Speaking Engagements

Crystal DeStefano, APR, is an expert on creating and maintaining a positive image for your brand. As President of Strategic Communications, she brings more than 20 years of public relations and business leadership experience to organizations across the country, and she has delivered hundreds of speaking engagements to audiences nationwide.

Crystal is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) by the Universal Accreditation Board and is a recipient of multiple business awards. She has also served in leadership roles for the Public Relations Society of America at the local, regional, and national level.

AI Visibility

Crystal shares insights and expertise on how artificial intelligence is reshaping brand reputation. After four years of research in the evolution of AI tools, Crystal launched Strategic Communications’ AI Visibility services in 2026. Her proprietary AI Visibility Audit tracks thousands of results across major AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Google AI Overviews, showing organizations where they are and are not being mentioned, how they compare to competitors, and the steps to close the gap.

Crystal turns that research into a practical talk for business leaders and communicators, explaining what happens when someone asks an AI platform about your organization, why it already shapes spending, hiring, and customer trust, and the first steps any team can take now to make sure AI tells their story accurately.

Positive Press Coverage

Crystal teaches organizations of any size in any industry how to earn press coverage that builds a positive reputation over time. Her approach follows Strategic Communications’ five-step process for strategically sharing good news, including proactive outreach, thought leadership pitches, and the personal reporter relationships her team has built across newsrooms over decades.

She has applied this approach across dozens of industries. As Crystal puts it, “Having positive, consistent, and strategic communication with your audiences through trusted news media can create transformational value for your organization.” And she tells you exactly how to do it.

Media Training

Crystal built and leads Strategic Communications’ Media Training program, which has prepared leaders, spokespeople, and subject matter experts to deliver media and public appearances with confidence and control for more than 20 years. The program pairs an interactive classroom session with private, one-on-one, on-camera coaching that covers what reporters actually need, how to deliver key messages under pressure, and how to tailor answers across TV, print, radio, podcasts, and social media.

In 2025, Crystal launched the company’s Media Training On-Demand service, which provides instant access to the foundations of her popular Media Training classroom session and the opportunity for a one-on-one discussion with her. Whether the Media Training is an in-person, virtual, or on-demand format, Crystal teaches the skills to building a confident, credible spokesperson, and why those same skills serve anyone who represents an organization, on camera or off.

Crisis Communications

It’s not a matter of if, but when a crisis will occur in your organization. The difference between success and failure in a sensitive or crisis situation comes down to whether your team is proactive or reactive.

With decades of crisis communications experience, Crystal has helped organizations navigate leadership transitions, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory and compliance changes, workplace incidents, and health and safety issues. In this session, she teaches Strategic Communications’ approach to developing a crisis communications plan in advance of a potential situation that enables you to anticipate potential threats and implement strategies to mitigate risks before they become issues.

She walks you through the steps to help you identify vulnerabilities, develop comprehensive plans, and learn how to respond effectively under pressure. Developing a plan months before a sensitive situation surfaces will give your organization its best chance to protect its reputation and control its own narrative when it matters most.

Visit the Contact Us page for availability and pricing.