In the early stages of most crises, reporters are happy to take information from a company representative regarding the situation. That includes information in your initial response: confirmed details of the crisis and what the company is doing to protect employees, neighbors and customers.

However, you can expect that reporters will demand to talk with a top manager, in many cases the Chief Executive Officer, or whatever title that person has in your organization. This is especially true if things start going wrong.

The incident or event doesn’t need to be a catastrophic fire or other calamity.

For example, I was a public relations manager with responsibility for crisis response at an oil and chemical giant headquartered in Chicago. One morning The Wall Street Journal ran a story about how a senior executive at another oil company referred to minority employees as “M&Ms.” The story was made more scintillating when the reporter mentioned that another executive brought a tape recorder into meetings about minority hiring to catch whoever it was using M&M as a slur.

Although it was noted in the story that the acronym represented a method of managing, training and mentoring diversity and minority hires, not a slur, the story goes to a larger issue: minority hiring in the oil and chemical industries.

Because a story like this can spread like a wild fire and it was only a short walk for reporters from their offices to our headquarters, our public affairs team started to work on messages.

We also asked our outside communications consultant, a recently retired talk radio show host with a reputation of being tough but fair, to be the interviewer that afternoon. He regularly participated in the company’s ongoing media relations seminars and had worked with our CEO a number of times on various communication projects.

Some of those questions were: “Are you satisfied that minorities are comfortable working for your company?” And “Are you satisfied with the mentoring program for newly hired minorities at this company?”

Our consultant recommended we select five random employees and sequester them in another room to watch and rate the interviews. We simulated TV interviews almost exclusively because they are the most difficult to master.

Our CEO was an excellent communicator, able to connect with many types of audiences from investors to employees to neighbors of our refineries and plants. However, something was wrong that day. Frankly, he wasn’t up to his best and the employees’ evaluations showed it.

After three attempts the consultant asked the employees and the public affairs staffers to leave the room. When it was just him and the CEO in the room, he gave him counsel on his performance. Later he told us what he said to our CEO, with the caveat that perhaps only an outsider could do such.

“On most days,” he said, “there are about 50,000 employees working to give you what you need to run this company.

“This isn’t one of them. Today you are working for them.

“You must prove to your employees that what you say about the company’s work environment is more than just talk. You are the only person who can do that.”
We reconvened and the CEO’s interview, incorporating our consultant’s guidance, was one of his best.

We were certain our messages about the work environment were powerful and, most importantly, credible.

Like many stories of this nature, “The Saga of the M&Ms” vanished the next day, but no one who participated in the media training session regretted having invested the time to be ready in case some reporters dropped in for a visit.

Lessons Learned

Don’t be blindsided. In today’s world of instantaneous communications, PR professionals must keep up with what the media is saying about their industry, as well as their organization, its products or services. Most of all they must safeguard the organization’s reputation.

Understand the “primary issues.” You, or someone on your PR staff, should be responsible for identifying and explaining emerging primary issues that could damage your company’s reputation.

Take your case to the media. Keep your top management informed of these issues and prepare a statement with the organization’s position.

Train to communicate. Conduct annual media relations training for the top people in the organization, focusing on TV interviews. Managers and supervisors should attend media training every three years.

As our videographer, John, unloaded a third camera from his SUV, I asked why he brought so much equipment to our media skills training course. After all, we only had five students.

Without looking up he replied, “Because two is one and one is none.”

John explained how that maxim he learned in the Coast Guard applied to equipment for a media training program. He said if you have an important piece of equipment, called “mission essential,” you should assume that if it can break it will break. Once you’ve identified such a piece of equipment you should have a backup.

This advice also applies to the hard-working people on your Crisis Communications Team. Let’s begin with your spokesperson.

Spokesperson: A Human Touch

The most exhausting duty on any crisis communications team is unquestionably that of the spokesperson. There’s no doubt this job can become very difficult especially if you are responding to the same questions in multiple interviews with no new data.

Even if things appear to be going well, the spokesperson is under pressure to deliver the words in the initial press release with a human touch in the sometimes brusque and impersonal atmosphere of press conferences and one-on-one interviews. After awhile even the most seasoned public relations veteran will need a break.

Time also plays a factor in determining when a spokesperson may need relief. I’ve seen oilfield and refinery managers become emotional when asked by a reporter about injuries and fatalities. Rely on your professional judgment to make this decision.

