When Crisis Strikes: 3 Ways to Think, Act, and Communicate Like a Reporter

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— By Gerard Braud

Braud-WebinarYou can’t turn on the television without a major crisis, tragedy, or disaster dominating the 24-hour news cycle. Through what lens do you view these events?

If you’ve never done so, try to watch events unfold with the eyes of a crisis communications expert. Focus on deadlines, timing, and how quickly, or in most cases, how long it takes, before the organization crippled by the crisis starts providing official information to the media. Keep an eye on the clock. Furthermore, zap through the television channels to observe the media and how they fill the information void.

Effective crisis communications requires you to think fast, act fast, and communicate fast. Watch the media so you can determine how to manipulate the media and the information cycle.

Here are 3 ways to adapt to the mindset of the media:

1) To quote Don Henley’s lyrics to the song Dirty Laundry, “Just give me something; something I can use.”

When a crisis happens, your job in public relations is to start pushing out information as soon as the event happens. And this is important – you don’t need a lot of facts to put out information. In fact, saying you don’t know all the details yet is actually a legitimate first statement to the media. Yes, within moments of your crisis going public, you can issue a statement that says,

“We have experienced a ________ at our ____ location. Details are still being gathered. We will share more information as soon as possible.”

This language should already be written in your crisis communications plan. In plans I write for clients, I call this the First Critical Statement, because it is critical that you fill the information void as soon as possible. To get a free download use the coupon code CRISISCOMPLAN when you select the item from my shopping cart.

Not every crisis gets 24/7 media coverage, but if you are in PR there is a high probability that it can happen where you work. Trust me, I spent 15 years as a reporter and 20 years in crisis communications. It is never a question of if it will happen, but a question of when.

The tragic events in San Bernardino are reflective of this. The media initially covered the unfolding story by interviewing worried family members and capturing images and videos from people inside the facility where the shooting occurred. We see this very same behavior every time there is a school or workplace mass shooting. It is very true that in the midst of chaos and tragedy, nearly everyone in the affected organization is focusing on the crisis. But YOU, the PR team, must make it your responsibility to not manage the crisis but to manage crisis communications at the speed at which the world and the media want to know more information.

2) The new normal is built around crises of all sorts being amplified on social media. The media fill the information void with rumors from social media. This exponentially increases pressure on communicators and leaders in companies to issue statements faster to keep the media focused on official sources rather than social media. However, eyewitness social media images and video are highly valuable. This means you need to be prepared to provide the media with your own newsworthy images and video as soon as possible.

3) Media need someone to advance the story as time passes. As a public relations expert you should treat the release of information to the media like a casino buffet. In other words, start small and keep it coming. Just like a buffet has soup, salad, and an entrée, official information should be fed to the media in the same way. They are hungry. You should feed them a little at a time. Too many organizations have executives who think no information should be shared until all information is known. This is a tragic flaw that must be fixed.

Although the media are a critical audience, in crisis communications you must realize that communications to your employees is equally as valuable and sometimes more valuable. Employees who know the truth are less likely to spread rumors. Your goal should be to give the same information to the media, employees and other stakeholders as simultaneously as possible. What you say to one audience you should say to all.

Achieving these high standards requires you to specify this behavior and these timelines in your crisis communications plan. Your crisis communications plan must then get support from your executives on a clear sunny day, long before the crisis. You must also test the process through crisis communications drills that can test your plan, the behavior of each leader, the ability of spokespeople, and the speed of your PR team.

If you’d like to delve deeper into this premise, join me for a free webinar on Thursday, December 17, 2015. Use this link to register.

In this program you will:

  • Learn to adapt a reporter’s mindset
  • Develop a 5-part strategy for effective crisis communications
  • Unlock the secrets necessary to change the leadership behavior within your workplace

About your webinar leader:

Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC (Jared Bro) is known by many as the crisis communications expert who is able to put a low cost, yet highly effective crisis communications plan in place in just 2 days. As a former reporter, you may have seen him on NBC, CNN, CBS, the BBC or The Weather Channel. It is the mistakes he saw people make daily as he covered the news that lead him to create a system of crisis communications plans and strategies that have served his clients on 5 continents.

Thank You Gifts from Gerard Braud

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Delivering the closing keynote for IABC Calgary. Taking off my pants to prove a point about the LuLu Lemon crisis of yoga pants wearing thin on the inner thighs.

I took my pants off while delivering the closing keynote for IABC Canada in Calgary. You guessed it — a case study about the LuLu Lemon crisis of yoga pants wearing thin on the inner thighs. Does this make my butt look big?

As we approach Thanksgiving in the U.S. I’d like to express my gratitude to all of you with whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with in recent weeks and months. At each conference where I’ve been a speaker since September, I’ve promised various free resources to help you become an expert in crisis communications plans, crisis drills, or media interviews.

So here are some free resources for all of you who attended those programs, as well as for all of you who follow along here on this blog:

1) If you’d like a copy of the First Critical Statement I use in my crisis communication plan, use this link. It takes you to the Learning Store where you can select the correct item.

