Janine Zacharia

There’s an art and a science to effectively communicating a brand’s story. With society’s unprecedented access to information, an organization’s truths and values can easily be lost in the deluge of misinformation and disinformation in the news and on social media. When top leaders, particularly those in Silicon Valley, need practical, honest guidance for ensuring effective communication both within their organizations and to the public, they turn to Janine Zacharia, Stanford University Department of Communication lecturer.

A renowned journalist, highly valued executive coach and skilled moderator, Zacharia has spent decades crafting and teaching a practical framework for delivering messages that cut through the noise and stick in the minds of target audiences. Through her compelling storytelling strategies, a skill expertly honed while writing and broadcasting for high-profile outlets, including the Washington Post, MSNBC and Bloomberg News, Zacharia helps leaders become influential and inspiring through written and spoken word.

In sessions designed for executives and high-potential junior managers, Zacharia consults on how and when leaders should talk to the press, offering strategic advice on how to deliver the right message, especially during highly consequential events like product launches or crises.

“People get very nervous when they have to speak to a journalist, no matter the reason,” explains Zacharia, who teaches the fundamentals of understanding the changing news environment at Stanford. “I’m really good at helping leaders identify which interviews they should accept and explaining what value they’ll get out of it. It’s essential to train leaders in the C-suite with these media skills.”

Zacharia offers practical tips on impactful messaging for executives, including how to sell ideas to the world – in client meetings, at conferences and to the media – as well as how to differentiate products, strategies for avoiding the creation and spread of misinformation and disinformation, and techniques for becoming smart consumers of information.

The Power of Story: Shaping Brands and Inspiring Teams

At the center of any organization’s communication strategy is a story that is compelling, memorable and relatable. With accessible storytelling playing a greater role than ever in differentiating a company’s offerings, mission and internal culture, Zacharia’s blueprint provides the tools to better influence and inspire teams and the public.

Highly sought after for customized executive storytelling and communication training, she helps leaders get comfortable with delivering a sound rationale for strategic changes or bad news, like layoffs or stock dips. Her lessons focus on not only verbally telling a cohesive story, but also writing one.

“I’m always shocked by large companies’ communication decisions,” observed Zacharia. “If you’re bringing your employees back to the office full-time and it’s already out there in the news, there has to be an internal communication strategy before it goes public. Leaders are opening themselves up to being criticized and analyzed without a real story behind them.”

Co-author of the Stanford published playbooks “Polarization and the Press: 12 Ways to Restore Respect for Your Reporting” (2024) and “How to Report Responsibly on Hacks and Disinformation,” Zacharia’s communication strategies, as delivered through executive education and leadership development workshops, help managers grow their impact beyond their academic or corporate domain to speak and write with clarity and confidence.

Moderating Discussions for Lasting Impact

When an event’s discussions are engaging, insightful, and seamlessly structured, the true value of the conversation is understood. Zacharia’s decades-long career as a journalist equipped her with the charisma and poise to be an adept, unbiased moderator – particularly important when presenting hot-button issues like the rise of AI, misinformation and global affairs.

A versatile and skilled conversation starter, she ties agendas together with clarity, creativity, and fairness. In fireside chats, panel discussions, and executive interviews, she blends rich storytelling, business acumen, and deep knowledge of foreign policy and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to translate complex topics into digestible takeaways that ensure maximum impact.

Janine Zacharia is the Carlos Kelly McClatchy Lecturer at Stanford University Department of Communication.

During her highly regarded foreign affairs reporting career focused on Israel and the Middle East, Zacharia held several top jobs including Jerusalem Bureau Chief and Middle East Correspondent for the Washington Post, State Department Correspondent for Bloomberg News and Washington Bureau Chief for the Jerusalem Post. Her work also took her beyond the Middle East to more than 40 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, including investigative assignments on her own as well as on diplomatic trips with U.S. President George W. Bush, Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, former Central Command Commander William Fallon and others. She became a regular television and radio commentator on Middle Eastern affairs and continues to speak on air and to groups on the unfolding turmoil in the region.

Zacharia writes regularly about foreign affairs for The San Francisco Chronicle, Slate.com and other news outlets, and is a radio and TV commentator who frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN, the BBC and other networks.

She is a graduate of Middlebury College, and a 2008-9 John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford.

Janine Zacharia is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group^®.