One way to keep your spokesman or spokeswoman effective and focused is to designate an initial and primary spokespeople. As we discuss in the book, the initial spokesperson’s focus should be on the basics of the event and pertinent information for employees, families and neighbors.

The primary spokesperson should be someone with direct knowledge of the crisis subject so he or she can provide a clear picture of the problem. For example, if the crisis is centered in the manufacturing department a manager from that business unit should be appointed primary spokesperson.

No one should be asked to fulfill the role of the initial or primary spokespeople spokesperson without having been through media training.

Review your crisis plan and determine who might need to act as a spokesperson. For example, new managers, supervisors and those who haven’t participated in training for two years should attend. If possible, senior management should have one-on-one sessions with a media trainer to allow for in-depth training because if a crisis is big enough they may have to represent the organization to its many audiences.

The recent disasters in Japan – a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster – are stretching the government’s and the electrical power company’s plans beyond the limits of plausibility.

People around the world watched a nervous spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on television advising citizens to evacuate a-mile area around where the company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear generating plant was spewing radiation.

The crisis quickly devolved into a lack of trust which inflicted serious damage on the reputations of both the government and TEPCO.

Critique your crisis communications plan

Analyzing crises in real-time can give you a sense of how fast an emergency can develop. You should be able to release some information from your organization within one hour. It took far too long for TEPCO and government officials to understand the scope of this event.

Suggestion
Review how long it takes your organization to identify and admit a crisis is in progress. This may be a data-driven exercise or it may be based on anecdotal information. No doubt the definitive answer depends on what type of crisis you choose. Whatever you use the conclusion for this exercise might be a subject worth discussing at a crisis management meeting.This may be data and/or anecdotal.

One source for information

Government and TEPCO officials were releasing conflicting information about the situation at the nuclear generating plant. This led citizens and reporters to wonder whether the information they were receiving was accurate. Don’t have competing outlets for news or information.

Suggestions
If, for example, you are required to coordinate with the Coast Guard in a crisis then ensure you have their current contact information in your plan. Invite Coast Guard officials to participate in your crisis response drills and exercises.

Practice preparing for and participating in joint press conferences with outside agencies that respond to the crisis represented. Conduct crisis communications training with representatives from all outside agencies participating.

In other words, if you respond together, practice together.

Don’t speculate

Early in the crisis a reporter asked Prime Minister Naoto Kan when he thought the nuclear emergency involving the Fukushima nuclear power plant would be solved he answered, “matters there should be resolved soon.” The reporter was asking the Prime Minister to speculate.

The problem: A week later the “matters” were worse.

Suggestion
Anyone who has been interviewed about a crisis would like to tell the reporter everything is okay. It’s natural to want to minimize the situation. However, sooner or later the truth comes out and the situation develops another storyline: Your organization doesn’t tell the truth.

If you don’t know, say you don’t know. The best way to learn how to handle these types of questions is to practice them in media training sessions.

Executive clairvoyance

CNN reported that when offered an opportunity to participate in a practice exercise of a worst-case scenario eerily similar to the recent situation, a TEPCO executive declined, reportedly commenting, “That will never happen.”

Suggestion
Although most crisis response exercises should be concentrated on likely emergency events attention must also be given to a major incident. You should have identified at least one “worst-case scenario” for your organization when you did the preparation work for building your crisis communications for the crisis scenario.

Practice the communications plan

TEPCO sources told reporters that although the engineering crisis plans were occasionally exercised the communications portion of the plan wasn’t.

Suggestion
If you find yourself in such a situation conduct your own practice exercises to ensure your team members know their responsibilities and are familiar with the plan.

Check media accuracy

The media often times gets things wrong, especially when the subject matter is as technical as a damaged nuclear generating plant. For example, during the Japan crisis, some American reporters frequently confused kilometers with miles. That can be extremely important information especially when it is used to describe the evacuation area around a plant.

Suggestions
Include a guide with important concepts, pronunciations, spellings and definitions as an addendum to press releases. In some cases a federally required Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) could be helpful.

If you are monitoring the media for stories about your crisis you also should look for mistakes and bring them to the editor’s attention.

However, that wasn’t the case on December 20 when ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer interviewed three of the nation’s top intelligence officials about the terrorism threat level for the holidays. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence and John Brennan chief White House counter-terrorism expert were Sawyer’s guests.

Near the end of the interview she asked Clapper whether the 12 terrorists arrested in London earlier that day posed a threat to the US.

Clapper was speechless.

