How to Get Approval for your Crisis Communications News Release?

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Crisis communications experts and public relations professionals can write excellent and effective crisis news releases. That is what they were trained to do, that is their gift. The challenge is, getting that crisis news release past the lawyers, executives, and CEOs of the company who will debate over each and every comma. So how do you get approval for a news release and address your audience with a public statement within one hour of your crisis? Find out in this Master Class video recording with special guests Rural Electric Cooperative CEO Ron Barnes, and VP of Marketing and Communications Melissa Russo:

Use this link to schedule a free, private call: https://calendly.com/braud/15min

To schedule a free, confidential demo for the crisis communications software SituationHub, visit: https://www.situationhub.com/

Visit this link to enjoy a full replay of this Master Class sponsored by SituationHub.com.

More crisis communications articles:

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

5 Steps to Effective Crisis Communications: Master Class #1

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

Crisis Communications, Black Lives Matter, and Corporate Policy

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

In this year of crisis upon crisis, many brands have been stumped and confused as to how to address the Black Lives Matter #BLM movement and the associated social justice issues.

The Black Lives Matter movement has created some communications challenges that are in some ways unique, but in other ways, can be addressed using the 5 Steps to Effective Crisis Communications.

Consider these steps for addressing #BLM, and any other social or political issue in the future. Keep in mind, these suggestions are not based on how significant the issue may be, but rather on techniques for effective crisis communications.

1. Any activist movement or protest could affect your company if you are called upon to comment.

In the case of Black Lives Matter, your company or brand may have been called upon to make a statement of support.

But before you decide if you’ll say something and what that might be on this or any other social issues, we must consider Step 1 of the 5 Steps to Effective Communications, which is based on your Vulnerability Assessment. (I encourage you to watch this week’s video, where I go into more details than I will go into in this blog.)

Your Vulnerability Assessment is designed to assess situations that could affect your organization’s revenue, reputation, and brand.

Commenting on any social issue, political issue, or political figure, can have a positive or a negative effect on your organization’s revenue, reputation and brand.

Black Lives Matter is unique because a brand statement of support pleased some, while angered others. Sometimes the words of support even angered members of the #BLM moment, if not done to their standards.

For example, unique to this situation, some brands that voiced support were criticized because their support was not accompanied by tangible action. Watch the video for tangible examples.

2. Your Vulnerability Assessment has the ability to identify a situation that can actually lead to corporate policy, which will also shape your future response and behavior.

You should have a frank discussion and establish policy about whether your brand does or does not comment on social issues, political issues, or candidates. If your brand’s position is that you never comment on such issues, when asked to do so, you need to have a statement ready that explains your corporate policy.

If you do speak in favor of an issue, policy or candidate, be ready for how it affects your brand. Home Depot reportedly has a policy not to comment or support, but reportedly their co-founder donates heavily to a presidential candidate, causing shoppers to go to Lowes if they don’t like the supported candidate.

Goya Foods is facing a boycott after its CEO praised the President at a White House Event.

3. Also, consider whether action by your brand is part of your corporate policy.

At the height of the #BLM protests, many protesters criticized brands that offered verbal support, asking, “So what are you going to do about it?”

Some organizations have taken the pro-active step of establishing various funds for various causes, such as social justice, women’s issues, LGBTQ issues, and more. Additionally, they establish committees of employees who have a say in how, when, and to whom the funds are given.

In conclusion, let me make two points. First, I’m not telling you which approach is best for your brand. That needs to be decided based on your Vulnerability Assessment. Secondly, throughout your career, you will face many watershed moments and face many significant issues. As a brand, you should never be surprised and you should always be prepared.

To have a confidential conversation or to schedule a Virtual Vulnerability Assessment, please use this link.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

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Covid-19 Crisis Communications Webinar Recording

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

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COVID-19 Crisis Communications: How to Get My Boss to Listen to My Crisis Communication Advice?

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

Many communicators and public relations practitioners share the same struggle right now, and it isn’t just the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic itself. The problem they face is fighting an uphill battle against a boss who won’t communicate, despite professional advice to communicate more effectively than ever before.

As a communication expert, you know that employees and customers need updates to address the uncertainties.

And therein lies the problem.

Because facts are not always known in these uncertain times, many executives feel paralyzed. They fear making a proclamation that is incorrect or that they have to walk back. Good. You should have that fear. Others fear giving false hope. Good. Don’t give false hope.

Some are paralyzed because they fear having to deliver bad news, such as layoffs or closing a business.

