Securing a seat at the executive table is no longer just an aspiration for communications professionals; it’s a necessity in today’s business landscape. On the PR’s Top Pros Talk podcast, Doug Simon, CEO of D S Simon Media, spoke with Tara Smith, Managing Partner at Voxus PR, about the strategies that help communicators rise to influential business leaders. Tara emphasizes that mastery of communications alone is no longer sufficient. “Being just a communications professional and an expert in the craft, it's simply not enough. You have to be a business leader and a business expert,” she says.
For Tara, the first step toward influence is understanding the business at a deep level. She encourages communicators to approach their roles with intellectual curiosity, seek out information, engage with technical and business leaders, and even learn from the sales team to gain a deeper understanding of customer dynamics. “Any company I'm working with, whether they're a client or if I'm in-house, I take my time to go to the technical leaders, the business leaders who are working on the sales team. You have to work at it and really skill up in those areas.”
Equally important is assertiveness. Tara stresses that no one will simply hand communicators a seat at the table. “You have to push for it, and you have to assert yourself. No one is going to make it easy for you to have a seat at the table. It's not their job.” She observes that self-doubt often holds communicators back. “Now, more than ever, Communicators have to be at the table, and you have to push to get yourself there.” Once in the room, communicators have to make their opinions heard. “You have to have a point of view. You have to have a voice. If you just sit there silently and let the conversation happen around you, no one's going to want you back, and it's going to be harder for you to assert yourself.” Tara also highlights the role of media relationships in elevating PR influence. She advises PR professionals to “be a resource, not a roadblock,” providing journalists with insights, sources, and support to make their jobs easier.
Data and analytics have become critical tools for proving PR’s value. Tara describes the advantage of countering opinion with evidence: “There are so many tools out there now that there's really no excuse for any program not to have a strong data foundation. If you bring data to the table in a way that makes everyone else in the room smarter, that's going to make you feel different and like an asset.”
Mentorship and relationship-building are equally central to career growth, particularly in a hybrid or remote work environment. Tara underscores the importance of nurturing networks both inside and outside the organization. “This is a relationships business. If I could think back to one thing I wish I had done differently early on in my career is, gosh, I had all of these great contacts that I didn't stay as close to as I could have.”
Finally, she encourages rising PR professionals to leverage new tools and technologies. “AI is out there. It's a powerful resource. If you are not using it, you are going to fall behind. So, use the tools that are available.”
To thrive, communications leaders must combine mastery with business acumen, data fluency, and strong professional relationships. By doing so, they don’t just earn a seat at the table; they become indispensable to the conversations shaping their organizations’ futures.
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Suchi Sherpa is a Marketing Communications Specialist at D S Simon Media, a leading firm specializing in satellite media tours.
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