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How many assumptions would you find you were tied to at work if you were to take the time to question your own strategic thinking? It is time rethink your communications approach. To get you started on the Big Rethink, here’s a list of 7 assumptions to turn upside down.

As we know, brands must stand for something beyond the products and services they offer. This means they can no longer remain silent in the face of an attack. They also need to admit when they make mistakes. Margaret Hoerster, a senior partner at Finn Partners, and Ameet Sachdev, a VP at the firm, argue timing, messaging and relevance play important roles when brands decide they should address an issue publicly.

On average, podcast listeners tune in to 11 hours of podcasts a week, according to Jason Hoch of HowStuffWorks.com (which of course has its own podcast). So, it’s no wonder companies around the world are jumping on board.

With so many voices clamoring for attention, total silence might be the only way to cut through. Philadelphia Eagles player Malcolm Jenkins illustrated that point in a June 6 video of a locker-room press conference that instantly went viral on Twitter, and has racked up over 1.88 million views as of this writing.

It’s always better to catch a potential crisis when it’s on the horizon rather than having to clean up the inevitable mess once the crisis hits. Sometimes, however, a crisis is inevitable. In those instances, says John Young, social business advisor at Southwest Airlines, having a real-time crisis strategy across departments is key.

Though it’s extremely important for individual communicators to take steps to become proficient with data and analytics, it won’t do much good if the rest of your company isn’t on board. Brands that embrace metrics at all levels of the organization are in the best position for success.

At the IABC Conference in Montreal, a cross-industry panel of three senior business leaders opened up about the value of communications at their organizations. (Spoiler alert: Their comments were overwhelmingly positive.)

Whether they’re writing media pitches, RFPs, blog posts, white papers, social posts, content marketing pieces or press releases, PR pros are usually serving several entities. The net result of writing on behalf of so many entities: messy, vague word hash. No PR writer is immune to this syndrome and the amount of native talent one has is no defense against it.

In a world constantly disrupted by technological advances, how can we make sure we’re the ones making change, and that change isn’t making us? That was a question posited by keynote speaker and futurist Anab Jain at the International Association of Business Communicators’ World Conference in Montréal.

Much of the platform’s effectiveness at gauging key personal insights is now contingent on users opting in to have that information shared. By assuming that users will consciously share any of their personal information with advertisers once they are given the keys to the gate, Facebook takes a huge risk, one that could alter the industry-leading effectiveness of its insights.