#51 — Crisis comms playbooks

Why it matters: When crisis hits, you won't have time to craft a plan. Having a ready-to-deploy crisis communications strategy can be the difference between survival and catastrophe.§

The big picture: A comprehensive crisis comms plan requires clear team roles, rapid assessment protocols, and prepared messaging frameworks.§

Team Assembly

War room essentials:§

• Save an offline list of key contacts: CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, legal, comms leads
• Define clear roles with designated decision-makers
• Establish your comms chain of command

Reality check: Your comms team needs predetermined responsibilities for media inquiries, spokesperson prep, and message approval processes.§

Crisis Assessment

When to activate the team:§

• People issues: injuries, illegal behavior, broken trust
• Reputation threats: public visibility, government involvement, election proximity
• Business disruption: significant financial impact, operational failure

Engagement Principles

Prioritize in this order:§

1. People (employees and customers)
2. Accuracy (be the source of truth)
3. Transparency (share verified information)
4. Speed (regular updates through appropriate channels)
5. Focus (cut through chaos with clarity)
6. Legal compliance (balance caution with openness)

Between the lines: Speak decisively with simple messaging. Aggressively correct misinformation before it calcifies into "fact."§

Immediate Actions

Break-glass checklist:§

• Assemble war room (call, don't text or email)
• Establish communication protocols
• Gather facts and determine severity
• Set up real-time monitoring
• Communicate with employees first
• Inventory stakeholders and assign outreach
• Develop and distribute messaging

Go Deeper: Fact-Gathering Questions

What happened?§

• Nature of the situation (what exactly occurred)
• Timing (when did it happen, is it ongoing)
• Location (where did it take place)
• Root cause (if known)
• Information certainty (how confident are you in these facts)
• Information sources (where are you getting your data)
• Knowledge gaps (what remains unclear or unknown)
• Timeline for new information (when will you know more)

What is the scope?§

• Threat assessment (people, finances, data, physical assets)
• Impact radius (how many affected and who specifically)
• Knowledge spread (who knows internally vs. externally)
• Geographic reach (local, regional, national, global)
• Political dimensions (any activist groups or political entities involved)

Who needs to be involved?§

• Internal expertise needed (subject matter experts beyond crisis team)
• External support required (PR firms, legal counsel, consultants)
• Authority engagement (law enforcement, emergency services, regulators)
• Disclosure obligations (regulatory requirements to report)

How is your company being perceived?§

• Preventability perception (could this have been avoided)
• Pattern analysis (is this a recurring issue)
• Prior warnings (were there ignored red flags)
• Media coverage (traditional and social media sentiment)
• Messaging conflicts (ongoing campaigns that now seem tone-deaf)
• Activities to pause (events, launches, announcements to delay)

What options do you have?§

• Action alternatives (full range of possible responses)
• Cost-benefit analysis (pros/cons of each approach)
• Recovery planning (compensation or remediation needs)
• Strategic outreach (identifying who might influence outcomes)

The bottom line: Comprehensive fact-gathering provides the foundation for effective crisis response. Don't skip this step even when time pressure is intense.§

Messaging Framework

What people need to hear:§

• What happened and why
• What you're doing about it now
• Where to get more information
• What they should do
• What comes next

Message construction elements:§

• Goal: What you need the audience to understand, feel, or do
• Context: Background information and what's at stake
• Facts: Hard data points you can verify
• Actions: Current steps and next moves

Spokesperson guidelines:§

• Never lie, fudge facts, or speculate on hypotheticals
• Project calmness and confidence in voice, tone, and body language
• Stay composed even when faced with combative questions
• Use clear, declarative language without jargon
• Know all facts thoroughly to avoid fumbling
• Maintain consistency in all statements
• Never say "no comment" - acknowledge what you don't know
• Assume everything is on the record
• Avoid humor or sarcasm in all communications

Handling tough questions:§

• Monitor how your emotions are being perceived
• Address inaccurate premises in questions
• Give crisp, complete-sentence answers that resist misquoting
• Zoom out to key points when questions are confusing
• If ambushed, calmly direct to proper channels

Tactical Execution

Scenario planning:§

• Identify top risks before crisis hits
• Draft basic plans for likely scenarios
• Prepare holding statements with blanks to fill in
• Include social media response strategies
• Prioritize speed of execution

The takeaway§

Don't wait until crisis hits to prepare. Build your playbook now, run scenario planning for your top risks, and be ready to move with speed and clarity when it matters most.§