Why?

Apparently no one briefed Clapper, whose job it is to “connect-the-dots” of terrorist activity unearthed by various intelligence agencies around the world, about the arrests prior to the interview.

The expression “a deer in the headlights” was coined exactly for this situation.

Don’t let this happen to you. Crisis Management Roles and Responsibilities: Team Leader

This is the kind of incident that would mortify any communications professional. Clapper’s staff failed him by incomplete preparation for a prime time network news show.

Whether the interview topic is national security or the Las Vegas Night fund-raising, the organization’s communication team must provide a briefing to the spokesperson. In most cases such a briefing can be conducted in two minutes.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce the chances of your spokesperson being blindsided.

Conduct media training. Media Training

An interview isn’t a normal conversation. There are critically important skills a spokesperson must master in order to be effective when working with reporters.

Although most people are frightened at the thought of appearing on television a knowledgeable instructor coupled with enough time to practice interview skills can give participants the confidence that they can represent their organization effectively.

Monitor media reports. Crisis Management Roles and Responsibilities: Analyst and Media Monitoring: A Look Outside Your Organization

During a crisis you should monitor media outlets important to your organization to gauge the effectiveness of your communications. Monitoring also can help identify new issues that may become fodder for questions in the upcoming interview.

Identify your audiences. Selecting Audiences and Preparing Messages

Your audiences are people directly impacted by the crisis. For example, in the case of a natural gas explosion that leveled a home the primary audience is the family who owns the home.

Other audiences include neighbors, first responders and humanitarian service providers. If appropriate, you could also include a safety message for natural gas customers in the area regarding what to do if they detect the odor natural gas.

Prepare answers for anticipated questions. Selecting Audiences and Preparing Messages

It won’t take long for a well-practiced Crisis Response Team to determine what questions reporters will be asking. It may take more time to develop answers to those questions.

Those answers must specifically address your audiences’ concerns, emotions and needs. Make certain you check for late-breaking developments. You can assume reporters will ask questions about them.

Check your attitude. Crisis Management Media Skills – Avoiding the Big Oops and Crisis Management Communications Roles and Responsibilities: Spokesperson

It’s not an overstatement to say most business people don’t like reporters. As a professional communicator whether you agree or disagree with that statement doesn’t much matter.

You have a job to do and reporters, especially in a crisis, can help you deliver important messages to your audiences.

Your spokesperson’s posture and facial expressions are indicators of whether he or she will succeed or fail before the first word is uttered.

Brief your spokesperson. Crisis Management Media Skills – Avoiding the Big Oops and Crisis Management Communications Roles and Responsibilities: Spokesperson

Preparing and giving the pre-interview briefing to your spokesperson is one of the most important functions of your Crisis Communications Team. It contains information about the audience, the message and any developing situations. In most cases, that briefing can be accomplished in two minutes; its success or failure could affect your organization’s reputation for years.

The reporter is frustrated after interviewing a candidate. Turning to the camera he says to his colleague in the studio, “Well, that wasn’t very insightful. She wouldn’t discuss anything not on her talking points. When she did answer questions she said the same thing every time.” His colleague agrees and so do many viewers who, in a few days, were voting.

The candidate, who frustrated the reporter and perhaps voters, used what are called “talking points” to prepare her interview. Talking points are succinct statements a spokesperson uses to plan an interview. They must address the emotions and needs of the audience. If used to avoid discussing certain issues or subjects talking points can irritate your audience and damage your credibility.

This article examines how talking points can help you deliver important messages to your audiences in a crisis, especially in the chaotic first hours of the event.

When there is a threat to public safety, property or the environment you have a duty, as a member of the community, to relay the facts of the situation without embellishment or speculation.

Those of you who have been there know that in a breaking crisis there is almost always a shortage of one invaluable resource, namely: verified information. However, there is always something, you can report even if it’s only about the steps you’re taking to determine what’s happening. Those nuggets of verified information form the basis of your initial statement and are your talking points.

To build your talking points identify your most important audiences, their feelings and emotions about the situation. Put yourself in their place and determine what they need to hear from you. This is extremely important in a situation involving injuries.

Example Talking Point Scenario

Let’s say you are the communications manager for Baumholder Manufacturing Company, producing plastic components for automobiles. About 20 minutes ago the company’s production manager came into your office to tell you five employees became light-headed in your plant, apparently from inhaling chemical fumes, and had to stop working.