Enter the  coupon code CRISISCOMM

Make sure the shopping cart rings up to ZERO after you enter the coupon

If you are asked for credit card info, you’ve done it wrong. Try again.

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Crisis Scenario "When It Hits the Fan"

Nasdaq sponsored me for a crisis communications program at the PRSA International Conference in Atlanta. We blew up PRSA’s social media  with this interactive crisis scenario that the audience blasted out to the world.

2) If you’d like my 29-day Media Training course, use this link. It takes you to the Learning Store where you can select the correct item.

Enter the  coupon code BRAUD

Make sure the shopping cart rings up to ZERO after you enter the coupon

If you are asked for credit card info, you’ve done it wrong. Try again.

This will be delivered through a secure server.

3) If you’d like my 23 part i-Report tutorial, use this link for an index of the course on this blog. If you would like to subscribe to this blog, enter your e-mail address in the upper right-hand corner.

4) If you’d like my assistance to write your crisis communications plan, to train your spokespeople, or to speak at an upcoming conference, please call me at 985-624-9976 or send an e-mail to gerard@braudcommunications.com

5) Finally, if you are a public relations expert with ideas to share, please subscribe to The BraudCast YouTube Channel.  Each week we pose a new question as we seek your bite-size bits of best practices, which we share with the world later that week. This is your chance to share with each other.

Gerard Braud speaking

If I’m a good fit to speak at one of your favorite conferences, I always welcome an introduction to the meeting planner. Thank you.

Once again, thank you to all of you who have invited me to speak at your corporate meetings and association conferences. Thank you to all of you who attended. I hope our paths cross again soon.

— Gerard Braud

Can David Vitter Overcome Reputational Damage from a Crisis He Created?

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By Gerard Braud –

vitterIn the world of crisis communications many will offer the expert advice that recovery is about reputational damage and repair. In the current political race for governor in Louisiana this week, the outcome will be decided on the consideration of how long reputational damage lasts and if a request for forgiveness can make the damage go away.

You may wish to watch Louisiana for an interesting case study. U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is reported to have had a fondness for hiring prostitutes in both New Orleans and in Washington, D.C. His opponent, John Bel Edwards (D) has even alleged in a television commercial that Vitter missed a vote in the Senate that recognized fallen service men because Vitter was calling a prostitute. After Vitter was caught, he called a “good wife” style news conference with his wife by his side and did the typical act of contrition with his wife pledging her support as the family would move forward.

Is that enough for a voter to forgive an elected official who might represent them? Think about it, then add another layer. Vitter runs as a pro-family ultra conservative who preaches family values. Does this further damage his reputation when he says one thing and does the opposite?

vit

Click image to watch

So the crisis communications and reputation management question here is how will voters respond? Will a significant number forgive him and vote for him based on his party?  Or will those in his party who say, “I forgive the guy, but I can’t vote for David Vitter because he made poor decisions and therefore isn’t fit to serve as Governor.” Will some in his own party call him out for being a hypocrite? Vitter’s opponent is already running commercials with people essentially saying that very thing.

Here is another consideration: Like Volkswagen, which created a crisis because of misdeeds, Vitter created his own crisis through his own intentional misdeeds. Does that make it harder for an audience or constituency to forgive?

A final consideration is this: When a person or company runs a commercial after a self-created crisis, does the commercial make you think more about the crisis? If you see a Volkswagen commercial, do you immediately think “scandal?” When a Louisiana voter sees a Vitter commercial, do they immediately think “cheater” or “hookers?” When Vitter makes robocalls with his wife and son on the recording, does it make a voter think, “But you cheated on your family?”

Keep your eyes on this news this Saturday to find out the final answer.

IABC Calgary Conference Podcast: Top Takeaway Crisis Communications Lessons

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Delivering the closing keynote for IABC Calgary. Taking off my pants to prove a point about the LuLu Lemon crisis of yoga pants wearing thin on the inner thighs.

Delivering the closing keynote for IABC Calgary. Taking off my pants to prove a point about the LuLu Lemon crisis of yoga pants wearing thin on the inner thighs.

As a keynote speaker at the IABC Canada-West Region Conference, I was asked to do a podcast discussing crisis communications lessons for public relations and communications professionals.  Vice President of IABC Calgary, Will Tigley interviews me to talk about crucial communications issues in today’s industry.

Here were a few of the major crisis communications planning aspects to consider that were discussed in the podcast:

First, the need for speed is one of the greatest issues in the industry.  With the speed of Twitter and all social media, there is no longer time to wait multiple hours discussing semantics of a press release.  The key to speed is pre-written news releases. Put the systems in place on a clear sunny day so that when your darkest day comes, you are prepared.

Will Tigley asked, “How do you go from being good at crisis communications to great at crisis communications?” You must have a robust crisis communications plan with pre-written news releases. You must practice in private, media train your spokespeople at least once a year, and act out realistic, high-chaos, yearly crisis communications drills. 

