This paper describes how communications was used to improve engagement with and perceptions of the United Nations. It outlines a campaign to break with protocol and establish a new seat for the public at the UNFCCC’s COP24 climate change conference. Called the People’s Seat, the campaign encouraged more public engagement with the organisation, using crowd-sourced contributions for an address from the seat, delivered by Sir David Attenborough during the 2018 conference in Katowice, Poland. The event generated widespread media coverage and subsequent survey data showed an increase in support for the body, particularly in the US.