The fire department was notified at 1:36 p.m. They have arrived with Emergency Medical Technologists and fire-fighting equipment. At their request the plant and administrative offices are being evacuated. There are 106 workers in our plant and offices today. That includes three contract employees.

That’s all the confirmed information you have to this point.

You or someone on your team, if you have one, needs to begin working on talking points for a statement to the media and selecting a spokesperson.

Will reporters show up? That’s hard to predict, however, you need to prepare in case they do. Since most media outlets monitor local emergency radio bands it’s likely you’ll at least receive a phone call or two.

The talking points can also serve as the basis of your initial statement.

Here are what your talking points for this incident could be:

• Our primary concerns are the health and safety of employees and neighbors.
• At approximately 1:30 p.m. five of our production employees became light-headed and had to stop working.
• The fire department and Emergency Medical Technicians are on the scene.
• At the request of the fire department we are evacuating our plant. We have 106 employees working in our facility today. That includes three contract workers.

Notice talking points are focused on the present and do not engage in speculating or predicting. Organizational bragging, such as, “Baumholder Manufacturing Company has a stellar world-class safety record…” is not allowed, especially when the phrase is used to conclude the answer to every question the reporter asks.

If you don’t know the answer to a reporter’s question, say you don’t know and you will try to find the answer and get back to him or her. Don’t minimize negative developments, for example, “only five employees were involved in this incident,” or “operations should return to normal very soon.”

This will quickly call into question your organization’s credibility and competence.

If the statement contains important information such as phone numbers, street addresses and web addresses the spokesperson may highlight these details by saying, “Let me refer to my notes to ensure everyone has the correct information.”

The organization’s communications manager should identify likely spokespersons and arrange the appropriate media training.

What’s so exasperating about talking points?

They prevent important information from reaching the people who need it the most in a crisis: yours stakeholders.

A crisis communications plan is one of the three critical components of an effective crisis response. Together with a clearly stated crisis communications policy and periodic crisis exercises and drills to practice implementing the plan, they are your defense against a crisis that could damage or destroy your organization’s reputation.

A plan is not a solution to solve a crisis. It is a tool that can guide you through the Initial Response – the early, chaotic hours typical of just about any emergency regardless of its nature – and help you plan and manage communications throughout the event.

It also facilitates training new communications team members – be they internal or external resources – in their crisis response duties. In your absence, the plan can give your team the confidence that they’re taking the appropriate actions.

The plan should be integrated into, and support, the organization’s general crisis plan. This is essential for a coordinated, unified response and helps other responders understand the support they can expect from the communications or public relations team.

When it comes to crisis plans, size matters. The thicker the plan the fewer will use it in the heat of battle. In other words: Keep it short, keep it simple.

Seven Steps to an Effective Good Plan

There are seven steps to creating an effective communications plan.

1. Conduct a capability analysis

A capability analysis will help determine the strengths and weaknesses of your communications team. Include an assessment of skills and experience for each member of your team, an inventory of the equipment and the physical space needed to support communications operations.

That may include activities such as sending some of your team members to media training workshops, procuring mobile phones and laptops or designating an enclosed office in which to conduct telephone media interviews. It also may include searching for and retaining an outside communications provider.

2. Select a likely operational crisis scenario

Prepare an operational crisis scenario likely to occur in your organization based on its purpose or business to give context to this process.

For example, if your company operates a petroleum products pipeline you might use a gasoline leak from your pipeline as the scenario for this exercise. Keep the first three developments to no more than two paragraphs. Subsequent updates, perhaps no more than three in an exercise like this, should be distributed, one at a time, within 90 minutes.

These updates are information coming to your team from the scene of the incident. They include media reports, governmental officials commenting on while you are handling the response or first-hand reports from residents in the area who were evacuated from their homes.

Participants in these exercises should include your crisis team members and representatives from parts of the organization who need to coordinate with the communications team during a crisis.

3. Determine the ideal response sequence

Conduct a tabletop exercise using the scenario you selected. A tabletop exercise is a type of crisis training in which participants typically sit around a conference table and discuss responses to a developing crisis, hence its name.

Participants function in the crisis communications team positions they are assigned for the exercise; in most cases, these are roles they would assume in a real crisis. In other words, the team member assigned to the “writer” role participates and analyzes the plan from that function.

The term can also refer to a crisis exercise in which those who have responsibility for implementing the plan discuss each step of a response to a hypothetical emergency situation. Participants in this form of tabletop exercise discuss what decisions and actions they would take to respond to the scenario. This is also used as an opportunity to review and update the crisis communications plan.

