FILM AT 11:00 … AND YOU’RE THE STAR!
by Janine Reid
After working on a variety of crises over the past 15 years, I’ve learned that there are a number of truisms in crisis management. The most important: your company will be judged more on how it handles a crisis than the actual crisis itself. Nowhere is this clearer than in dealing with the media. If a negative situation arises and the media gets hold of your story — and the chances are that it will — you need to be ready with a spokesperson who can communicate your message. Otherwise, you’re likely to get poor, inaccurate one-sided coverage that could damage, or even ruin your company’s reputation.
Unfortunately, communication during a crisis requires a different set of skills than communicating when things are going well. Many spokespersons dread dealing with the media in crisis situations because they know that reporters often seek to lay blame and justify. Even the savviest spokespeople fear getting the jitters and going off-message, blanking out, or simply rambling when they should remain confident and succinct.
The question and answer part of the interview can be especially unsettling. However, opportunities are available for the prepared. Preparation means anticipation, preparation, and rehearsal. Companies can help their spokesperson anticipate every possible question, prepare a response to each, and if time permits, role-play a mock Q&A session. These steps will help you prepare the spokesperson:
1. Determine the communications goal for the interview. A spokesperson who stands in front of reporters without a clue about what the company wants to communicate is analogous to a victim before a firing squad without hope of reprieve. Your spokesperson should control the flow of information from your company to the outside world via the media — but that control will vanish quickly unless you’ve set a clear goal.
In general, this goal should communicate both concern and a strong determination to discover the cause of the situation. Because of the wide variety of questions the spokesperson will receive, they might need to 'bridge' back to key points. Bridging will allow the spokesperson to transition from a reporter’s question to the desired response. For example:
- I can’t confirm that at this time, but what I can confirm is…(back to a key point).
- What people need to know is that…(back to a key point).
- To put that into perspective, we need to talk about…(back to a key point).
- It’s important not to forget that…(back to a key point).
2. Develop a spokesperson’s 'mantra.' The spokesperson might face a question or questions to which they either don’t know the answer or don’t feel comfortable answering. A rehearsed answer — a mantra — will get your spokesperson through these rough waters. For example, if a reporter asks a question for which the spokesperson doesn’t have an answer, their mantra would be 'I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you by (time).' This will help them stay on message and avoid rambling or providing inaccurate answers that could come back to haunt your business.
3. Anticipate as many questions as possible. Focus on both the most obvious and the most difficult inquiries, then develop and rehearse responses to them. This will help the spokesperson deliver information in a manner that displays confidence and control —though they might be feeling far different!
4. Keep responses short. If possible, your spokesperson should restrict every answer to two sentences: the first answering the reporter’s question and the second explaining or elaborating on the response. Brevity is vital because the spokesperson’s answers might well become quotes in print or sound bites on electronic media. The typical newspaper quote has fewer than 20 words and the average sound bite lasts less than eight seconds. That’s short!
There’s no way to anticipate every question that will arise. However the process of establishing your communications goal, creating a mantra, and developing brief responses to anticipated questions will help your spokesperson remain 'on message' during their encounter(s) with the media. That’s essential because when the rubber hits the road, the spokesperson must play a key role in helping your company survive the crisis with its reputation intact.
Janine Reid is president of the Janine Reid Group, Inc. (Denver, CO). She’s the author of What to Do When the Sky Starts Falling and Crisis Management: Planning and Media Relations for the Design and Construction Industry (John Wiley & Sons). Reid can be reached at (303) 322-3211, e-mail [email protected] or www.janinereid.com.