As the person responsible for communicating your story to the public, media and your stakeholders, your organization’s spokesperson is critical to effective crisis management. An article for Crisis Response Communications, written by Bob Roemer, delves deeper into the role:
Refusing to comment or merely issuing a written statement does not constitute communicating and raises doubts about the credibility and competency of management. It also causes your stakeholders to wonder what the organization is hiding or whether the crisis is worse than was thought.
The first step in preparing your crisis plan is to obtain senior management’s commitment to communicate and be accessible to the media.
The role of the spokesperson is to implement that commitment.
The article also quotes BCM President Jonathan Bernstein on the effectiveness of media training, for which there is no substitute. There is no excuse for not training anyone who could potentially be exposed to the media, and choosing not to do is is choosing to risk highly damaging errors.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/