Transcript
[00:00:05.550] - Imogen
Hello and welcome to Dear Comms, the coffee break podcast where we tackle your biggest corporate comms challenges. I'm Imogen.
[00:00:13.500] - Amanda
And I'm Amanda. We're here to give you practical, no-nonsense advice so you can focus on the things that drive influence, engagement, and impact.
[00:00:23.730] - Imogen
Well, it is the third episode of our series on crisis, and today we're really going to be diving into what we say, when we say it, and how we say it. Because there is a real difference between calming the storm and adding fuel to the fire, and often it really lies in how you communicate.
[00:00:45.500] - Amanda
Yep, we're going to discuss what makes a message land under pressure, the real purpose of holding statements, and how to make sure every word earns its place. We'll also take a look at what not to do, from passive language to legalese that kills trust.
[00:01:01.930] - Imogen
Let's start with holding statements. We kind of talked about it a little in the last episode, Amanda, when we were talking about that first hour after a crisis hits, and we mentioned that you need to get a holding statement out there. And the fact is, you only get one chance at that first response. What do you think makes a good holding statement in a crisis?
[00:01:24.730] - Amanda
It's generally 4 things, and I would call them the 4 Cs. And that's going to keep you on the straight and narrow, simple, clear human, because you're under pressure, real pressure at that time to get that out. So, number 1, show concern for those that are affected. Usually somebody is. Number 2, reassure that you're in control and you're acting, you're doing something. And then you have to be absolutely clear, no jargon. So, you need to communicate with clarity. And then the final bit really is that element of commitment. And you're either going to commit to investigate, to follow up, or to learn and improve.
[00:02:06.980] - Imogen
Because, you know, we said a crisis is really an issue that goes external, isn't it? So, as you say, there are always going to be people affected. They may not know your business as well as you do, so that need for clarity and lack of jargon is really important. We have to be careful when it comes to that commitment element, when it comes to that being in control and acting part. We need to be a little bit careful on the words that we use, because too often we're hearing things which are platitudes. We take this very seriously.
[00:02:42.590] - Amanda
And you, you go into it.
[00:02:43.750] - Imogen
Well, you know, it's like the thoughts and prayers that come out of the US every time there's a tragedy there. It doesn't mean anything, and it actually, you're not having any action behind it. Sometimes it's tempting to use passive voice to kind of try and distance yourself a little bit from the crisis. So, an incident occurred in a factory. It's not going to fool anyone. Let's say it the way it is. Let's be clear. Let's be forthright.
[00:03:15.010] - Amanda
Yeah, and we tend to get an awful lot more formal and corporate in that situation as well, if we're not careful.
[00:03:21.750] - Imogen
Yeah.
[00:03:22.000] - Amanda
I think there are some good rules, some communication rules that have saved us and our clients more than once. I think you have to be quick and acknowledge the issue. I mean, you're not going to have all the facts, but if you leave silence, then that's when you get speculation, and that's not going to help anyone. You have to be honest. You know, don't deny a fault if you're responsible. You've got to own it, and you've got to fix it. You talked about people being involved. You know, show compassion. You've got to talk about people first, not profits, or even wanting your own life back. Remember that famous one?
[00:04:02.680] - Imogen
Mm-hmm.
[00:04:04.010] - Amanda
Don't speculate. Whatever you do, don't speculate or hope that you know what's happening. Say what you do know and don't guess and leave it in that. Because if you say more, you never know that's going to come back and bite you. Never say no comment, try we'll update you soon. And you have to make sure that you've got one voice and not mixed messaging going on. So, if you've got a number of spokespeople speaking to the outside world, make sure they're aligned and make sure you tell internal teams who they are and, you know, who those spokespeople are that are approved. And then the final point for me, and I know this is one that you'll firmly agree with, is making sure that you tell employees first, or at least at the same time as the media. There is nothing worse than turning up to work and seeing something out there that you know nothing about.
[00:04:59.730] - Imogen
And it happens the whole time. It happened recently to a client of ours. We know that. You know, those golden rules you were just talking about, Amanda, those are really kind of media relations 101, aren't they? Those are the kind of things you learn in those media trainings that communications consultants make you put through.
[00:05:18.700] - Amanda
Exactly. But you lose— sometimes can lose sight of it, and it is the basics, and it's the fundamentals. So, yeah, don't lose track of the basics.
[00:05:27.380] - Imogen
I think for me, timing is super important. There is temptation, especially when it comes to senior leaders, to hold back speaking out until you've got every single fact nailed down. And this isn't just in crisis situations, we see it during change management as well. They don't want to say anything to anyone until they know exactly what's going on. But that instinct to have all the facts, to know everything before you say something, I think that can be a risky way forward.
[00:06:03.430] - Amanda
I 100% agree. Silence is a powerful, loudest statement in itself. And we've talked about this before. If you leave a gap or a void, then somebody else is going to fill that vacuum. And quite often that's going to be wrong and have more speculation. So, you know, say what you know, don't guess, and commit to updating people when you know more.
[00:06:31.630] - Imogen
Absolutely. You, by being silent, you're losing control over the message. And a lot of that has got to do, I think, with panic, actually, and poor crisis management procedures. Because you can imagine the team, something happens and they are just scrabbling. They don't know who's signing things off, they don't know who can say what, they don't know what's happening. And before you know it, 2 hours has passed and there is people saying stuff that you have no control over. And it's very hard to get that trust back for a crisis before it happens. You know, as you said, you don't need to say everything, but you do need to say something.
