“Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed."
--Abraham Lincoln
--Abraham Lincoln
Crisis Communications
Crisis Communications has different meanings in business, academia, and government. Here, we apply Crisis Communications to the incidents that include threats to public safety and property. How organizations respond to these types of crises directly affect their reputation and the ability to recover and prosper after the crisis has passed.
It is difficult for organizations to shift from regular operations to crisis response. For one, the concern and the actions have to be directed to those affected by the crisis rather than the reputation of the organization. Another roadblock is the tendency for organizations to become defensive in both posture and language when transparency and candor are necessary.
Whittington & Associates know Crisis Communications and we will help you be quick, accurate, and consistent during an incident where employees are extended, uncertainty is constant, and dilemmas are prevalent.
Crisis Communications has different meanings in business, academia, and government. Here, we apply Crisis Communications to the incidents that include threats to public safety and property. How organizations respond to these types of crises directly affect their reputation and the ability to recover and prosper after the crisis has passed.
It is difficult for organizations to shift from regular operations to crisis response. For one, the concern and the actions have to be directed to those affected by the crisis rather than the reputation of the organization. Another roadblock is the tendency for organizations to become defensive in both posture and language when transparency and candor are necessary.
Whittington & Associates know Crisis Communications and we will help you be quick, accurate, and consistent during an incident where employees are extended, uncertainty is constant, and dilemmas are prevalent.
Risk and Preparedness
Identifying risks that may lead to potential crises, preparing for those crises, and the management of the actual crisis demand different but related approaches and skills for communicators.
We can assist with prevention and preparation while focusing on planning and response team dynamics to include the development of staffing, processes, and protocols. General media training, draft messages, and audience identification for communicators are also a key component of our pre-crisis preparation. The act of planning is more important than the plan that is created because if you know the rough spots in the plan you are better prepared to deal with a real crisis. We approach planning as comprehensive and continuous.
Media Training
Communicating complex concepts about fast-moving incidents to media and the public using something as inexact as the English language is difficult. If you are not prepared for the crisis, it can be debilitating for the spokesperson and the organization.
When lives and property are at stake it gets more complicated as much of the common wisdom about traditional media training--designed on advertising and political insights--is no longer in play. For instance, according to research, the ability to comprehend information is reduced by about 80% during stressful incidents. This makes the challenge of crisis and disaster communications highly complex.
We design our media training to reflect what we garnered from tough assignments and we fully acknowledge that a good portion of our learning took place because we failed at some point. We have also worked on fatality and serious accident incidents where there were systemic failures. We know the pitfalls and we know what to do before and after you go in front of the cameras, including the organizational alignment that will allow your spokesperson to be their most effective. Our media training covers interviews, large media briefings, and the intricacies of serious accidents and fatalities.
Identifying risks that may lead to potential crises, preparing for those crises, and the management of the actual crisis demand different but related approaches and skills for communicators.
We can assist with prevention and preparation while focusing on planning and response team dynamics to include the development of staffing, processes, and protocols. General media training, draft messages, and audience identification for communicators are also a key component of our pre-crisis preparation. The act of planning is more important than the plan that is created because if you know the rough spots in the plan you are better prepared to deal with a real crisis. We approach planning as comprehensive and continuous.
Media Training
Communicating complex concepts about fast-moving incidents to media and the public using something as inexact as the English language is difficult. If you are not prepared for the crisis, it can be debilitating for the spokesperson and the organization.
When lives and property are at stake it gets more complicated as much of the common wisdom about traditional media training--designed on advertising and political insights--is no longer in play. For instance, according to research, the ability to comprehend information is reduced by about 80% during stressful incidents. This makes the challenge of crisis and disaster communications highly complex.
We design our media training to reflect what we garnered from tough assignments and we fully acknowledge that a good portion of our learning took place because we failed at some point. We have also worked on fatality and serious accident incidents where there were systemic failures. We know the pitfalls and we know what to do before and after you go in front of the cameras, including the organizational alignment that will allow your spokesperson to be their most effective. Our media training covers interviews, large media briefings, and the intricacies of serious accidents and fatalities.