Step-by-step, determine the best-case sequence of actions, decisions and resources needed to respond to a crisis and record them as part of your plan.

This process requires an investment in time and attention to detail from every participant. For example, the first step might be an action such as “Alert authorities.” Then determine how that is handled. Who is responsible for that action? Which authorities should be contacted? When?

Go further into the process: Do all of your team members have cellular telephones? If not, what do you do about that? In this day and age, it may sound silly to ask questions like that but it’s important to ensure there are no leaks in the plan.

At some point in any crisis you will be required to provide a spokesperson, trained to work with reporters, to explain what is happening and what your organization is doing about it. If at all possible, potential spokespeople should attend media relations training.

An interview is not a normal conversation and requires special skills to make certain your messages reach your stakeholders.

One of the action items coming out of this process will be to task someone on the team to arrange media training.

Not all crises will require all the actions, decisions and resources you will include in your plan. However, you never know what direction a crisis will take and in a real situation you won’t have time to dig through files searching for information.

You may want to consider arranging actions and decisions in a checklist format in one-hour increments. How many actions and decisions fit into each hour depends on your team and its capabilities identified in Step 1. In the first hour most teams, regardless of size and experience, would find it challenging to create, receive management clearance and release the Initial Statement.

4. Create a “resources needed” list

Based on the results of the tabletop exercise conducted in Step 3, prepare a list of the resources needed to implement the plan, which may include a satellite phone, spare laptops, or food for staffers. Appoint someone on the communications team to manage the procurement process.

5. Test the plan

Now, using the scenario in Step 3, conduct another tabletop exercise to test and evaluate your fledgling draft communications plan.

Don’t forget to incorporate the actions and decisions identified in this exercise in your plan.

6. Repeat the process

Conduct a third tabletop exercise, this time using a non-operational scenario that could occur in your organization such as fraud, executive malfeasance or reports of sexual harassment. This process will no doubt expand the decisions, actions and resources needed in your plan.

Incorporate the actions, decisions and resources identified in this exercise into your plan.

7. Repeat the process again

Conduct a fourth tabletop exercise this time using a worst-case scenario that could befall your organization. This scenario for the petroleum pipeline company could be a significant gasoline leak in a highly populated area.

Incorporate the actions, decisions and resources identified in this exercise into your plan.

When the Balloon Goes Up: The Communicator’s Guide to Crisis Response includes more detailed information on the seven steps to building an effective 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 fatal industrial accidents, military veterans exposed to contaminated dental instruments, the worst environmental disaster in the history of the U.S. and the financial emasculation of two of the world’s largest corporations.

In all these crises there have been “lessons learned” that can, upon study, reveal weaknesses in your crisis communications plan.

It’s also important to know details of recent crises when discussing crisis communications tactics with leaders in your organization.

Here are just three of the lessons learned.

1. Appoint a live spokesperson

Last spring a crisis was brewing at the John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center in St. Louis. Officials there discovered that some 1,800 military vets may have been exposed to HIV and other life-threatening diseases because of improperly cleaned dental instruments.

Although the hospital has been communicating and working with patients at risk since February, when contacted by CNN on July 1 for information about the story hospital officials refused an interview but provided a written statement.

In all but extremely rare cases – especially situations involving threats to people’s health – a spokesperson should be appointed to communicate for the organization. Sending the reporter a copy of a press release or initial statement either before or after the interview is good media relations procedure, but written material is not a substitute for a spokesperson.

Not providing a spokesperson, even if you distribute written statements, immediately triggers suspicion on the part of your stakeholders and the media. They can’t help but think, “what are they hiding,” or “it must be worse than they are saying.”

In a long-term situation that may attract media attention even if there are no new developments, such as the Cochran Veterans Administration HIV/AIDS scare, make certain a designated spokesperson is available on a daily basis.

Of course, spokespeople must be trained in media skills and possibly attend special training relevant to the issue. They absolutely must be from your organization, not consultants or PR firm employees.

With the media paying so much attention to the treatment of disabled active-duty military personnel and veterans these days, shouldn’t we expect our VA officials to respond quickly, professionally and compassionately to a situation like this?

Key learning: A competent and credible organization must provide trained spokespeople on any issue the organization may encounter.

