Unleash your creative potential in 2025: New podcast equips PR pros for the future of work

In today's rapidly evolving job market, creativity is not a nice to have - it's a necessity – and a key part of many day-to-day tasks for PRs.

With the World Economic Forum highlighting creative thinking as a top skill for future job success, and 44% of worker skills facing disruption in the next five years, the need for creative know-how has never been greater. Launching on 29th January 2025, the Now Go Create podcast, hosted by PRCA trainer and creativity expert Claire Bridges, will offer practical strategies and tools to help PR professionals thrive in the age of AI and unlock their creative potential.

Claire has trained for the PRCA for over a decade, running her ever popular Unleash Your Inner Creative webinars and workshops, and as one of the first Creative Directors in a PR agency she understands the pressures of PR life and the relentless need for creative ideas.

"People often pigeonhole themselves as creative 'haves' or 'have nots'," says Bridges. "But the truth is, creativity is a skill that can be learned and mastered. If you’ve been to any of my courses you know that they are jam-packed with practical tools you can apply right away. Creativity is not something you have; it’s something you do. My aim is to equip anyone listening with the confidence and the skills to tackle any creative challenge.”

The podcast is a mix of practical toolkit-building episodes and guest episodes, tackling common misconceptions about creativity in conversations with a wide mix of creative professionals to see what we can glean from their creative process, their struggles, burnout, deadlines and how they tackle the blank page.

Episodes include:

• Why brainstorms fail and how to fix them
• How to be creative on demand – lessons from improv
• Dealing with the obnoxious roommate in your head, your inner critic
• A world-leading expert talks AI & creativity
• How to hack your creativity with neuroscientist Ben Martynoga
• Conversations with award-winning Creative Directors across the world

Bridges says: “Whilst I hate the word brainstorm and all the negative connotations that come with it, collaboration is key for diversity of thought and bringing different voices to the table. Call it what you like, it’s one of the first things you associate with workplace creativity. So here are 5 practical takeaways from the first episode on why your brainstorms might suck and what to do about it:

1. Try a question storm – a great alternative to a brainstorm - try generating as many questions as you can about your topic in pairs or small groups. When you’re done, see what themes, knowledge gaps, categories or new questions arise. Use these to test a hypothesis or springboard into idea generation. Do this as a client/agency activity to build chemistry and trust as well as ensuring you’re working on the right problem that will meet the brief and business need.
2. Use your AI of choice as your sparring-partner before, during and after the brainstorm. Say goodbye to crappy notetaking and reams of rolled up flipcharts – brainstorm the business problem statement in advance and generate ‘how might we…’ statements, do a quick SWOT, competitor analysis or ask for a list of 10 stereotypes or cliches about your topic, then brainstorm the opposite. Ask the AI if it knows your creativity tool – say random stimulus, then ask it to apply it to your ideas. Keep circulating the ideas afterwards to allow for incubation and hunches to surface.
3. Run a silent brainstorm – ask people to generate ideas in advance or at the start of the meeting for 5-10 minutes. This acts as a mental declutter and is also shown to improve the quality of ideas – there’s no competing for airtime or needing to shout out ideas if that’s not your thing. Assess your material and write down your top 5 ideas, then pass them on to someone else. Keep building then review.
4. Get out of the office – too many brainstorms exist in a cosy, Percy-Pig filled bubble. Part 1 - share the challenge in advance (at least the day before) and then head out for a walk and talk about the topic.
5. Part 2 - step into your target audience’s shoes – get out and about amongst your target audience, competitors or context. If you’re selling cereal, get out to the supermarket aisles or host a breakfast. If you’re selling cars host your briefing in a dealership. Invite your customers or audience to ideate with you.

Subscribe now to the Now Go Create, wherever you get your podcasts, launching on 29th January 2025.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/now-go-create/id1786353481

https://open.spotify.com/show/6bxNeudWErNdGHUYgc2WW8?si=8cd89ee03e0941dd

Claire’s ‘How to unleash your inner creative’ webinar is in our January sale and the next course dates can be found here.

Claire Bridges: a leading voice in creativity

Claire Bridges is a former global PR agency Creative Director, author of creative handbook In Your Creative Element, and now educator who is obsessed with creativity! She’s one of only a handful of people globally to hold an MSc in creativity, innovation and leadership, and has trained over 40,000 people in creative thinking skills in hundreds of agencies, and worked with teams at brands like ASOS, Netflix and Marks and Spencer to use creativity to their advantage.

Find out more about Claire’s courses at www.nowgocreate.co.uk