Another aspect to consider in crisis communications planning includes conducting vulnerability assessments. This means walking throughout your organization, interviewing employees, and conducting meetings to determine everything that could ever possibly go wrong.  Categories range from white-collar crimes, to hurricanes, to violence, explosions and even social media crises. Again, these crises are remedied with a simple, yet thorough crisis communications plan, as well as pre-written news releases for each scenario.

If there is one thing to walk away with when leaving the IABC Calgary Conference, or any conference in the future, do not file away your stack of notes. A dream without a deadline is still just a dream. Narrow your list, prioritize it, and set a date to follow through with these crucial crisis communications strategies.

Listen to the podcast here.

Budgeting for 2016

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Plan-to-FailBy Gerard Braud –

For many of you it is budgeting season. You either ask for it now or you don’t get to do what you want a year from now. For others, it is that time of year where you have to spend unspent funds or lose them.

That being said, I’m standing by to assist you with your needs. If media training or a crisis communications plan is on your 2015 or 2016 wish list, please send an e-mail to me at gerard@braudcommunications.com

In short order you can have a quote. Plus, if you need assistance to make a business case for media training or crisis communications planning, I am happy to give you the best expert advice possible.

And don’t forget, if you need a speaker on either of these topics for an association meeting, conference, or convention, I’m happy to help you plan a program. Many of my program titles can be viewed at https://braudcommunications.com/keynotes/

BraudCast Question: What is your best advice to persuade your executives or CEO to take a media training class?

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By Gerard Braud –

CEOs and executives may fear embarrassment in a media training class, they may have a hectic schedule, or can’t justify spending their revenue on a media trainer. Public relations professionals and internal communications professionals often have a difficult time getting their CEO or executives to put media training on their calendar. This week the BraudCast question is, “What is your best advice to persuade your executives or CEO to take a media training class?” Please share your thoughts.

CEO media training 3Q braudcast

Click image to watch video

 

 

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the Follow up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

BraudCast Question: How quickly do you need to issue a public statement when a crisis happens?

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Organizations often spend hours writing press releases and public statements and reviewing them with their public relations professionals and legal teams before they are ever presented to the media. This only allows the media to become impatient and frustrated and eyewitnesses to begin speculating.  For effective crisis communications and employee communications, how fast should a company release a public statement in a crisis?

Braudcast public statement

Click image to play

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the Follow up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

BraudCast Question: Who should be your spokesperson in a crisis?

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In the public relations industry there is often a debate about who should be the spokesperson for a company in a crisis. Some may argue that it should be the CEO or a senior executive, while others argue it should be a public relations professional. Please share your opinion with us and it may be shared this Friday in a follow-up video.

Q1 Thumbnail Gerard Braud

Click image to watch

 

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the Follow up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

Tutorial #23 Your Official Responsibility as a Public Relations Professional or Corporate Spokesperson

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Tutorial #23 by Gerard Braud —

These 23 crisis communication tutorials are meant to inform you and help you realize  your official responsibility as a spokesperson. You need to communicate to the media within the first hour of a breaking crisis.  You can do this by uploading your own professionally done videos to the web, which also serves to tell your story straight to your customers and you employees, in addition to the media. The challenge is now yours. Are you a positive person who says you can or a negative person who says you can’t?

Click image to watch video

Click image to watch video

When public relations people, corporate spokespeople and Public Information Officers (PIO) tell me they can’t do something, I know they are right. Negative people are always right when they say they can’t, even if it means they won’t try. This makes me crazy.

Usually they blame it on their boss, who first says no. Sometimes, they won’t even try, out of fear of being told no.

As I’ve taught workshops on this topic of filing CNN iReports as part of your crisis communications and media relations strategy, I’ve had way too many people tell me they don’t think they could get permission to do it. That’s sad.

Of course, many of these people work for bosses who don’t want to speak at a news conference either.

I have some final thoughts in today’s video tutorial. You can watch it here.

I think you can. I’ve done it many times as a way to show you what you can do.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program, Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.

 

 

Tutorial #21 Great New Technology for Uploading Videos to the Web During Your Crisis

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Tutorial #21 by Gerard Braud—

In this series of tutorials I have reviewed the basics on getting great audio, perfecting your lighting, and how to hold your smart device. In this tutorial, I am taking it a step further to show you some of the latest pieces of equipment I purchased that make iReporting or uploading videos to the web even easier. These are especially useful if you want to be an expert at communicating effectively in a crisis.

Click image to watch video

Click image to watch video

Watch today’s video tutorial to see them in action. They include devices that allow you to attach your iPhone or iPad to a camera tripod. This can help to keep your shot steady, while still allowing you to move it some. I paid about $12 for the iPhone attachment and about $69 for the iPad attachment.

You’ll see a really cool LED video light that mounts to the top of the iPad bracket using what is known as a “hot shoe.” This helps to put light on your face and maintain flesh tones when your face might otherwise be too dark. I paid about $25 for it.

For good audio, I’ve purchased a lavaliere microphone that plugs into the headphone jack on my smart device. This gives me better sound for my on camera narrations. I paid about $25 for it.

Each can make your CNN iReport or web video a little better. Best of all, I bought all 4 item at a great price.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program,Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.