Crafting Communications that Connect

Clear, inclusive and intentional communication is more important than ever, especially as you aim to lead, connect and build strategies that resonate. These were central themes at the 2025 annual meeting for the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), a professional organization for editors, writers, marketers and others involved in green industry communications. Held in Charleston, South Carolina, the annual meeting featured education sessions where industry leaders challenged communicators to rethink how they craft messages and who they’re truly designing them for. These takeaways offer practical ways to sharpen your approach and better connect with the audiences you serve, no matter your industry or market.

Words Create Worlds

Brandon Bell, M.Ed., SPHR, PCC, people and organizational development lead for Syngenta

In his session on inclusive communication, Brandon Bell taught a lesson in thinking critically about the words you use and the identities those words create. He framed inclusive communication not as a checklist of appropriate terms but as an intentional process that begins with reflection and continues through iteration. It’s about recognizing the “worlds” you inhabit, understanding the lived experiences of others and creating language that invites people in.

Importantly, inclusive communication is not political correctness, nor is it about assigning value or choosing sides. It’s about expanding the conversation, bridging experiences and allowing more people to see themselves reflected in the message.

For businesses, the implications are significant. Inclusive communication:

• Prompts self-awareness, which disrupts patterns in your work so you can innovate again.
• Encourages the communicator to get close to the business strategy and the audience.
• Strengthens your strategy, which allows you to enable business success by thinking more comprehensively about the worlds your audiences navigate and ways to bring them in.

Making Hard Facts Easy Reading and Everyday Tools to Generate Better Stories

Jon Greenberg, Poynter Institute

If Bell invited broader thinking, Jon Greenberg brought back the fundamentals: write clearly or risk not being read at all. Greenberg’s session on writing and headlines was a deep dive into understanding what makes people engage or what causes them to scroll past. His advice was straightforward but impactful. Be specific, use clear grammar and favor strong, active verbs. And when in doubt, let the period do its job. Well-placed punctuation and white space, he reminded, help spotlight what matters.

He also encouraged a closer look at personal writing habits. A simple editing technique of underlining every verb and questioning its strength can quickly expose areas for improvement. So can watching for overuse of “to be” verbs, excessive adverbs and jargon that may exclude rather than inform.

Breathe, Listen, Adapt – Mastering High-Stakes Communication

John Patrick, Communications Coach and Professor, Duarte, Inc.

Have you ever needed to deliver bad news and found yourself feeling unsure of how to proceed? John Patrick’s session addressed the challenges of communication in high-stakes situations, emphasizing the importance of remembering to breathe before you speak. It sounds simple, but a well-timed pause can shift the tone of a conversation, making space for clarity and composure.

A good reminder for all is to practice the different listening styles, using the S.A.I.D. model:

• Supporting listeners seek empathy
• Advanced listeners think several steps ahead toward action
• Immersed listeners process deeply
• Discerning listeners pick up on nuance and detail

A strong grasp of these styles helps build more adaptive and effective communicators.

Real-World AI Applications

The conference concluded with a hands-on workshop exploring how AI is being integrated into communication workflows. AI can be a starting point, but it can also be a valuable tool for refinement. Whether used to pressure-test a message or streamline a draft, its role is to support, and not replace, human thinking.

As you move forward, these lessons are a reminder to communicate with more care, more clarity and a broader view of who you're speaking to. And why it matters.