You can't communicate your way out of a values problem. Yet every day, communications leaders are expected to do precisely that.

In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle sits down with ⁠Emil Hill⁠, principal of The Creshiem Group and a public affairs strategist with 25+ years navigating the intersection of business, government, and communications. From guiding the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation to helping Papa John's face their reckoning, from UnitedHealth Group to the National Education Association, Emil's been the strategist organizations call when quick fixes won't cut it.

Emil and Dan explore why the consolidation of corporate communications, investor relations, government relations, and research under corporate affairs* umbrellas is the recognition that every stakeholder now connects to every other stakeholder. They dig into why crises reveal values misalignment, why your stock price timeline and your actual problem timeline are incompatible, and why "calm, clarity, and precision" matters more when everything's moving faster.

*Dan says “Public Affairs” but means “Corporate Affairs” throughout the episode. He apologizes, especially to Megan Noel, for his confusion.

Listen in and hear about...

• Why corporate affairs consolidation signals a fundamental shift in stakeholder connectivity


• How a finance background changes how you diagnose communications problems


• The gap between executive timelines and the time real organizational change requires


• Why quick crisis fixes usually miss what's actually broken


• Navigating uncertainty with optimism when change is inevitable

Notable Quotes

On The Power of Immersive Partnership: "I don't know if you can really be a good partner to any client if you don't immerse yourself in their business, understand who their competitors are, try to get a sense for their DNA and try to advise based on those understandings. If you don't have that, yeah, you're going to fall short every time." — Emil Hill [00:07:53 → 00:08:17 ]

On The Future of Local News: "I am craving a deeper dive into, into local news that the Washington Post cannot provide for me and Mary about what's going on here that's not in the news. And it feels like with the evolution of technology, some enterprising business person is going to figure out a way to cobble together more information and news about particular parts of the country, city, state and local in a way that we used to." — Emil Hill [01:00:27 → 01:01:03 ]

On Navigating Economic Uncertainty: "I think businesses, individuals and communities around the country, I think you want to hold on to your optimism. I think you should get active, but ride it. And this too shall pass." — Emil Hill [01:06:59 → 01:08:08 ]

Resources and Links

Dan Nestle

• Inquisitive Communications | Website


• The Trending Communicator | Website


• Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack


• Dan Nestle | LinkedIn

Emil Hill

• Emil Hill | LinkedIn

Timestamps

0:00:00 Introduction – Rise of Public Affairs and Emil Hill’s Expertise
0:06:15 Pathways into Public Affairs – Problem Solving and Business Acumen
0:11:03 Consolidation of Corporate Communications Functions
0:16:44 Stakeholder Connections in a Rapid News Cycle
0:23:19 Measuring Audience Sentiment and Internal vs. External Messaging
0:29:22 Persuading Stakeholders – Importance of Data and Explanation
0:34:57 AI’s Role in Communications – Data, Analysis, and Domain Expertise
0:42:32 Brand Missteps and the Limits of Research
0:47:13 Real Audience Research vs. Social Media Noise
0:53:42 New Corporate Affairs Capabilities – Local Sentiment and Crisis Response
0:58:44 Local News Evolution and Technology’s Impact
1:04:39 Ideas for AI-Driven Local News Coverage
1:08:08 Optimism, Change, and Closing Thoughts
1:09:36 Outro and Subscription Info

(Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic)

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