Page 157 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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1 138 Crisis Communication
Having a written statement that contains most of the information
that you, 1) have, and 2) feel comfortable releasing, serves another
purpose, too. It keeps you from having to repeatedly respond to
reporters’ questions with variations of ‘I don’t know.’ Even though
you’re not expected to have all the answers right away, such an episode
can kill your confidence as it does away with your credibility.
However, if the crisis continues for a while or escalates – for
example, if injured employees later die – you will need to do a media
update. At that point, you can start out with a prepared statement but
you, or your executive, must be ready to take questions.

Know the rules of the game

Here are some general rules, all of which should be delivered to par-
ticipants in a media training session.

General rules of communication in a crisis

Preparation

Have your messages well prepared and rehearsed with key
note cards, but no long pages of information that you can
trip over.
Memorize your messages – the key words, not entire sen-
tences.
Learn the facts – 100 per cent correct and accurate.
Guessing is not allowed.
Introductions
Dealing with reporters is not a social gathering and there is
no time for longwinded introductions. Introduce yourself
and then get to the point.
How you speak

The shorter your sentence, the more powerful it will be.
Think ‘sound bite’.
Be as clear and concise as possible.
Use emotional language only in expressing your concern for
people affected by the incident.
Imagine your listener has the comprehension of a 12 year-
old and communicate at that level.