For many - including myself - the thought alone of crisis communications can be intimidating.
Crises are by definition scary, and as PR professionals, we must
think on our feet and move quickly and confidently to help our
clients get through it. Our own crisis guru, Ashley McCown, is great to learn
from and has shown me that crisis communications is one of the most
important areas of public relations. Stories won't always come out
the way you want them to, natural and man-made disasters occur, and
negative events that you have no control over will impact you. It's
what you do with it that matters.
How a
company manages a crisis impacts its brand and reputation. Here are
a few pointers I've learned in the past couple months as an account
coordinator at Solomon McCown:
1. Get with it! It's the 21st
century. Today's world is a constant race of
who can get the word out fastest, and often accuracy suffers.
(Think CNN and the Supreme Court's Obamacare ruling…)
Twitter can take a tiny local drama to a
national level if it's picked up by influential tweeps. Content can
be twisted into something much uglier than you originally intended,
and yet silence is riskier. At SMC, we monitor any and all coverage
that runs on an incident involving our clients to understand the
coverage, anticipate reactions, and remain as in control of the
situation as possible.
2. Be prepared…or prepare to stress. A
key element of crisis management is anticipating what could go
wrong before it ever does. It's a gloomy task having to prepare for
a tragedy that hasn't happened yet (and hopefully never will), but
it's a valuable exercise. Look at a potential situation from every
angle, then plan and play out all the options. Being ready for the
worst means you won't have to waste precious time in the crisis
thinking about what to do or say. Plus, making rushed decisions
often makes matters worse.
3. Keep your message clear and
concise. Crises are chaotic. When a reporter calls in tough
times and asks hard questions, you better have your answers ready
and rehearsed. If you fumble around without thinking before
speaking, the reporter will likely take advantage. You could end up
being misquoted and/or misrepresented in the media, and therefore
to the public as well. Know the message you want to send in various
situations, and make sure its brief and clear. The most effective
responses consist of three parts: 1) the answer to the question; 2)
data and/or facts to support it; and 3) repetition (restate your
answer and supporting information to drive the main point
home).
4. Know your non-verbals: Body
language is often louder than words. When media training a client, we focus on non-verbals cues to be sure they align with
the issue at hand. Talking about the devastation caused by an
accident while plastering a toothy smile on your face will not only
hurt your reputation (because that's creepy), but it will hurt the
company's image and credibility. The message may be sympathetic,
but the public will only notice that it was said with a smile and
consider it shallow, insincere and insensitive. Adopt a tone
appropriate to the story so that the public can empathize,
understand the situation, and trust that you care and are being as
helpful as possible. It's also important to dress appropriately and
avoid nervous ticks. The goal is to be human while showing
confidence and control of the situation.
These tips are just a few of the many important things to take
note of when dealing with a crisis. People want to see someone that
can acknowledge an issue, take responsibility where it is due, and
work hard to assure it won't happen again. In a day where the
smallest issue can grow exponentially, it's important to be
prepared for the events you hope will never occur.
By Anna Rabin, Account Coordinator at Solomon McCown &
Company