One of the things you have probably heard me say in my articles, on The BraudCast YouTube Channel, or on LinkedIn is how much I hate social media for effective crisis communications.
Twitter may be somewhat useful, YouTube may be somewhat useful, but Facebook is completely useless when it comes to communicating about a crisis. Let’s use a case study to analyze effective crisis communications after Hurricane Ian. Or in this case, ineffective crisis communications.
Pardon my french, but DUMB people head to Facebook to try and get live updates and announcements about storms and other crises. Check out the video above to look at some actual comments and questions that people post. A company, or specifically an electric company in this case, may put out information or make an update to Facebook to try to manage the expectations of their customers.
However, the audience and demographic on Facebook ask ridiculous questions that just create noise. None of the comments advance the knowledge of anyone involved. Watch the videos to see how these complaints impact the reputation and revenue of this specific electric company, and how they could impact your company in the future.
To set goals, talk about your needs, and formulate a budget for communicating before, during and after natural disasters and other crises, schedule a complimentary, confidential call with me https://calendly.com/braud/15min
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…” and founder of SituationHub crisis communications software.
More crisis communications articles:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
Can You Handle a Crisis When it Hits by Winging It?
Where is Your Crisis Communications Funnel Clogged?
Last week, we talked about Hurricane Ian crisis communications and how companies and organizations should manage the expectations of their audience BEFORE a storm. This week we talk about how companies and organizations should manage the expectations of their audience AFTER the storm.
Yes, you still can, and still should manage expectations for AFTER the storm runs its course. So many people ask “Can I survive the storm?” when really they should be asking themselves “Can I endure the misery and trauma of being without power, water, and cell phone signal for weeks after the storm?”
Electric companies, utility companies, fire departments, police agencies and other first responders should be communicating to the public just how bad it can get and encouraging folks to evacuate if necessary. That means using scare tactics and painting the picture of being without these creature comforts for WEEKS, not days.
SituationHub is an app that can help you release a pristine, beautiful news release to help your company communicate the information you need to get across, FAST, as conditions and crises are unfolding. I’m featuring the news release that you would use in a situation like Hurricane Ian. Watch the video to see how it works.
To set goals, talk about your needs, and formulate a budget to communicate effectively in a crisis, schedule a complimentary, confidential call with me https://calendly.com/braud/15min
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…” and founder of SituationHub crisis communications software.
More crisis communications articles:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
As Hurricane Ian pummels Florida, I’m sharing some crisis communications strategies on managing the expectations of your audience, citizens, stakeholders, clients, and employees BEFORE your hurricane, tropical storm, or other natural disaster hits.
Yes, I said BEFORE.
Many companies and organizations I work with on media training, crisis communications, or those that use the SituationHub software ask me, “Well, why is there a news release in the SituationHub database that can be used BEFORE a tropical storm? Why are there documents for us to release regarding hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings?”
The SituationHub software provides you with news releases that you can release to the media, your employees, your clients, and stakeholders before the crisis to manage their expectations. You customize the new release with your specifications. What would have taken your team hours to write DURING a crisis, can now be prepared before a crisis in just minutes.
Before a storm, you may be communicating information about evacuation plans, expectations for supply chain interruptions, how long your company expects to be closed for, who to contact, etc. This is far more effective than trying to play “clean up” after the storm and trying to get in contact with all of your audiences about these factors while you have destruction, power outages, and a lack of cell phone capabilities.
Managing expectations before a crisis makes all of the difference in managing expectations after a crisis.
For help with managing expectations, schedule a complimentary, confidential call with me https://calendly.com/braud/15min
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…” and founder of SituationHub crisis communications software.
More crisis communications articles:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
I asked social media followers, public relations professionals, and corporate communications experts, “What’s the best piece of crisis communications advice you’ve ever received?” Read more
A few years back I was running a series of videos asking subscribers some crisis communications and public relations questions. I would ask one question per week on LinkedIn and Twitter. Next, I would seek their responses on social media, gather them, and then report on what they said the following week. It created an engaging relationship with my colleagues, followers, and professionals in the public relations, corporate communications, media relations and crisis communications industries.
Years later, there is one video that remains my most popular video ever.
I asked social media followers, public relations professionals, and media relations experts, “What should your first words be in a media interview?”
Should you thank your interviewer? Should you spell out your name?
Here were their responses, as well as a few of my own professional comments as a media trainer. It doesn’t matter what the first question is if you know how the beginning of the answer starts. Preambles are the perfect way to begin an interview. Buffer a direct question with a preamble. Watch the video to see what I mean.
As a way to show your continued support and to see more of our most popular crisis communications videos, please hit Subscribe on The BraudCast YouTube channel.
And stay tuned for next week’s second most popular crisis communications video ever.
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…” and founder of SituationHub crisis communications software.
