More and more often while working with clients we see examples of how extremely polarized audiences have become today. While gauging public reaction to your crisis communications is a recommendation any expert will give you, fewer mention the fact that you may see completely different responses to the same …
[Editor’s note: This guest post comes to us from frequent contributor – and our go-to crisis expert “down under” – Tony Jaques. This particularly timely article lands just as we’re seeing a flurry of non-apologies from big names (ahem, Boeing, ahem) and explores the simple steps to take if you’d …
Having trained hundreds of clients for difficult speaking situations like media interviews or angry shareholder meetings we can tell you there’s one constant – people are scared of standing up in front of strangers and talking about bad news. It’s a bit surprising the first few times you see …
[While there’s absolutely a need to take care when dealing with issues involving major risk of litigation, sometimes the situation demands a clear, “We’re sorry”. In this guest post, reputation and crisis expert Mark Story asks why it was those words Boeing battled to avoid saying in the face …
[Editor’s note: The following guest post from Silicon Valley-based writer Leslie Kelsay leverages her previous experience directing strategic and crisis communications to help us understand the unintended consequences that come with over-lawyering a public issue.] Don’t Let Good Attorneys Make Bad News Worse By Leslie Kelsay We get it: …
This guest post from leadership coach, facilitator, trainer, and author Mike McKenna takes a look at a strategy that will help you save projects before they ever encounter their first hurdle out there in the real world. Mike and his company, TEAM Solutions, are innovators in teaching leaders how …
When we say 95% of the crises to which we’ve responded over the last 30 years of doing business have been preventable, we’re serious. That’s why we found it so interesting to read about a strategy H&R Block used in advance of our most recent (and predictably controversial) tax …
Let’s face it, nobody wants to talk to the media in the middle of a crisis situation. Even the best-trained experts feel a little sweat when the heat is on, but you can eliminate an awful lot of unnecessary stress by making sure you’re prepared. Not sure where to start? After …
Create a solid foundation for communication in crisis Crisis communications plans cannot be cookie-cutter, but there are certain principles that apply to just about every situation. Get the core bits down pat, and you’ll leave yourself significantly more room to think about incident-specific actions or outside-the-box solutions to the issue at hand. …
A little help to avoid creating your own social media crisis Before posting anything to social media you need to ask yourself – “What could go wrong here?”. Could I be insulting a stakeholder group? Does this message mean the same to an outsider as it did to our internal team? …
Like it or not, when someone’s represented your company publicly for many years that association sticks around after they retire. That’s a lesson Starbucks is learning the hard way after former CEO and chairman Howard Schultz announced that he was considering a 2020 presidential run. Anticipating questions from customers …
When you run into a situation that threatens to disrupt operations, reputation, and your bottom line, a brand-new “To Do Now!” list snaps into existence with alarming speed. Over our decades of experience working with clients in nearly every industry, we’ve found a few steps to be most important …
[Editor’s note: This compelling blog series comes to us from international crisis management expert and Bernstein Crisis team member Tim Scerba.] How to Prevent the Situation from Spiraling into a Crisis Once a situation exists that has the potential to become a crisis, there are specific conditions that can …
[Editor’s note: This compelling blog series comes to us from international crisis management expert and Bernstein Crisis team member Tim Scerba.] The Elements of a Crisis A key part of crisis preparedness and issues management planning is remembering that a crisis will only occur under very specific circumstances. First, …
[Editor’s note: This compelling blog series comes to us from international crisis management expert and Bernstein Crisis team member Tim Scerba.] When a Crisis Really Isn’t In Aesop’s famous tale, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a shepherd boy convinces his neighbors that a ferocious wolf is attacking his flock …
