What you say and how you say it is crucial to crisis management because the way the public and your stockholders perceive your statements holds far more weight than whatever you actually meant to say. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is experiencing this first hand as her department faces major backlash resulting from her poorly-constructed statements on a TV talk show, which sent quotes like this one, from a CommCore MEDIAtor blog post, flying around the Web:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s appearance on a Sunday TV talk show was marked by one sound bite that could come back to haunt her: “The system worked.” Huh? The alleged terrorist got on the plane despite missed warnings to American security agencies that he was considered a potential threat, including a warning phone call to US authorities several weeks ago from the young man’s father. He carried explosives and an incendiary device through security in Amsterdam. He managed to light the device, but failed to cause an explosion apparently because of a detonator malfunction. And he was taken into custody when a fellow passenger tackled him, preventing him from trying again to cause the blast. The “system” worked? Shades of Alexander Haig.
During a crisis, the last thing you want is for your statements to make you part of the crisis instead of part of the solution!
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/