"COMPANIES NEED TO STOP SAYING STUPID SH*T" SAY TWO PRO COMMUNICATORS IN NEW BOOK

Pullout quote: "When business steps in, business can change things." – Janet M. Stovall

ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Those black squares that took over our social feeds in the summer of 2020 with commitments of solidarity catalyzed two communicators, Janet M. Stovall and Kim Clark, to write The Conscious Communicator: The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid Sh*t, launching on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.

The book introduces The DEPTH Model™ that shows organizations how to proactively communicate about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues and social justice issues.

The five-step framework allows organizations to navigate the subjective waters of DEI and social justice communications. It shows them how to identify, justify, and clarify their position and messaging on sensitive and provocative issues. "It's designed to help companies not say stupid sh*t," says Stovall.

Until recently, DEI and social justice issues were not polite topics for discussion in the workplace, notes Stovall, Global Head of DEI for the NeuroLeadership Institute. "Today, neutrality is no longer an option: silence is no longer golden. However, when leaders speak, their words have implications not only for themselves, but also for brands, employees, and organizations. By using The DEPTH Model, leaders - and those who support them - can communicate about subjective issues in an objective way."

Clark, who ran global employee communication teams for PayPal and GoDaddy, saw communicators posting commitments they wouldn't follow through with, because they couldn't. "Statement after statement was performative, empty promises. Organizations may have believed what they said but they didn't understand how to live up to it. They had neither the skills nor the education. They weren't set up to be sustainable. Some were saying whatever everyone else was saying. Employees and customers expected meaningful action and companies haven't done it. It's been two years."

Andy Getsey, co-founder of Employera, also calls on agencies who support organizations. "The role of PR, Employer Brand agencies, and communications agencies was permanently changed in the summer of 2020. We must rise to the occasion with educated recommendations for our clients. Otherwise, we will be doing them a disservice. We must gain the skills to go beyond the 'no comment'. This book offers the framework to ask the right questions to put our clients in a position of strength on DEI and social justice messaging."

Stovall and Clark will hold an online book launch party on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 1:00 pm Eastern.

The Conscious Communicator: The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid Sh*t by Janet Stovall and Kim Clark will be available on September 21, 2022 at Amazon.com. The 250-page hardcopy version (ISBN: 1955985596) will cost $29.95 and the paperback edition (ISBN: 1955985588) will cost $19.95. Journalists seeking a review copy of the book should send an email to [email protected]

Book brief with sample chapter.

Janet M. Stovall
DEI Pragmatist, Speaker, Award-winning writer, Social Impact Warrior
Global speaker, facilitator, writer and consultant Janet M. Stovall helps business dismantle systemic inequity, especially where it intersects with race. She is the Global Head of DEI at the NeuroLeadership Institute and founder of the DEI consultancy, Pragmatic Diversity. A long history of driving change and building culture in large, complex organizations has given her deep expertise around DEI practices and principles, especially in communications. Her three TED presentations challenging business to get serious about inclusion have more than two million views.

Kim Clark
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Communications Educator and Consultant
Kim Clark has focused her career on messaging, audiences and how communications shape peoples' experiences. Her career includes leading global internal communication teams at KLA, PayPal, GoDaddy and GitHub and has dedicated her career to teach communicators their role in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

SOURCE The Conscious Communicator