There is an answer. You should issue communications that clearly says,

These are uncertain times. We know you are looking for answers. We want answers too. But there are so many events that are beyond our control that we simply are not able to give you those answers, because we don’t know what they are.

You see, sometimes the best option is to simply state the obvious. Express that you understand the pain, problem, and predicament. Express that you are looking for answers and when you get them you will share them.

A little communication that states the truth, is better than no communications because of uncertainty.

The Boss Who Won’t Communicate

Those of us who practice crisis communications have long observed the problem of executives who fail to engage in crisis communications. Several frustrated communicators asked about it during a webinar I taught last week with my colleague Bill Coletti at Kith. (You can listen to the full replay here)

Let me go a little deeper on this issue.

This may come as a surprise to you, but a crisis doesn’t make an executive want to prepare or respond in the way you would expect. It’s really hard to explain. It goes against conventional wisdom. You would think that everyone would be jumping on board with best practices and seeking out a top crisis communication expert.

A few will. Most won’t.

Those who won’t communicate suffer from simply having a personality type that causes decision paralysis. Others simply don’t “get it.” They have never been taught that communications has a value.

So What Can You Do?

Start with Step 1 of the 5-Steps to Effective Crisis Communications, which is to create a Vulnerability Assessment.

In the webinar, we also talked about the concept of making a list. On one side you list all the reasons not to communicate and on the other side, you list all of the reasons to communicate.

The struggle is real.

One of two things will happen:

  1. Your boss will listen, come around, and see the benefits.
  2. Your boss refuses to let you, the communicator, do what you are professionally trained to do, which means that it is time to find a better place to work.

The problem of the boss who won’t communicate is nothing new and sadly COVID-19 won’t change it.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

Covid-19 Crisis Communications Webinar Recording

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

Cyber Threats and Crisis Communications

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC 

Cyber threats, cyber hacks, denial of service attacks, and cyber ransom events should be one of the top things you focus on when it comes to crisis communications and the Five Steps to Effective Crisis Communications system.

Each one of these has the ability to damage your organization’s revenue, reputation, and brand. Each of my crisis communication plans have up to six pre-written news releases designed to address the various types of cyber threats and attacks. I have sent out three new updates to my clients since January.

Cyber issues have generated the greatest number of calls I have received in the past 12 months from organizations that want to update their crisis communications plan and crisis communications strategies. Cyber issues are a perfect example of the types of issues you should discuss during Step 1 of Effective Crisis Communications, which is your quarterly Vulnerability Assessment. The nature of cyber threats changes daily as hackers adopt new methods to take your system down.

Daily, there are news stories about cities, counties, and states that cannot function because hackers have taken over their system. Daily there are stories of companies that get hacked and can’t serve their customers until their systems are back up. Massive class action lawsuits happen when an organization loses control of personal information.

What goes unreported is that many of these organizations have not spent the money needed to keep their systems safe, which means they are spending a small fortune to try to recover their systems.

Cyber Ransom and Cyber Insurance

Most hackers are happy to restore your system for you, if you simply pay a ransom. The hackers are wise enough to request an amount of money that is less than the cost of losing business or paying experts to restore your system and end your cyber crisis.

This requires organizations to have a discussion about both cyber insurance and whether or not you would pay a ransom. As a policy, most organizations will firmly say they don’t pay ransoms because they fear the hackers will attack a second time. But the reality is, many cyber insurance companies will pay the ransom because it costs less than to manually restore a system. Trust me – the hackers know this.

What Should You Do?

If you follow the Five Steps to Effective Crisis Communications,

Your responsibility is to:

  1. Hold a Vulnerability Assessment to include all of the latest forms of cyber attacks.
  2. Update your Crisis Communications plan to make sure it covers cyber scenarios.
  3. Write new Pre-Written News Releases for every type of cyber issue.
  4. Train your spokespeople to talk about cyber issues in a news conference.
  5. Pick a cyber attack as a great crisis drill scenario.

If you need to schedule a free strategy call or if you need ask about any of the Five Steps to Effective Crisis Communications, please use this link to schedule a free 15 minute strategy call with me.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

How to Use Social Media for Crisis Communications

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash

How to Write a Crisis Communication Plan Part 5: Your Crisis Drill

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC 

Our crisis communication goal since the beginning of the year has been to focus on consistency and continuity, rather than short-term New Year’s resolutions. Today we look at effective ways to test your Crisis Communication Plan by holding a Crisis Communication Drill.

Many organizations have crisis drills or exercises, but they are heavily focused on emergency response, incident command, and natural disasters. While these are all good scenarios, many organizations fall short in their crisis drill because they:

  1. Fail to write news releases
  2. Fail to go through the news release approval process
  3. Fail to conduct news conferences
  4. Fail to test spokespeople
  5. Fail to test their crisis communications plan

Your Crisis Communications Drill is the 5th element of the Five Steps to Effective Crisis Communications system that we have been discussing since the beginning of the year.

A Crisis Communications Drill should test all teams for their ability to respond to the event.

How to Pick Your Crisis Drill Scenario

The scenario for the drill can come from any of the items you identified in Step 1 – Your Vulnerability Assessment. Your drill scenario does not need to be an emergency type issue. Remember, not every crisis is an emergency. Feel free to creatively select a smoldering crisis issue.

When Does the Drill Begin?

Generally you want to tell your team which day to block out for the drill. Some organizations pick a specific time, such as 9 – noon, followed by lunch, followed by up to two hours for the post-drill evaluation meeting. However, keep in mind that on the day of your real crisis, not everyone is at work, so a drill doesn’t have to have a full staff. Also, if you start a drill at rush hour when people are driving to work or taking the kids to school, you can effectively add stress and realism to your crisis drill.

Test the Crisis Communications Plan

The goal of your drill should be to:

  1. Test your crisis communications plan you wrote in Step 2
  2. Test the pre-written news releases that you wrote in Step 3
  3. Test the approval process of using those news releases
  4. Test the spokespeople that you media trained in Step 4
  5. Test your various teams to ensure they can all work together well

Realistic News Conferences

When it comes time for news conferences, make them realistic. The spokesperson should use the Pre-Written News Release as their script. Questions should be realistic and tough, without getting silly.

Post-Drill Evaluation

When the drill is over, evaluate all of the aspects of the drill and make improvements to your Crisis Communications Plan.

Ultimately, a Crisis Communications Drill lets you mess up in private so you don’t mess up in public.

Schedule a drill at least once a year, although many organizations do it once a quarter.

As we’ve mentioned all year, be consistent in doing this every year so that there is continuity and continuous improvement in your organization.

If you need to schedule a free strategy call or if you need ask about any of the Five Steps to Effective Crisis Communications, please use this link to schedule a free 15 minute strategy call with me.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

How to Use Social Media for Crisis Communications

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Take 5 Minutes to Shape Your 2020

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

You made it. Another year down. It is just about that time to turn your corporate work brain off.

It is time to rest.

We’ll be taking our blog silent until about January 6th, 2020. But before we go, you deserve a special thank you. Your loyalty, support and readership over these many years is constantly appreciated.

A number of you have evolved from being colleagues in a professional organization, to being clients, to being great personal friends. That’s really cool.

It is truly a blessing to serve you by doing the things that come natural to me. Today day marks 22 years since I left television news and embarked on this journey with you. You’ve paved the road for me and for that I am most grateful.

It’s also worth noting that each year around this time, many public relations people tell me they feel undervalued in their professional careers. For example, many who hoped to do media training or write a crisis communications plan were told, “No, we don’t have time for that,” or, “We don’t have budget for that.” This negative response is also true for many of your other strategic communication and brand goals.

Before the end of the year, take five minutes to read this article to help you with those frustrating work experiences. Then, rest your mind and put those negative thoughts out of your head for the next few weeks. We’ll revisit your goals in January.

Focus on spending time with your family. Focus on giving love, joy or gifts to all, whether they are best friends or complete strangers.

Take time to experience the joy of the season.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

How to Use Social Media for Crisis Communications

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash

Twas the Night Before Christmas…with Unnecessary Corporate Edits

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

It is painful to watch. It is painful to listen to. But it is also painful when a trained public relations professional and writer, sends their news release to the leadership team for approval. So I’ve created a shareable holiday greeting designed to make a point.

Has it happened to you?

You submit a news release for approval, then the CEO, CFO, CIO, CTO and every other C-Suite title, goes to work. Red pens in hand, heads down, they begin making unnecessary edits.

  • They add corporate jargon.
  • They pollute the document with legal terminology.
  • They add ten words where one word would do.
  • They debate and fight over commas.
  • They craft run-on sentences.

In short, the approval and editing process can be ugly.

So for all of you who have taken your red pen to someone else’s work…

For all of you who have been victims of the red pen…

I share with you (and I encourage you to share with those around you), a painful, living example, of what can happen when you make unnecessary edits.

Merry Christmas from Braud Communications.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

How to Write News Releases for Your Crisis Communications Plan?

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC 

Click here to watch the YouTube Video

There is an old expression that says, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

In the world of crisis communications and crisis communications plans, that saying should sum up the concept of planning and preparing.

Why would you wait to decide what to do in a crisis, on the day of your crisis, when you can predetermine your actions through a crisis communications plan, as we discussed in yesterday’s blog.

Writing pre-written news releases falls into this same category.

Why would you waste time writing a news release in the midst of a breaking crisis, when 95% of your crisis news release can be written on a clear, sunny day?

– Gerard Braud

(Get more details when you download our free course on the 5 Steps to Effective Crisis Communications)

If you want to be a crisis expert, examine what goes right in most crises and what goes wrong in most crises.

In the age of social media, one of the things that perpetually goes wrong is that eyewitnesses tell your story long before your official, well-informed account is ever told.

A perpetual pain, problem and predicament for public relations people is that since so many people fail to plan ahead, they wait until they are in the midst of a crisis before they write the first word of their crisis news release.

Imagine you have a fire and explosion. Imagine that people may be dead or injured. Imagine that there is a fire and evacuations are necessary. And imagine that in the midst of all of this chaos and anxiety, you have to open a new Word document and start writing a news release. Yes, imagine that you are staring at a blank computer screen and writing from scratch. That, my friends, is insane.

Furthermore, you’ll spend 30 minutes to an hour drafting your release. Then your crisis management team will spend 30 minutes to an hour marking up and making edits to your first draft… so that pisses away two hours. By the time you finish your second draft and the approval of your second draft, it will likely be 3 to 4 hours before your company releases their very first statement. Keep in mind that within the first 60 seconds of that explosion, eyewitnesses started posting pictures and video on social media. Some eyewitnesses may be broadcasting your crisis live on social media. You are insane if you are going to let 3 to 4 hours pass without an official news release.

At a minimum, your organization should have a First Critical Statement issued in one hour or less of your explosion. A First Critical Statement is a basic pre-written news release that can be edited and released in 5 to 10 minutes. If you don’t have one, download one free from my website. Use the coupon code CRISIS

https://braudcommunications.com/product/first-critical-statement/

Today, on a clear, sunny day, you can likely write 30 smart, well-worded sentences that could be used as your crisis news release for that explosion.

What might that look like?

It would include:

  • Who
  • What
  • When
  • Where
  • How many are dead
  • How many are injured
  • How many are missing
  • Are evacuations underway
  • Where are people being evacuated to
  • What corrective actions or responses is your company taking
  • What should the community members do
  • Which agencies are responding
  • A clear statement that says it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause until a full investigation is completed
  • A sincere statement of empathy without it being a statement that inadvertently accepts any responsibility that would cause your lawyers to halt all communications
  • A managed expectation of when things might return to normal
  • Communications about contingencies for the community, customers, and employees

How to write the perfect crisis news release?

  • Write it like a news story.
  • Don’t bury the lead.
  • Don’t make it self-centered and company facing.
  • Write it like a speech, because you’ll want your spokesperson to read it to the media at a news conference.
  • Write it for the spoken word and not for the written word. That means eliminate sentences with commas. Use short, staccato sentences. Never use compound sentences.
  • Leave blanks in the document for facts that can only be added on the day of the crisis.
  • Use multiple-choice lists when answers can have many variables.
  • Make sure you have subject-verb agreement baked into every sentence.

Your goal should be to have one pre-written news release for EVERY item that you list in your Vulnerability Assessment that we talked about in Monday’s blog. My goal is to always have a minimum of 100 pre-written news releases in every crisis communications plan.

If you know the pain of a lengthy news release review by executives and lawyers, you should take comfort that a pre-written news release can be pre-approved. That means the language and sentence structure has been cleared and given the green light. The only thing that needs to happen before you release your statement is that you need to double-check the facts on the day of your crisis.

A pre-written news release is your best friend during a crisis.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

Please Pick Me to be Your Media Trainer

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

How to Write a Crisis Communications Plan That Works?

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

You are being challenged to complete 5 steps toward effective crisis communications before the end of 2019.  Today the focus is on how to be a crisis expert in every crisis, because you have the right kind of crisis communication plan.

The first question to ask yourself is do you have a crisis communications plan where you work?

If you have a crisis communications plan where you work, excellent. We will next challenge you to review your crisis communication plan to make sure it works.

(Get more details when you download our free course on the 5 Steps to Effective Crisis Communications)

If you don’t have a crisis communication plan where you work, turn to the Vulnerability Assessment that you read about in yesterday’s blog.  Review your Vulnerability Assessment and review the potential economic impact that various crisis events could cause to your employer. THAT should be your justification for making crisis communications planning a priority.

