On Top of PR with Jason Mudd

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, Ron Culp joins host Jason Mudd to discuss why business acumen now outweighs writing skills in PR hiring, the three stages of a corporate PR career, and five practical ways to build business acumen at any career stage.
Tune in to learn more!

Meet Our Guest:
Our guest is Ron Culp, a professional-in-residence at DePaul University and a former corporate chief communications officer. He brings decades of experience across government, corporate communications, public relations agencies, and higher education, where he helps prepare the next generation of PR professionals.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:
 1. Three stages of corporate public relations
2. Why business acumen has taken over writing skills as the top thing employers want
3. Five practical ways students and young professionals can build business acumen
4. Why understanding how your company makes money changes the decisions you make
5. Why business acumen matters
 
Quotables
"When what you're doing isn't having any impact on the business, you really have to question it. If you don't, you're gonna start being questioned." – Ron Culp
"You just make better decisions if you have a sense of what the business is all about." – Ron Culp
"Good writers are good thinkers, always has been the case, and good writers can be trained." – Ron Culp
"If we can't figure out how they make money, then I'm not sure we can be the trusted strategic partner that we need to be." – Jason Mudd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Guest’s contact info and resources:
Ron Culp on LinkedIn
Ron Culp's blog: culpwrit.com
Ageism in the workplace: Hiring bias, careers, and the future of work
How trusted strategic advisors influence leaders

Additional Resources:
Marketing leaders are reframing reputation management as a revenue strategy
Traditional PR doesn’t work anymore
How to turn social and reputation management into a revenue operating system
Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast
Find out more about Axia Public Relations

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
How public relations changes business outcomes
How communications professionals shape business success
Maximizing Agency Partnerships with Mark Riggs

Recorded: August, 2026
Support the show
On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, Jessica Barber Scott joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how public relations professionals can move beyond impressions and advertising value equivalency to measure outcomes and impact, build measurement frameworks around business objectives, and use AI without losing the human judgment a CFO relationship requires.
Tune in to learn more!

 
Meet our guest:
Our guest is Jessica Barber Scott, a senior communication professional and independent consultant with 15 years of experience across regulated financial services, state government, and higher education. She is a PRSA Silver Anvil Award winner for crisis communication and has advised C-suite leaders at organizations including TIAA, Corebridge Financial, and EverBank.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:
1. Why AVE still shows up in reporting and what it costs you
2. How to climb the three tiers of PR measurement (outputs, outcomes, and impact)
3. Why your measurement framework should start with the business objective, not the data
4. Four moves that change the dynamic of any CFO budget meeting
5. What AI can do for measurement and what it can’t replace

 
Quotables
“The numbers are getting smaller as the work gets credible.” — Jessica Scott
“Come in with the data. Not with an apology, with data.” — Jessica Scott
“AI can pull faster. It can synthesize more broadly. It can find patterns across data at a scale that really no human team can match. But what it can't do is tell you whether you're measuring the right thing in the first place.” — Jessica Scott
“Getting media coverage is not a result. It's an output of the work and the effort that you made.” — Jason Mudd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Guest’s contact info and resources:
Jessica Scott on LinkedIn
AMEC

Additional Resources:
How do you measure PR?
Yes, PR is measurable. How to measure and report public relations and strategic corporate communications
The 3 biggest PR measurement mistakes
5 metrics you should measure in PR
Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.
Find out more about Axia Public Relations.

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
What you should be measuring in your PR campaigns with Johna Burke
Barcelona Principles 4.0: How to measure PR effectively with AMEC CEO Johna Burke
The power of PR measurement with Katie Delahaye Paine 

Recorded: August, 2026
Support the show
On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, Ken Jacobs, principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how communications leaders can apply proven leadership principles to AI adoption.
Tune in to learn more!

Meet our guest:
Our guest is Ken Jacobs, principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching. Ken helps public relations, communications, and marketing leaders become more effective and inspiring leaders through executive coaching and consulting. Before launching his consulting practice, he spent 25 years in leadership roles at leading PR agencies. He also hosts Taking the Lead, a leadership video podcast, and writes the quarterly Taking the Lead column for the Public Relations Society of America's Strategies & Tactics publication.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:
1. How courageous leaders embrace AI
2. Why every organization needs AI guardrails
3. How leaders can build AI confidence
4. Why listening leads to stronger teams
5. How AI and human judgment work together
 
