Most communications training teaches you how to communicate. Ours teaches you why people change — and how to design campaigns, presentations, and strategies that actually move them.
The Center for Public Interest Communications has trained foundation staff, federal agency officials, university faculty, nonprofit communicators, and researchers across sectors. Every program is built on the same foundation: peer-reviewed behavioral and social science, translated into frameworks and skills that practitioners can use the day they leave the room.
What makes this training different:
The communications field has no shortage of workshops on storytelling, messaging, and media relations. What it lacks is training grounded in evidence about how people actually form opinions, make decisions, and change behavior.
Our training draws on psychology, sociology, neuroscience, political science, and communications research to answer the questions most workshops skip: Why do some messages move people and others don’t? What makes a story change behavior rather than just create awareness? How do you identify the right actors, the right messengers, and the right moment for your campaign to land?
The frameworks we teach — including the Six Spheres of Influence, the Science of Story Building, and the Four Questions strategy guide — were developed at the Center and are grounded in decades of applied work on issues ranging from public health and climate to economic justice and civic participation.
This is public interest communications in practice.
We are currently redeveloping our public training programs. We’re currently offering self-paced certificate programs and custom training engagements. Stay tuned for updates to our training offerings soon…
Our strategic communications training can help you:
Hone storytelling and communications skills to achieve a greater understanding of your organization’s mission and vision and how to build support from a range of constituencies
- Develop a strategic communications framework
- Learn to write with confidence and clarity, and speak with charisma
- Create memorable and compelling presentations worthy of the TED stage
- Facilitate high-stakes meetings with “influentials” such as high-level administrators, policymakers, and funders
- Interact with the news media to build credibility and call people to action
- How to think and respond quickly when facing challenging communication scenarios
- Leverage social media to develop a meaningful digital network
- Use design thinking and systems thinking to create meaningful calls to action
What People are Saying About Our Training:
“We turn to the Center for Public Interest Communications for critical content in our faculty and senior researcher development program. Participants learn useful tips and—because participants are academics—they really appreciate how the communication strategies are rooted in empirical research.”
Jessica J. Hellmann, director, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota
“The skills I learned impact how I approach creating and sharing vision, and also my presentation style. I implemented the project developed through the class within a week of my final presentation.”
Dr. Melissa Armstrong, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
“I was looking for more strategic guidance when it comes to storytelling for social change. I really enjoyed the in-depth look at the science of what makes people care. It reaffirmed the importance of storytelling, using emotional language and meeting your actors where they are. These principles were really powerful and they were presented in a very succinct way.”
Chandler Cofield, Senior Communications Associate at Third Sector
Interactive training programs led by acclaimed instructors
This has been an incredible experience and one of the most valuable workshops I have attended. The instructors are excellent and have helped each of us identify and collect the ‘stories’ that are important for
~ Valrie Minson, Associate Dean, Academic Support Services for the Smathers Libraries
us to accomplish our goals and mission. I am excited to bring back to my library everything I have learned.