2. Learn to maximize the effectiveness of outside consultants.

There may be times when you must work with an outside public relations consultant or firm. Such professionals can be of great help during a crisis. Here are some tips on maximizing their effectiveness.

Every organization has a unique culture and a certain way of doing things from writing style to conducting a press conference. It is helpful if an outside consultant or firm that may be called to help in your crisis can have some time to acclimate to that culture before he or she is called in an emergency. One way to do this is to invite your consultant to participate in crisis drills and exercises.

But not all contributions from outside PR practitioners are effective.

During May there was some controversy regarding who was in charge of the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico. CNN interviewed a public relations consultant who recommended that BP CEO Tony Hayward be seen on television using a shovel to clean up gobs of oil on a beach to demonstrate his commitment and leadership.

Does anyone believe the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world is spending his time shoveling oil and contaminated sand off a beach? Your primary audience – the families of the workers who lost their lives or were injured and other people affected by the spill – surely would identify this as a PR stunt.

The CEO does have a responsibility to communicate with people who are affected by the crisis and explain what the company is doing in its response. That can be accomplished by briefing reporters with cleanup operations in the background or talking to business owners at their facilities.

Key learning: Don’t resort to PR stunts; they will always backfire.

3. Don’t just “tell ‘em whatever they want to hear.”

Some PR practitioners engage in the “tell them whatever they want to hear” style of consulting. If, for example, the owner of a company mired in a crisis lets it be known she does not want to “deal with reporters” a consultant may tailor his counsel to support that inclination.

What you want is a consultant who, like you, can give insightful and effective public relations counsel and provide management with recent examples of how certain tactics worked or didn’t work to defend organizations’ reputation.

Key learning: Don’t avoid communicating; it only makes the crisis worse.

If you haven’t already done so, follow coverage of the crises and disasters of the last seven months in order to evaluate them with an eye toward improving your crisis communications plan.

That’s why the Crisis Communications Team Leader and managers should view the organization’s website as yet another way to connect with your audiences in a crisis, a communications resource in which you control the messages.

A crisis homepage, also called a “crisis webpage” or “dark site,” takes the place of the organization’s normal website homepage in a crisis and is typically prepared, at least in part, before an emergency. That’s because, like a press release, the earlier it is deployed the more effective it will be in disseminating your messages.

However effective, deploying a crisis homepage does not negate the need for the Crisis Communications Team Leader to assign spokespeople to work with reporters covering the story.

A crisis homepage also sends a strong signal that your organization will be forthcoming with verified information about the situation and will be available to discuss your actions with the media. It also says something positive about your organization’s competency and transparency.

The absence of a crisis homepage also says something about your organization’s competency and transparency. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of reputation you desire.

During the tragic West Virginia coal mine explosion last April, a daily check of Massey Energy Company’s website revealed a homepage designed for less tumultuous events. The page included information about why coal should play a lead role in America’s energy strategy and a link to an article highlighting Massey’s safety program.

What would you want to know if you were personally involved in that crisis? Your answer is a good starting point for determining what information should be on your crisis homepage.

It’s early in the crisis which means you don’t have much information. Share what you do know with your stakeholders.

• Situation synopsis
• Contact information
• Initial statement *

* Indicates linked item from crisis homepage

Situation synopsis

The situation synopsis is a short description of what your organization is doing to respond to the crisis. To be considered timely, the situation synopsis mustit be updated at least daily. For example, CPM Energy, a fictitious natural gas provider, could have posted this situation synopsis concerning an explosion and fire attributed to a contractor inadvertently striking a gas pipeline at a construction site.

An explosion and fire injured one person and damaged three vehicles at a construction site in West Valley this afternoon.

West Valley Police spokesperson Marie Williamson said the accident occurred while a worker operating a bulldozer struck a natural gas pipeline at 3167 N. Catalpa St., the flood control area construction site.

The injured worker was taken to University Hospital where officials have not released the person’s identity or condition pending notification of family members.

The fire department has extinguished the blaze and CPM Energy workers have turned off the flow of gas in the area.

Contact information

This section should contain phone numbers and e-mail addresses of people in and outside your organization who can provide information about the crisis and, if appropriate, provide assistance.

During the fictitious natural gas explosion used in the discussion above CPM Energy’s crisis homepage could list contact information for:

• Fire Department
• Police Department
• CPM Energy Emergency Service
• CPM Energy claims department
• CPM Energy media department

Initial statement

The initial statement you provide the media should contain the confirmed information your stakeholders need. As a matter of fact, the statement is the key element of your crisis homepage’s first iteration.

