Crisis Management: 3rd Party Oversight – Helpful in Crisis Investigations: Crisis planning One of the best crisis resolution tools is third party review – having outside experts or mediators provide solutions and/or corrections. This approach is NOT for you if you love a good public fight and the exhilaration of battling in the news media. It is […]
Crisis Management: 33 miners media trg + news conf tips: Crisis communications With the rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners, here are two pieces of information that could be helpful to you: 1) the essence of the media training the miners received to prepare them for the reporters and 2) an array of tips from me if you ever […]
Crisis Management: 3 Ways To Avoid Sounding Scripted in Media Interviews: Crisis communications Being on-message with the media is great. Sounding on-message can appear ridiculous and hurt credibility. NPR news anchor Linda Wertheimer said she loathes interviewing obsessively message-based people because they only say what they want and not much else. Former Nightline Anchor Ted Koppel got irritated with presidential […]
Crisis Management: 15 Must-do’s For a Layoff: Crisis Communications There is no end to plant closings and layoffs whether good economic times or bad. How companies convey this awful news reflects their values. Every situation is unique, but here are communication guidelines that I hope you never need. 1. Avoid a “bolt from the blue.” Regularly brief employees on the […]
Crisis Management: 10 Crisis Communications Action Steps: Crisis response When a client and I meet to solve a problem, the Reassurance Principle sets a philosophical foundation, then we turn to this Crisis Communications Action Tree to guide us toward more specific actions. (The Reassurance Principle states that since news consumers usually want to know most of all […]
Crisis Management: Words Are Not Enough: Crisis Response In 2002 U.S. Senator Trent Lott and United Airlines faced monumental challenges as they tried to talk their way out of trouble. Senator Lott fell into a self-dug political pit by supporting the old segregation days (perhaps unintentionally) while praising 100-year old colleague (now deceased) Sen. Strom Thurmond. Sen. […]
Crisis Management: When Should the CEO Be Spokesperson?: Crisis communications In 2002, as rescuers dramatically saved 9 coal miners trapped in Somerset, PA, the chief spokesperson was Governor Mark Schweiker; not an expert in mines, safety or rescue, not a law enforcement officer or local political official, but the Governor, the chief executive of the state. He […]