Any organization, regardless of its purpose or size, can experience a crisis with the potential to damage or destroy its reputation. Such an event is also the ultimate test of a communicator’s ability to think strategically and employ effective tactics in the face of tremendous pressure.
Because it can expand like a wildfire your response plan and people must be ready before a crisis occurs.
When the Balloon Goes Up: The Communicator’s Guide to Crisis Response is the how-to book to assist public relations practitioners, communications specialists and students of these subjects prepare for and respond to a crisis.
This article discusses three lessons learned from crises over the last seven months. Steps to avoid these missteps should be included in your crisis communications plan. Over the past seven months the media have relentlessly covered major crises ranging from a superstar athlete’s fall from grace, a massive vehicle recall because of safety problems, two [...]
In a fast-breaking crisis, communicating early and often can link your stakeholders with your messages and establish your organization as a reliable source of verified information. However, traditional communications channels quickly become clogged with speculation, conjecture and rumors about your organization and how it is handling the crisis. That’s why the Crisis Communications Team Leader [...]
Did you ever wish something you said could be grabbed from the air before anyone heard it? From a high-ranking government official to the owner of a local car repair business no one is immune from misspeaking in an interview, especially in the high-pressure environment of a crisis. Thankfully, there are measures you can take [...]
To fine-tune your crisis response skills, we’ve advocated watching other organizations and practitioners handle real-life traumas and analyze their emergency strategy and tactics. For example, the ongoing Toyota recall crisis has provided a bonanza of crisis management lessons, all of which belong in your crisis communications notebook, if they’re not there already. If you haven’t [...]
One of the most important components of crisis response is effective communications, but to whom should you be talking and what should you be saying? That depends on which stage your communications efforts are in: Initial Stage Primary Stage Recovery Stage Let’s take a look at communications in these three stages. Initial Stage Making a [...]
From the world’s best golf professional to a politician to the director of a local charity, personalities at the top of their profession can engage in behavior that can damage or destroy their reputation and that of their organizations. Situations like these are some of the most difficult a communicator can face because they inevitably [...]
A crisis communications plan organizes your team into neat, specific roles and responsibilities to facilitate rapid and accurate response. But ask anyone who has responded to a crisis, even a “small incident,” and they will tell you there are myriad administrative events and developments that fall outside those roles that can overwhelm the communications team. [...]
Bright lights switch on. Microphones and tape recorders are thrust at you. Harried reporters ask brusque questions. What kind of person voluntarily steps into such mayhem? If you are a member of a Crisis Communications Team that person might very well be you. Even if you aren’t going to face the bright lights and microphones, [...]
For a variety of reasons many people don’t like to write. Whether it’s the trauma of getting started, struggling to find the right words or conquering writer’s block, writing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Introduce the pressure, fear, panic and uncertainty a crisis creates and you’ll understand why writing crisis response communications is so challenging. [...]
In the last article we discussed the role and responsibilities of the communications team leader. This article covers the duties of the communications analyst, the person who ensures the response is effective. An Important Crisis Management Role The analyst gathers and interprets data about the crisis from several sources to determine the effectiveness of the [...]
