You really CAN judge a book by its cover: Exploring Internal Communication Fifth Edition

After more than a year of planning, researching and writing, both Kevin Ruck and I, are pleased to announce that the new edition of Exploring Internal Communication will be published by Routledge in March 2026.

In the run up to the publication date we’ll be sharing some insights into how we planned and wrote the fifth edition of this go-to book for internal communicators, as well as a few insights into what you’ll find within it.

The new edition will become the core text book for PR Academy’s CIPR internal communication courses.

Explore our internal communication courses

But, first, we’d like to unveil the cover design for EIC⁵, share how it was developed, and invite you to judge what is in our book by its cover!

There have been some tough decisions during the writing process because Exploring Internal Communication is a very well-established title, and we wanted to both preserve and build on the legacy of the previous editions.

As the fifth edition is a complete rewrite of the book, some of the things we debated included the topics and themes which would be included in it, which chapter each of us would be the lead author for and the options for sources, theory and research we would reference to underpin and develop our discussions.

As the bulk of the chapter writing was completed during the summer of 2025, and the manuscript started coming together as a unified book with an emerging identity, we tussled with what should be on the cover to do justice to what we had written.

How could the cover be a visual summary and representation of what was in the book, and highlight how it is different from other books about internal communication?

Fortunately, we had the creative talents of Mark Terry at Neo to help us with the cover design process. Mark provided a smorgasbord of initial options to help us focus on the individual design elements of the cover.

This helped us to consider some fundamentals such as – should it include an image and if so, what would that be? Should it have people on it? What about drawings and vectors of things that you might find in a workplace or that relate to communication? What text should be on the cover and where would that go, and should it include an acronym? What colour palette would be used, or should we go for an understated black or greyscale theme?

Of everything we looked at three design concepts really stood out. They were quite different from the others and slightly ‘dystopian’, featuring images of people and things that looked vaguely artificial and futuristic. They made us think about the rather strange times that we are currently living in and how what is happening in the world is rapidly reshaping organisations, impacting on employees, changing the nature of work and internal communication as a practice.

In the five years since the fourth edition of Exploring Internal Communication was published in 2020 internal communication has arguably gone through the most challenging time in all its history. This has changed internal communication practice forever and these challenges, and how internal communicators can overcome and adapt to them, is a theme running throughout EIC⁵.

So, what does it all mean? Let’s unpack it for you.

The Breakthrough

Sometimes it can be difficult to work out why things work, and why things don’t, in internal communication. We hope that what we’ve written about in the book can demystify some of that and provide the ‘breakthrough’ thinking which enables practitioners to navigate through a new era of internal communication where its value will be both challenged and embraced.

The Listening Ear

Much of Kevin’s recent research projects and publications have explored how listening to employees can become a core element of contemporary internal communication practice. Done well, listening to employees provides high quality insights that result in relevant and appropriate responses and actions which are essential for higher levels of trust and organisational engagement. Listening to employees is a significant theme running throughout EIC⁵.

The EIC⁵ Formula Acronym

As joint authors of the book we have combined our 50 years of work and research experience within the field of internal communication, bringing together our respective academic and practice perspectives. Throughout the book we explain how academic theory can inform and guide effective practice. The EIC⁵ formula acronym signifies that what is in the book is the ‘scientific formula’ for successful internal communication.

The Wedding Ring

The book is fundamentally about practice which is informed by theory. In many cultures, a ring is a symbol of marriage, and impactful internal communication is a powerful ‘marriage’ of theory and practice, which can ground what practitioners do in research and evidence.

The Obscured Eye

So often internal communicators leap into implementation without really understanding or ‘seeing’ what the challenge or issue they are trying to address looks like. This is often through no fault of their own, as internal communication can be a highly pressurised job with demanding stakeholders who seemingly value quick content fixes and outputs over outcomes. We believe in taking an evidence-based approach to internal communication which we describe in the book. This involves undertaking research, analysis and reflection, before acting, to really understand and ‘see’ what the communication interventions need to be.

The Subtitle

Edition four of Exploring Internal Communication was subtitled ‘Towards Informed Employee Voice’ to denote that edition’s focus on a combination of both informing AND listening to employees. Edition five is subtitled ‘Towards Dialogue in the Workplace’ to highlight a shift towards more dialogic approaches to internal communication which are founded in ethical listening practices and responding to employees honestly and openly.

The Yellow Colour Palette

We’d like to say that there are some deep and meaningful reasons for our choice of yellow for the book cover, but there aren’t, we just like yellow. Although, when we presented the cover design to our publisher, she commented that ‘yellow books sell well’ and a quick Google search reveals that yellow is a popular choice for vintage, classic and collectable books. So, maybe EIC⁵ will become the collectable edition of the book and grace coffee tables in years to come!

Get the book

The fifth edition of Exploring Internal Communication will be available for pre-orders online from Routledge on 24 February 2026, with shipping from 17 March 2026.

Comment on Kevin’s post on LinkedIn and we’ll send you a link and discount code nearer the time.

Kevin’s LinkedIn post

Meanwhile EIC⁵ is also available now for pre-order now on Amazon.

Order from Routledge