach topics with varying experiences, expertise, and perspectives. For example, a CTO will likely be talking to more technical publications and audiences, whereas a CEO will be speaking to broader business outlets. 

Therefore, it’s important to understand how to tailor and adapt your narrative for various audiences while maintaining the same core message.

To do this effectively, conduct spokesperson interviews upfront to understand the unique perspective, candor, media-readiness, and experience of everyone on your speaker bench. 

Once you have honed in on their specific expertise, you can more appropriately book media opportunities that work with their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

Picking the right voices to amplify

Q: What criteria or signals do you use to decide which leaders are ready or right to represent the organization externally?

A: Most publications only want to speak with VP titles and above. Beyond the CEO, the most alluring facets of the business are tech (CTO/VP of Technology), Product (CPO, VP of Product), Engineering, HR, and Marketing. Most media will not want to speak with sales titles. Another hot title right now is Chief AI Officer or similar.

Once you have the right titles identified within the organization, it’s up to the PR expert to vet each on their ability to eloquently speak with the media. 

Some spokespeople will be more “media-ready” than others. So conduct media training with executives where necessary, and determine which spokespeople are better suited for written opportunities like bylines or written Q&As vs. live interviews with the reporter.

Building a culture of communicators

Q: From your experience, how do you think internal comms teams can introduce a culture where multiple executives are expected to communicate strategically? 

What barriers have surprised you the most during this shift, if any, and how can comms pros deal with them?

A: This initiative often comes from the top down. CEOs need to encourage other executives and higher-ups within their organization to be a mouthpiece for the company. 

Internal comms teams can present executives with various media opportunities to showcase how a robust and well-rounded media approach can yield a higher volume of meaningful coverage for the business.

The biggest issue I see when attempting to broaden a speaker bench is the CEO not wanting other executives within the company to speak on behalf of the organization. 

Regardless of the reasoning behind this, it will require the comms expert to do a significant amount of education and managing-up to showcase the benefits of multiple spokespeople and the cost of reserving media opportunities for just the CEO.

Skills every comms pro needs to scale exec comms

Q: What overlooked skills or tactics help comms pros scale exec comms effectively?

A: Every comms pro needs to be an expert at media training and managing up. Broadening the speaker bench can be a stressful endeavor for executives, so it’s on the comms pros to make it as straightforward and seamless as possible. 

Identify every potential speaker within the organization. From there, determine every topic, trend, or theme appropriate for that executive to speak to. 

Ensure this encompasses media, publications, and reporters, as well. Then present media opportunities that showcase the value of the final hit, inclusive of the narrative they will be delivering.

Turning technical leaders into compelling storytellers

Q: How do you coach technical or operational leaders who aren’t natural communicators?

A: This, partly, has to do with targeting the right publications and reporters for this specific executive. 

Some executives will simply never be a fit for a live interview with the media and are better suited for written opportunities. 

For those who could be appropriate for spoken opportunities, execs need to be coached on delivering their specific message in a way that the broader public can understand. 

This will take several sessions of recorded media training and mock interviewing, in which the executive is tasked with conveying the narrative in layman's terms.

Specific, actionable feedback is key in ensuring the comfort of more technical executives. It’s also important to remember that practice makes permanent, so the more prepped a spokesperson is, the more you’ll be able to ensure success once an interview is surfaced.

Scaling exec comms doesn’t happen overnight

Scaling exec comms beyond the CEO doesn’t happen overnight. It takes thoughtful planning, clear guardrails, and consistent encouragement from the top.

As Lizzy pointed out, media training helps. So does finding the right opportunities for each exec and showing the value of a well-rounded speaker bench.

With the right prep and internal support, you can have more leaders in your organization stepping up and sharing their story, not just the CEO.

Related:

— Executive Thought Leadership: How Content & PR Experts Do It (With Examples)

— How Do You Measure The Impact Of Your Exec's Thought Leadership?