You only have to look to the media to see
that there are many organisations who do not have well equip crisis management
plans or teams. Take a look at our former Prime Minister Tony Abbott - how do you think he deals with his personal
brand in somewhat 'crisis' situations?
I feel crisis communications is an area that
does give the PR industry a great significance and increased credibility when
exercised successfully. Last week during my internship I was lucky enough to be
part of a crisis communications training session with one of the consultancy's
clients, and be on stand-by for a potential media crisis following a court
case.
One of our non-for-profit clients has
received some media attention when an employee of theirs stole money off a
vulnerable customer. This employee faced court last week and it was our role as
PR practitioners to ensure the CEO was prepped to speak in a media conference,
on radio, or release statements if the client was to be mentioned in a negative
way. The small team at my consultancy drafted press releases, included our
client in a crisis communications media training workshop and had a crisis
communications plan to roll out if crisis was to prevail. One of our staff members went
and sat in on the court hearing and we were back at the office prepared to
receive a call if action needed to be taken immediately. Luckily there was no
crisis and our client was not named to be involved in the incident.
Here are a few tips I learnt from the crisis
communications media training:
- Be personable: you are a person giving a
statement, not a robot, so ensure people understand you are a human too
- Reiterate your ethos: in this case it was a
non-for-profit and they pride themselves in providing specialised high quality
care
- Use your intuition: feel what other feels,
and handle the situation with genuine care rather than by textbook processes
- Have a plan: be prepared for what may lay
ahead in a crisis situation and be open to the fact there may also be a plan B
I really enjoy the crisis management area of
PR. I'd love for you to share with me what your favourite area is.
I hope this blog has given you a few new
insights.
That's me again,
Liv