[00:07:16.150] - Amanda
We have emphasized, I think, that you cannot do things by committee in a crisis situation. And, you know, you can tell when companies are going through sign-off processes, it often delays what's been said. And I think that's why you have to have pre-agreed principles. They're so important. You know, if transparency is one of your values, then live it. Say you're investigating and that's when you'll hear from us next. You know, that's a sign of control.
[00:07:48.170] - Imogen
If we move away from timing and look at the message itself, or the kind of communications you're putting out there. As with any communications that we do, we need to have messages which are tailored for the right audience, because the same message isn't going to land the same way for the same people. That's why it's so, so important to have a clear, up-to-date, and comprehensive stakeholder map. We need to know who the people are that we need to talk to and what they care about. And that goes for all communications, of course, but particularly in a crisis.
[00:08:25.060] - Amanda
Yes, what do they fear losing? And that helps you tailor the message. You've got your legitimate stakeholders, so that's your employees, your customers, and your suppliers, those that work closely with the business. Of course, there's regulatory. You've got governments, health bodies, food safety authorities. And then that final piece, which is probably the one that's least easy to define, is social, so media, NGOs, and the public. And, you know, they can be a little bit unpredictable. But each one has different priorities, and a blanket message is not gonna cut it.
[00:09:01.170] - Imogen
Blanket message, no, but there needs to be consistency in that message, no matter who you're talking to. So, on the internal comms side, your employees, one, they should know first, obviously. But they also need to be spoken to in a language that they recognize, they understand, they appreciate, they connect with. We've had crises happen, and the CEO has taken very different approaches depending on who they're talking to. So, they did a kind of filmed face-to-camera address for employees, which gave context, which gave details, which was warm, which was human. And then the media, in that case, got a statement which was very clear, had the facts, was ready to be reported on. Now, the key facts were exactly the same, but we shifted the tone because of the two different audiences that we were working with.
[00:10:04.440] - Amanda
Yeah, it's gotta be authentic, hasn't it? The other thing I think is Also worth mentioning is managers. Don't forget them, because they need versions that they can actually use in a conversation. You know, they're the ones that the employees often are coming to first, and if they don't feel confident, your messages won't travel internally the way that they should.
[00:10:29.570] - Imogen
You will have heard, I hope you heard, 'cause you were in it, Amanda, but we did an interview with Julian, our lawyer friend, a couple of episodes ago, and we were talking about legal review process and— tricky— the pain points that we all have with legal. I think it's important to realize that legal has to be involved in crises. They have to. But we need to avoid letting legalese dilute our message when we're communicating.
[00:11:04.560] - Amanda
It's a real challenge. I think it's getting better. I think the comms professionals and the legal professionals are starting to understand where each other comes from. But I think it's really important that legal should review, not write, and that their job, and they're brilliant at it, is to assess risk. As a comms professional, it's yours to sound human. So if you let legal lead the tone, you're going to lose trust.
[00:11:31.740] - Imogen
And we see it. Whenever a crisis hits the headlines, I think Boeing is probably a great example of where they had a very slow, very legalistic, heavy response to the deadly crashes that they had of 2018, '19 that affected real people, but their response was about trying to minimize risk to the business. And that's still going on. There are still legal ramifications from this work that's still going on. And Boeing, as a result, has had an immense amount of damage to its reputation that it possibly will never manage to repair. I think it's a myth, and I'm fully willing for lawyers to write in and disagree with me on this, but I think it's a myth that you can't show empathy without admitting legal liability. I think you can be empathetic. I think you can be human and not admit a liability.
[00:12:37.130] - Amanda
100%, uh, agree with you. So yeah, if you dispute it, drop us a note. Um, I don't think you have to wait for a court to say we're deeply sorry. You know, where's, where's being human in all that?
[00:12:52.270] - Imogen
I think as we wrap up, Why don't you give us your crisis comms checklist? What should we be asking ourselves when we're looking at our communications?
[00:13:02.600] - Amanda
Challenge yourself to be clear on what we know, what we don't know, and where we're going next. Have you shown empathy for those affected? Are you being honest about the timelines for updates? I think it's perfectly legitimate and okay to not have all the answers all at once, but I think as long as you commit to giving updates when you can, you're given more leeway and permission to keep on operating the way that you need to. Is your message tailored to the audience that matters most right now? And really importantly, is it jargon-free and not sounding like a legal contract?
[00:13:43.480] - Imogen
We've put some examples of recent wins and fails that we've spotted. We'll chuck those in the show notes for you.
[00:13:50.700] - Amanda
Yeah, and hopefully they'll show you how rapid empathy, making sure your tone is spot on, and flexibility can turn tricky moments into wins. Hopefully you'll also see how tone-deaf delays can inflame reputation damage. So, hopefully that'll give you a little bit of further insight.
[00:14:13.360] - Imogen
So, to sum up, I think, you know, crisis comms is not about being perfect, although that would be nice, but it is about being prepared, about being clear, about being empathetic, because what you are trying to do is build trust and trying to get more and more trust as the crisis goes on so that you long-term don't completely damage the reputation of your organization.
[00:14:41.600] - Amanda
Indeed. Well, next time we're going to shift gears. Episode 4 is all about recovery. Again, that important word trust and rebuilding it, but also reconnecting with your stakeholders and making sure that you're learning the lessons and the crisis doesn't hit again.
[00:14:57.830] - Imogen
While you're waiting, if you have a question you want answered, if you'd like to write in and shout at us for being mean about lawyers, leave us a comment, like, share, subscribe. It's nice to know that there are people out there actually listening to this. But until next time, bye.
[00:15:14.460] - Amanda
Bye.
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