More crisis communications articles:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
Fast. Factual. No Fluff.
The National Association of Chemical Distributor’s (NACD) ChemEdge 2022 conference is just two weeks away and I am putting the final touches on my crisis communications presentation for the event.
Fast, factual and no fluff is the core message I’ll be delivering as we examine a specific case study in which a major company experienced a devastating event, but it took the company three hours to issue a 7-sentence statement to the media and the public.
How fast could your company get a statement written, approved and released if you had a major situation?
The new SituationHub software could have written a statement in under 3 minutes.
Let that soak in – Instead of three hours… an approved statement could have been ready in under 3 minutes. This means that your organization can be doing crisis communications at nearly the speed of social media. That’s why SituationHub is a game changer for public relations and companies of all types.
The lesson I’m sharing with the chemical distributors are lessons that apply to all industries. These lessons are true for electric companies and utilities; they are true for schools and universities; they are true for banks and credit unions; they are true for hospitals.
Below are ten questions I’ll be asking the attendees at the conference. How would you answer these same questions?
1. How do you gather initial information?
2. Who gets the information and how?
3. Who writes the news release?
4. How long does the writing/approval process last?
5. Who is involved in the approval?
6. What are you really editing and approving?
7. How much time from flashpoint to statement?
8. How is the statement distributed?
9. Who distributes the statement?
10. How much time does that take?
If you’d like to discuss your answers with me, schedule a call.
Your next crisis situation could be minutes away. The time to prepare is now.
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:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
Can You Handle a Crisis When it Hits by Winging It?
Where is Your Crisis Communications Funnel Clogged?
The St. Louis flooding presents a crisis communications case study worthy of your consideration. Here’s why…
A flood demands you talk to your stakeholders to manage their expectations. Is all well? Then issue a statement that says, “All is well.” Are products, systems, or facilities compromised?
Then manage the community’s expectations with a crisis communications statement. What’s the fastest way to write and distribute a statement? The SituationHub app can write a news release in 3-5 minutes. If you are not subscribing to SituationHub, today is proof of why you should.
Many organizations look at their safety record as a reason not to use crisis communications tools like the SituationHub software. Many companies think a crisis communications plan only applies to fires and explosions.
The St. Louis flooding represents a crisis from mother nature and not from human failure. Flooding doesn’t care about your past safety record. A hurricane doesn’t care about your past safety record. A blizzard… yep… doesn’t care about your past safety record.
Crisis communications plans and planning are there in case your sunny day becomes your darkest day. As you can see in the featured image, I have a few dark days here on the Lake Ponchartrain lakefront. I am constantly reminded of how natural disasters impact so many businesses.
Remember what Winston Churchill said, “Never waste a good crisis.”
Crisis communications is tough. It can be overwhelming. It can take years to develop a plan on your own. If we can help you plan for your rainy day, schedule a complimentary, private, confidential call with me here.
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:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
In this episode of PRSay, the podcast of the Houston Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Veronica V. Sopher Public Relations, interviews crisis communications expert Gerard Braud.
First, we discuss how Gerard’s career path led him to being on the forefront of crisis communications, and how it is evolving all the time.
Listen here:
Second, we discuss the difficulties and challenges public relations and corporate communications professionals face when they try to write news releases during a crisis. SituationHub, the first of its kind software that can automatically write a news release during a crisis in 3 to 5 minutes, handles these challenges. When companies communicate fast and effectively, they preserve their revenue reputation, and brand.
Third, Gerard explains his formula and how he likens crisis communication to a well-practiced, very specific recipe. He explains what you need to do in a crisis to effectively communicate to your audience.
To set crisis communications goals, talk about your needs, and formulate a budget, schedule a complimentary, confidential call with me https://calendly.com/braud/15min
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:
15 Questions to Ask Before You Use Facebook for Crisis Communications
When we think about effectively communicating in a crisis, we often think about getting out information FAST, like at the speed of Twitter fast. But, we have so many hangups that get in the way of getting that information out.
Tell us where your clog is when it comes to your crisis communications funnel? Experience tells me it gets clogged in one of three, critical places listed below. So which of these affects you the most?
Do you have the most trouble:
Please format your answer as follows:
In my crisis communications funnel, the biggest clog can usually be found ____ .
The funnel is the pathway in which you gather information about an unfolding situation, get it to the right people, and then issue a statement to your employees, media, and stakeholders. See here:
If you are not familiar with the Crisis Communications Funnel concept, or if issuing a public statement sounds stressful, daunting, or challenging for you just call me https://calendly.com/braud/15min and I’ll gladly point you to more resources.
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:
Spring Sprint for a Crisis Communications Plan
How to do an Online Media Interview: Media Training Tips
How Do You Sleep at Night Without a Crisis Communication Plan?
Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash