Episode 25 – Supporting Menopause at Work – is hosted by Stuart Culley Chart.PR, an in-house communications practitioner in the construction sector and CIPR EDI Champion. In this episode, Stuarts sets out to learn what perimenopause and menopause mean for the people going through them and for the colleagues, line managers, and partners who support them.

Stuart is joined by guests:

• Helen Crumley Chart.PR, a communications leader with 25 years’ experience across the public, health and not-for-profit sectors
• Ruth Rosselson, Resilience Co-ordinator at Manchester Mind
• Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe Chart.PR, a strategic corporate communications leader in the public sector and EDI Champion for the CIPR North West Group

Drawing on their own experiences, the guests explain how symptoms can begin years before periods stop and can last for many years. They describe symptoms that go well beyond hot flushes, including poor sleep, anxiety, heart palpitations, and forgetfulness. They also discuss how they found support through their GP, HRT, mindfulness, and peer groups. The panel looks at why some women reduce their hours or leave work and at what organisations lose when they do.

The panel concludes by examining what good workplace support looks like. This ranges from reasonable adjustments tailored to the individual, such as flexible working and workplace passports, to line managers who know the policy and start with a conversation. Guests make the case for treating menopause like any other inclusion need. They also explain how anyone can be an ally by listening and pointing colleagues towards policies and support groups.

Alongside the episode, the CIPR has published a menopause resource pack curated by Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. The pack explains the stages of menopause and sets out practical resources that employers, line managers, colleagues and people going through menopause can all use.

• Listen to the episode on Spotify and Apple Music
• Download the Menopause Resource Pack
• Find out more about the CIPR Engage Podcast
• CIPR members can log 5 CPD points for listening to this episode

Episode 16 – PR in the Age of AI – comes one year after the launch of ChatGPT. Host Andrew Bruce Smith, marks the natural language processing tool’s first birthday by looking at the unprecedented technological advances in AI and examining how future developments will impact PR’s landscape. 

This episode explores both the practical and ethical aspects PR and comms teams have to consider in the AI era. The panel discusses what AI tools and new skills practitioners will need as AI evolves, and the ethical and legal implications of implementing AI in its industry-specific use cases. 

Joining Andrew are; 

• Antony Cousins, Executive Director for Strategy at Cision
• Swati Virmani, Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University

• Listen to the Engage Podcast on Apple, Google or Spotify.
• Find out more about the CIPR's Engage podcast. Episode 16 will not be available on our Engage podcast page until 18 December due to scheduled website maintenance.
• CIPR members can log 5 CPD points for listening to this episode.

Episode 15 - The future of PR and comms - is the fourth and final instalment in the Engage series dedicated to celebrating the CIPR’s 75th anniversary. Recorded at the Institute’s Horizon event, the podcast features a range of interviews with Horizon speakers and attendees about their sessions and experiences to glean their insights from the event.

Hosted by Henry Heming, the episode features talks on key topics such as diversity and inclusion in PR, preventing burnout, the changing media landscape, how AI can transform PR strategies, the need to reframe climate change with more hopeful narratives, and much more.

Joining Henry is;

• Fatima Banglawala, Comms and Public Affairs Manager, MedTech UK and Ireland, Johnson and Johnson, summarises some of the key takeaways from Jay Richards, Co-founder at Imagen’s opening keynote on Gen Z.
• Grace Fogarty, Founder of Grace Fogarty Training, shares her simple, memorable tools for feeling more confident when networking and quickly developing meaningful connections.
• Sheeraz Gulsher, Co-founder at People Like Us, discusses creative campaigns and practical tips on making PR more inclusive.
• Subira Jones, also known as The Corporate Hippie, explains the difference between feeling rundown and being burned out, taking listeners from powerless to empowered, and demonstrating how PR and comms practitioners can fireproof their (and their colleague's) career.
• Katie King, CEO at AI in Business, addresses the opportunities, challenges and ethical questions which are raised by increased integration of AI tools and platforms in PR workflows, project management and content creation.
• Trudy Lewis, Founder at Colinear, shares her favourite takeaways from the conference’s morning sessions.
• Rachel Miller, Founder of All Things IC, summarises her favourite session from the conference.
• Diana Verde Nieto, Co-founder of Positive Luxury, discusses how we can move towards being positively good when it comes to sustainability through the ‘reimagining model’.
• Alan Oram, Director at Alive with Ideas, shares his reaction to Mark Shayler’s session.
• Advita Patel, 2025 CIPR President, shares her final thoughts from the conference.
• Alex Partridge, Founder of UNILAD and LADBible shares how the media landscape is changing, what the future holds for media, and why adaptability is your greatest strength.
• Son Pham, Senior Campaign Manager at Manifest, captures the atmosphere at the conference and his personal highlight.
• Mark Shayler, Owner at Ape, makes the case for the role of innovative and disruptive thinking in challenging the status quo and bringing about sustainable societal change.

• Listen to the Engage podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify
• Find out more about the CIPR's Engage podcast

Hosted by Calhan Behrendt, Outstanding Young Communicator at the 2022 Cymru Wales PRide Awards and Account Manager at OutWrite, this episode delves into the themes of social inclusion and diversity and the impact of technology on their outcomes. Panelists discuss the necessary skills needed to work in the sector, reflect on their own experiences, and highlight the bold strides that have been made by the PR profession.  

Joining host Calhan Behrendt is; 

• Tony Bradley, CEO at publicrelationsconsultancy.com
• Maria Chanmugam, Director at Clevercoms
• Eva Maclaine, Founder at Maclaine Communications

CIPR members can log 5 CPD points for listening to this episode.