The worst has happened, hopefully you have prepared well. Here are a few tips to remember in a crisis.
- Act Promptly
- Don’t dither – don’t leave a vacuum for others to fill. Social media will spread all sorts of rumours within minutes.
- Front Up – Offer a credible, media trained spokesperson. The broadcast media need a person. Radio needs a voice, television needs a face (and hopefully a voice, too).
- Leave print interviews to your communications team. They can send a written statement within minutes of a crisis occurring. Newspapers currency is still the written word – so send them the written word.
- But radio – needs sound – so they need your voice.
- The same for television – you need to front up.
- What do you say? Well, stick to the facts, don’t spin.
- You will never know all the facts, but you will know most on day 1 within minutes of whatever crisis has occurred.
- Remember you only need to fill 3 minutes for a radio interview and maybe less for a live TV interview.
- So just tell them the basic facts and don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. You won’t sound repetitive because you will be relaying the same facts in different words.
- You can do it – with a bit of training and practice.
Call us, preferably before a crisis hits, but if you need help now we can offer advice and support.
Media Friendly are specialists in Media Training, PR and Communication skills – everything from Presentation Skills To Crisis Media Management. We also offer PR and Crisis Management support. For immediate advice and support call Media Friendly on 01628-474154, or email enquiries@mediafriendly.org.
