Edelman’s Michelle Hutton led the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s (PRIA) 2014 Conference in Brisbane, with her keynote address emphasising the need for collaboration across multiple disciplines – particularly Marketing and PR.

Vinh Giang, TEDx speaker and magician, brought the conference to a close with an innovative take on public speaking, and how it relates to the modern PR practitioner.

“Our new responsibility to challenge communications marketing will only happen with superb creative work – work that is integrated, brave and has a real purpose at its core,” said Hutton.

What that means is creating innovative campaigns now requires agencies to take one step further, and create multidisciplinary teams, building on the knowledge and opinions of a number of academic disciplines to form solutions to communications problems.

The recently taught concept of a multidisciplinary approach is now forming part of the communications courses at in tertiary institutions – the first of which is UTS, with communications students now categorised into teams of multiple majors. Students from cultural studies, advertising and public relations now work in partnership with non-profit organisations and build suites of communication products for the recently developed subject, Communications Practice Project.

With academic institutions imbuing the idea of working in such diverse teams in their graduates, PRIA seized the opportunity at its #PRIA2014 Conference to remain on the forefront of new ideas and trends.

PRIA took the metaphor of magic to shed some light on the need for clear communication to allow collaborative efforts to take place. Magician and self-professed showman, Vinh Giang, gave PRIA conference goers his formula for public speaking, which involved three factors: sight, sound and sync.

“Life is just like a stage. Put on your best performance,” said Giang.

The entrepreneur’s passion for public speaking and conveying a message, while presenting the right social cues to an audience, has profound relevance to all; from employees pitching clients to CEOs constantly thrust into the limelight.

Confidence is the key in this business, as Giang noted. Leadership is all about generating trust and inspiring your audience.  The former South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year is fascinated by the psychology behind magic, and how illusions play tricks on how we do business. “I find ways to unlock the minds of his audience, to ensure messages are memorable and will create lasting change not only to business, but to people’s personal lives as well,” a message which reads loud and clear to the collaborative approach.