As more confirmed information is discovered add it to the homepage. That could include:

• Updated synopsis
• Current press release*
• Appropriate executive’s comments*
• Videos*
• Relevant media coverage*

*Indicates linked item from crisis homepage

Updated synopsis
Update your synopsis daily, at a minimum. Even if there are no new developments or confirmed information, you can freshen the statement. The CPM Energy document below is a good example of an updated synopsis.

CPM Energy technicians today completed inspecting the 36 construction sites – both active and completed – operational during the last 90 days in the West Valley area near natural gas pipelines. All 36 sites were in compliance with operating standards and showed no evidence of leaks or damage.

If you detect a natural gas odor call CPM Energy at 555-1200 immediately and follow the emergency service specialist’s instructions.

Current press release
Replace the initial statement with the current press release. It should be posted to the crisis homepage the moment it is released to the media. Post subsequent press releases to the crisis homepage.

Executive’s comments
Have an executive with the appropriate job title and rank explain how the organization is responding to the situation. Those comments can be either written or on video.

Please allow me to repeat: Posting those comments in no way relieves you from the obligation to provide spokespeople to work with reporters covering the emergency.

Videos
Feature videos of your employees working to accomplish what your executive in the video above described to show that your organization is mobilized and responding.

Relevant media coverage
When appropriate, post copies and videos of media coverage of the crisis to keep your stakeholders informed.

Test your prototype crisis homepage in crisis exercises. After you’re satisfied with its performance – you should be able to deploy or update it within one hour – demonstrate the concept to appropriate management and develop guidelines for its use.

A crisis homepage is an excellent communications tool with which to ensure your stakeholders are receiving information about the crisis directly from you, uncut and unedited.

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 minimize the chance that something your spokesperson says or does during an interview could damage your organization’s reputation.

I was present at such a moment a few days before the first Gulf War began.

As a member of an oil company’s public relations communications team I routinely facilitated interviews about our products, operations and positions on a variety of business issues. Since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 and the Allied response was primarily about who would control Kuwaiti oil the media was interested in information for stories about how a war would affect oil prices. They wanted to talk to the industry decision-makers.

As a result, one morning I was sitting next to an ABC-TV cameraman in the office of the executive responsible for our company’s crude oil supply. Our executive was explaining to a business reporter the benefits of a then-new online system allowing subscribers to track oil prices in real-time.

After the interview the reporter, a former stockbroker, asked our executive to explain a few more features of the system, which he gladly did. After five minutes the reporter said, “Thanks. I’ve taken up a lot of your time so I’ll let you get back to work.”

“No problem,” our executive replied patting the top of his desktop monitor, “I have to get back to manipulating the price of oil.”

Horrified, I glanced at the microphone control and, sure enough, it was still on. In other words, the entire post-interview conversation was recorded, not with any “got you” trickery in mind, but our executive’s attempt at humor while discussing a serious issue was now in the public domain.

Needless to say there was a crowd at the public affairs conference room late that afternoon watching the ABC World News to see if the reporter used any of the material from the post-interview discussion.

To everyone’s relief he didn’t, but the point is, he could have within the bounds of journalistic standards.

That incident prompted us to make some changes in our two-day spokesperson training program that Crisis Communications Team Leaders might consider adding to your media training plans.

Some of those changes included:

Attitude

Regardless of what you think about the media, the quickest way to disseminate information about a crisis or emergency situation to your stakeholders is through the broadcast and online capabilities of media. Yes, reporters and their crews can be pushy and brusque at times but remember they are working under deadline pressure to gather the news and deliver it to millions of people.

Don’t consider an interview a waste of time or an attempt to somehow make your organization look bad. Rather view it as a welcome opportunity to reach out to your audiences.

Your, or your spokesperson’s, attitude can make the difference between connecting with your audiences or casting doubt over your organization’s competence and credibility. Audiences make judgments about attitude and credibility within a few seconds which doesn’t give your scowling, huffy spokesperson much of a chance.

We added this and other information about making a good first impression and, for lack of a better term, body language to the seminar. While you don’t want to devote the entire workshop to these topics they deserve mention.

Practice

Time and situation permitting, practicing delivering your messages out loud can give you a boost of confidence. Knowing what you want to say can help settle the butterflies.

In a crisis, it’s permissible for a spokesperson to refer to notes during the interview; especially when discussing key messages. You might say, “I have some important information for the residents in the area and I’d like to refer to my notes to make certain I cover all of it.”

