This is ISOC’s flagship programme — five intensive days designed for senior communication professionals who shape strategy, not just execute it. You will work alongside high-level peers across strategy design, advanced strategy, crisis communication, departmental management and creative leadership. Each day combines advanced frameworks with practical workshops, tailored to the senior-level challenges in the room.
Communication strategy design and development, advanced communication strategy at director level, crisis communication strategy and management, communications department management and operations, and creativity and campaign leadership.
This five-day programme runs in a small, boardroom-format group of senior professionals. Each day covers a distinct specialist discipline, with modules combining evidence-based best practice briefings, structured discussions, practical workshops and peer learning. Your trainers tailor content to the specific industries, organisations and challenges in the room. The format has a coaching and consulting flavour — you work on real situations and produce outputs you can apply immediately. You will leave with a sharpened strategic capability and the peer relationships that come from five intensive days working alongside senior communicators.
- Design and develop sophisticated communication strategies at senior level
- Position communication as a strategic driver within your organisation
- Develop a crisis communication strategy with the systems and resources to deliver it
- Conduct reputational risk assessment and issues mapping for your organisation
- Analyse and improve the operational performance of a communications department
- Create policies, systems and resources for a high-functioning PR operation
- Lead creative processes that produce distinctive, results-driven campaigns
- Sharpen your strategic judgment through peer learning among senior professionals
- Communication strategy principles and frameworks
- Stakeholder mapping and prioritisation
- Channel and tactic selection
- Positioning and messages
- Advanced strategy frameworks and success factors
- Evidence-based communication research
- Defining strategic objectives and aligning with business goals
- Presenting and justifying strategy to senior leadership
- Crisis communication strategy and best practice
- Risk assessment and issues mapping
- Crisis systems, teams and escalation protocols
- Crisis resources, planning and simulation
- Communication campaign planning and execution
- Campaign platforms and measurement
- Strategic and operational press office management
- Leading and managing PR teams and agencies
- The principles and sources of creativity in PR
- Structured creativity techniques and processes
- Facilitating brainstorms and creative sessions
- From creativity to reality: applying ideas in practice
This course is for senior PR managers, communications directors and agency professionals who lead strategy. It is designed for experienced professionals who want to sharpen their strategic capability among high-level peers — and who are ready to think about communication as a leadership discipline, not a service function.
The following are some of the ISOC trainers who regularly lead this course, depending whether you join us in London, Dubai or live online.
Yes. We deliver this course for teams of any size, tailored to your organisation’s context and objectives. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
The Strategic Communications and PR Programme is designed for senior professionals who lead communication strategy and want to sharpen their capability among high-level peers. The Corporate Communication Programme covers specialist technical disciplines — internal communication, ESG and media engagement — in breadth.
Each day covers a distinct discipline — strategy design, advanced strategy, crisis communication, department management and creativity — with content tailored to the senior-level challenges in the room. The peer group is deliberately kept small and senior.
Nothing specific is required. If you have a current project, challenge or organisational context relevant to the course, bring it along — the practical exercises can incorporate real-world scenarios.