Quotables
"If you're not already deep in AI, you're behind, but it's also never too late." — Ken Jacobs
“Walk the walk, not just talk the talk.” — Ken Jacobs
“True leaders update their knowledge and fluency.” — Ken Jacobs
“You as a leader have to be able to ask the right kind of questions.” — Ken Jacobs
"Hire smart people and get out of their way." — Jason Mudd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Guest’s contact info and resources:
Ken Jacobs on LinkedIn
Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching website
Taking the Lead Podcast
How to stay ahead of AI in communications and marketing
Four leadership tips to guide you through uncertain times

Additional resources:
What sources feed generative AI answers?
What Google AI Mode means for your PR and media strategy
How are AI tools changing PR jobs?
Axia’s AIVisibility service
Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.
Find out more about Axia Public Relations.

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
The best argument for PR? Surprisingly, it's AI
95% of AI citations come from PR content 
Managing communications and PR in the AI era
Embedded AI: The future of PR and communication workflows

Recorded: July, 2026
Support the show
On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, LA County communications leader Brenda Duran joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how to manage communications and public relations in the AI era through trust and authentic storytelling.
Tune in to learn more!

Meet Our Guest:
Our guest is Brenda Duran, director of external affairs at the Los Angeles County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department. An award-winning public affairs and communications executive with more than 12 years of experience, Brenda specializes in crisis communications, community engagement, and building trust through authentic storytelling. A former journalist, she brings a unique perspective on how public institutions can communicate with transparency, empathy, and impact.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:
1. The rise of AI in public relations
2. Building trust in a digital-first world
3. Leading communications during high-stakes moments
4. The power of authentic storytelling
5. The future of communications leadership

Quotables
 “[AI] is not there to replace anything; it's more to enhance what we're already doing.”  — Brenda Duran
“Trust isn't really built in with one campaign. It's earned through repeated reliable communication over time.” — Brenda Duran
“AI definitely cannot replace some fundamental things like strategic thinking, relationship building, emotional intelligence, ethics and cultural understanding. Those are things that no machine will ever be able to take from us.” — Brenda Duran
“We need to become AI literate, but you have to also remain human-centered.” — Brenda Duran
“We still have to be trusted strategic advisors, lead with strategy, lead with empathy and humanity, and just make the right choices of what's good and what's ethical for the marketplace.” — Jason Mudd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Guest’s contact info and resources:
@bduran5 on Instagram
Brenda Duran on LinkedIn
Brenda Duran’s website
From newsroom to PR: Journalists making the switch
Transition from journalism to PR

Additional Resources:
AI in PR: Transforming communication strategies
The emerging role of AI in public relations
How to speak with clarity and authority during a crisis
Axia’s AI visibility services
Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.
Find out more about Axia Public Relations.

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
The best argument for PR? Surprisingly, it's AI
When a crisis hits, say this or stay silent
Effective crisis communications

Recorded: July, 2026
Support the show
On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan Mail
In this solocast, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses how public relations drives awareness, credibility, trust, and demand to create measurable business outcomes beyond media coverage.
Tune in to learn more!

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:
1. Why organizations should measure PR by business outcomes instead of media outputs
2. How awareness can remove growth barriers for great products and services
3. Why earned media builds credibility that influences customer behavior
4. How visibility creates demand through real-world business examples
5. What marketing leaders should ask when evaluating PR performance
 
Quotables
“Organizations invest in PR because they want business results.” — @jasonmudd9
“The game didn't change; awareness changed.” — @jasonmudd9
“Awareness gets attention, credibility earns trust, and trust influences behavior.” — @jasonmudd9
“Public relations isn't magic, but when it's aligned with business objectives, it can be a powerful driver of business outcomes.” — @jasonmudd9
“Awareness influenced credibility. Credibility influenced demand, and demand influenced business outcomes.” — @jasonmudd9

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Contact info and resources:
Jason Mudd on X
Jason Mudd on LinkedIn
How the power of PR saved Twister
PR Success Stories: From Struggling Startup to More Than $130 Million in Revenues
PR Success Stories: Media Coverage for HeadBlade Creates $25,000 in Website Sales
Axia Case Study Foundation Financial Group

Additional Resources:
The power of PR
How do you measure PR?
7 ways to build credibility using public relations
5 ways PR can generate buzz for your business
Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast
Find out more about Axia Public Relations

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
3 ways franchisors can use PR to grow their company with John Hewitt
PR research with Mark Weiner

Recorded: June 15, 2026
Support the show
On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.