We carved out a five-minute practice session for each participant before their on-camera interviews. This gave them one more chance, in private, to fine-tune their message and practice delivering it. Just before or immediately following those interviews our role-playing reporters would engage in some informal discussion with the spokesperson.

For example, during training for Gulf War interviews one reporter would say, “I’ll bet you’re getting tired of doing all these interviews.” That could be answered by the company’s view of communicating; “It’s important that our customers have the facts about this situation.”

And furthermore

Here are a few more do’s-and-don’ts that can make your next media training workshop or interaction with the media a success. By the way, a successful interview is one in which you reach your selected audiences with the information they need to know regarding the crisis or situation.

• The mic is always on. Consider every microphone, camera, tape recorder and mobile phone camera in the area to be “on” the entire time reporters or technicians are present.
• You never know who’s listening. Never discuss the issue you are working on in the midst of people you don’t know, for example, in an elevator, taxicab, airplane or restaurant.
• What you say is fair game. While technicians are making final adjustments before the interview or packing up afterward the reporter might strike up some friendly chit chat. Be careful what you say; it’s all on the record.
• Never go “off-the-record”. Except in extremely rare cases, there is no such thing as “off-the-record” in a crisis. OTR and exclusives should never used especially in the early stages of a crisis. Granting special access and information during the crisis will jeopardize your relationship with reporters from the outlets that are not part of the arrangement.
• It’s not funny. Any attempt to use humor in a crisis will be viewed as tasteless and may indicate your organization is not taking the situation seriously.
• Stand up. When participating in a telephone interview, stand up. Standing can help you project your voice. It also serves as a reminder that you are engaged in a media interview, not a normal conversation.
• Don’t speculate. If you don’t know the answer to a reporter’s question say you don’t know, even if your intent is to calm people down. Tell the reporter you’ll get back to her or him with the answer as soon as possible.
• Don’t lie. Further elaboration is not necessary.

Finally

Remember, from the time you see a media truck’s headlights appear until the taillights disappear, everything you do and say is on the record.

Good luck in your interview.

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 been able to watch this landmark case study unfold in media of all forms from print to social, let me bring you up to speed. The developments beginning in the middle of February yielded particularly interesting crisis response learnings.

Toyota’s Crisis Communications Troubles

Toyota Issues Confusing Information to Media

Auto giant Toyota, long renowned for its high-quality vehicles, surprised industry insiders and consumers alike by recalling 8.8 million vehicles for safety defects. One of those defects is called a “runaway accelerator,” also called “unintended acceleration.” In this situation, the car’s accelerator pedal is jammed open and the driver cannot slow or stop the car.

With literally millions of Toyotas being repaired and Toyota executives testifying before a U.S. House Community regarding the situation, a company official announced, “The parts we are installing may not be fixing the acceleration problem [in our vehicles].”

The announcement, which was true and needed to be made as soon as possible, literally destroyed any further credibility the company had with customers and regulators.

Crisis Response Lessons

Before you or a spokesperson releases a statement on behalf of your organization make double-certain every single word, letter and punctuation mark in the statement is accurate. Ensure that the information it contains is verified by the organization and any other entity that is involved in the crisis.

Ensure your crisis response plan includes a “boilerplate”outline for this type of statement.

If you don’t know, say you don’t know.

Toyota Crisis Communications: Company’s Priorities Became Confused

During the last week in February, Akio Toyoda, the company’s president, apologized for the grief and concern caused by Toyota vehicles in thousands of accidents. The “priorities” Toyoda cited were a set of business principles the company adopted in April 2001.

“These priorities became confused,” Toyoda explained at the congressional hearing, “and we were not able to stop, think and make improvements.” According to Google Media, this statement was picked up by some 58,000 news and information outlets within six hours.

Crisis Response Lesson

In all seriousness, a statement like this should call into question the type of organization for which you are working.

Crisis communications professionals have two audiences during an event.

The first audience is, of course, people affected by the crisis. For corporate or agency communicators, the second audience is comprised of the news directors, editors, reporters and other media professionals who tell your story.

Your accomplishments, achievements and, most importantly, your honesty, professionalism and reputation become your resume in the in the communications business.

If you ever find yourself in an organization whose CEO has just said over a live microphone or in front of a camera, “those priorities became confused, and we were not able to stop, think, and make improvements…” make your next call of that day to a headhunter.