By definition, a crisis communications plan is a tool. It should be as vital to a public relations person as a hammer is to a carpenter or a calculator is to an accountant.

-Gerard Braud

The sad reality is that many companies and the executives in charge of these organizations simply think PR people will magically make everything go away if and when a crisis happens. That is never true. It isn’t magic. Crisis communications takes planning, preparation, practice, and successful implementation as a crisis is unfolding.

Likewise, many public relations people take pride in trying to wing-it in a crisis. Then, after they fail they want to do a conference breakout session on the lessons they leaned by not being prepared. Really? Most crisis communication experts would say that you should be fired because you have the means to learn and prepare, yet you failed to prepare.

At its core, a crisis communications plan should be the tool you use to:

  • Gather information
  • Confirm information
  • Disseminate information

In too many situations, communicators copy someone else’s bad idea of a crisis communications plan. By that, I mean most plans that I’ve been asked to review over the past 20 years are 6 to 12 pages long. Most contain checklists of things that should be done.

The flaw with these plans is:

  • They fail to assign responsibilities to key people
  • They fail to dictate a timeline for the completion of various tasks.

If you have this kind of a document and you think it is a plan, you are mistaken. It is only a checklist.

  • A checklist is a checklist.
  • A plan is plan.
  • A checklist is not a plan.

The best crisis communications plans should:

  • Capture each required action in chronological order.
  • Assign each task to a specific person.
  • Require that person to complete the tasks in a specific amount of time.
  • Explain in detail how to complete that task.
  • And where possible, complete that task in advance. For example, a task on a checklist may be to write a news release. A well-written multiple-choice/fill-in-the-blank news release can be written in advance.

My dream for you is that your crisis communications plan:

  • Captures every action that a senior crisis communications expert would take
  • Places those steps in chronological order
  • Provides simple, clear details on how to perform each task like a crisis expert
  • Is so detailed that nothing falls through the cracks
  • Is so simple that anyone who can read would be able to follow the directions in order to execute the plan without mistakes

Yes, it is a tall order. But yes, it is doable.

Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, it will cost you time and/or money. But in fairness, go back to any one item on your Vulnerability Assessment and re-examine the financial impact of each potential crisis. That should help you justify the amount of time and/or effort and/or money that you and your employer should be willing to devote to the process of writing or refining your crisis communications plan. 

Always remember what has been said a million times: “If you fail to plan; plan to fail.”

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

Day 1: Crisis Plans, Crisis Preparation, Crisis Practice & Crisis Perfections = Crisis Communications Expert

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

3 Tips to Be Great on Facebook Live and YouTube Live

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

Tropical Storm and Hurricane Barry created a great opportunity this weekend for you to review your crisis communications strategies. Among them, strategically, are you using Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other live social media channels to their full advantage when a natural disaster affects your organization and your customers? The power is right there in your hand with your cell phone.

I posted videos all weekend long as an example of how you can use this great live feature on social media platforms. Since 2011 I’ve been teaching public relations and customer service teams how to do what I do, such as in my training program called Weathering the Storm.

Click to watch

View more videos here on the Braudcast

and here on Facebook.

What participants quickly learn is that shooting good, short videos… and especially live videos on your cell phone, is hard. It comes rather easily for me, because I was a television reporter for 15 years – I have lots of practice.

Here are 3 tips to help you communicate like an expert in critical times.

1) Practice – Do a test recording before you go live. Mess up in private so you don’t mess up live.

2) Be a brand journalist – manage the expectations of your employees and customers. Tell people your best case scenario and your worst case scenario when bad weather is approaching. Also, like a journalist, cover the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

3) Be brief and don’t overwhelm your audience with unnecessary details. I posted 10 videos to my BraudCast YouTube channel in the past few days. They range in length from one minute to three minutes. On my private Facebook page, I initially posted serious “news” style videos because friends and friends of friends wanted to know how bad the flooding was in our town of Mandeville, Louisiana.

Late Saturday and into the day Sunday, my videos transitioned to being more humorous and silly – mainly for my own amusement and the amusement of close friends. Humor has to be used sparingly in a corporate setting. When done properly, it is effective; when done poorly you can easily create a secondary crisis on social media. Be careful. 

Once your videos are posted, you can then share them with reporters on Twitter. I also uploaded b-roll to my Google Drive to share with the media (to learn what b-roll is, read more here). Media coverage in our town increased as reporters from around the world saw my videos on YouTube and Twitter.

Would you like to become an on-camera live video expert? Call me at 985-624-9976 to book your training class.

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

Please Pick Me to be Your Media Trainer

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson