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In the world of government communications, professionals may feel as though they are buried under a mountain of dry policy updates and official announcements, making it easy to lose sight of the people the government serves. 

A recent InnovateUS workshop  "Effective Use of Social Media: Storytelling, Trust, and Institutional Brand" featuring Pearl Gabel—the Executive Vice President of Creative & Content at Moxie Strategies, as well as former Digital Director for the State of New Jersey and Director of Video for the City of New York—serves as a powerful reminder that the primary job of government communications professionals is not to simply disseminate information; it is to tell stories that build trust. 

This seems particularly timely for a couple of reasons.

On any given day, Americans encounter commentary on government trustworthiness across a variety of channels. On the day I sat down to draft this post, a question popped into my feed over morning coffee: “Why don’t Americans trust the government?”

Now that our Amplify series on "Mastering Public Communication in the AI Age" has wrapped, I’ve been reflecting on the wide range of topics we covered, from AI fundamentals and public sector storytelling to media relationships and crisis communications. Yet across every session, we kept coming back to the question of how we can do this well in today’s rapidly changing information environment.

Pearl Gabel’s lessons push back against the traditional, risk-averse approach often associated with public-sector communication. Instead, she offers a practical, actionable roadmap to help public servants communicate more effectively across channels, and, in doing so, strengthen trust in public institutions.

Look for the Unusual Perspective 

Gabel opened with a classic lesson from her days in journalism school. When JFK was assassinated, every reporter covered the funeral, but Jimmy Breslin went to the cemetery to interview the man digging the grave. 

The takeaway: "If you're standing where everyone else is standing, you may be in the wrong place." 

Instead, she advises, seek out the "true thing" hidden in the daily work of a government agency and everyday events that affect the communities they serve.

Deploy a Narrative Backbone  

Storytelling doesn't have to be complex to be effective. Gabel advocates for a classic framework: hero, conflict, resolution.

  • The Hero: This might be your agency, a specific staff member, or a constituent.

  • The Conflict: What is broken? What is at stake?.

  • The Resolution: What is your institution doing to fix it? 

Deploying a narrative backbone in government communications can transform policy updates into stories that resonate with constituents.

Humanize the Institutional Voice

A useful case study comes from Gabel’s work as the Digital Director for the State of New Jersey. Rather than trying to discredit New Jersey’s reputation as a “drive-through” state and the "butt of jokes," she leaned into a scrappy, underdog voice. 

Pearl points to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District as a "gold standard" for institutional voice, proving that even a "boring" agency can build a following through creativity and a humanized social presence. She cautions that not every agency can, or should, use humor, but at the same time believes that every communications professional is a brand strategist.

Gabel encourages communications professionals to undergo a personal "brand audit" by reviewing their recent posts and bios and asking whether or not they form a cohesive story. By understanding their own authentic, unique voice, communications professionals can better inform their agency's voice.

Strategic Platform Usage

One of Gabel’s most pragmatic messages was about platform strategy. She urges government communications teams to be "platform native," leaning into the specific strengths of each space whenever possible. 

Gabel calls out the Owensboro, Kentucky, Fire Department TikTok as an example of how jumping on trends can help agencies reach audiences that are traditionally hard to engage, in this case, with vital safety messages. Success requires targeting the right audience on the right channel and not trying to be everything to everyone across all channels.

@owensborofiredept

Roses are red, Violets are blue, Keeping you safe Is what we love to do. ❤️🚒

♬ original sound - Owensboro Fire Dept.

Manage the "AI Teammate"

Gabel advocates using AI as a teammate (versus a replacement) that must be managed carefully. Communications professionals can train AI on specific agency tone, audience, and constraints, and be ruthless in stripping away "AI hallmarks," such as overly structured sentences, generic lists of 3 bullet points, etc. 

Gabel also emphasizes an obligation to reality. If AI-generated content is used, it should be disclosed. Credibility is perhaps the most crucial component of institutional brand.

Remember the Three-Second Rule 

In the age of endless scrolling, competition for attention is fierce, and the three-second rule is a "truism" of modern video. If you don't capture attention in that window, the viewer is gone. Gabel suggests leading with movement or direct-to-camera engagement to hook the audience immediately. Leave the government seal for the paperwork.

Build Trust Through People

Gabel reminds us that people trust people more than logos, and that is why identifying "trusted messengers" is vital. She advocates finding the right voices for the right messages and highlights NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s snow day announcement as not just a brilliant use of a platform-native strategy, but also an astute choice of messenger to forge an immediate emotional connection with the public. 

Gabel also urges communications teams to go beyond the voices of high-ranking officials and to leverage community leaders, local business owners, and agency staff. Gabel observes that shadowing staff and profiling their work can humanize the government in ways that press releases never can

Be Both Realistic and Brave

Having been a government communications professional herself, Gabel recognizes the constraints they face and offers practical advice to build on the capacity they have. If they only have 20 minutes a day, use them to find one story. Gabel also counsels that stories don’t need to be perfect to be effective. Taking a chance and even doing something messy is less risky than a dead page with no engagement. 

Pearl Gabel is encouraging a mindset shift to see everything as a story, to embrace the role of brand strategist, to build connection by emphasizing humanity, and to manage AI tools with rigor and integrity. 

Through this workshop, she provides a toolbox for government communications professionals to shed the logo and uncover the authentic stories in their work.

By daring to step away from the traditional approach to public communications and find the unique perspective that defines their work, government agencies can translate the broader lessons of the Amplify series into a meaningful answer to the crisis of trust – one “true thing” at a time. 

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