The following may sound like a contentious view when you first read it, but I consider it a public service announcement when I write: if you have bad news or risk information to communicate to publics affected by your crisis, don’t ever (ever, ever, EVER) choose to hold a town hall meeting to do so. […]
Category Archives: Pro Tips
An often overlooked crisis communications tool – which has more power than many people give it credit for – is the after action report (AAR), or “lessons learned report,” if that sounds more familiar. A well-written AAR has several inherent benefits: It provides your leadership with a clear picture of you/your team’s important incident actions. […]
In times of crisis, the top communication objectives are typically to provide information to the public that will help them stay safe, that will tell them how they can help your organization to help them, to reassure and to instill confidence. All communication strategies and tactics, therefore, need to be developed with these objectives in […]
If you work in U.S. emergency management, particularly at the local, county or state level, you are probably already aware of the fine courses provided at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute – both the brick-and-mortar schoolhouse in the Maryland panhandle, and via their online presence. I’ve taken several courses at the school over the years, have […]
Public opinion has often driven operations during disaster incident response. Successfully establishing and operating a joint information center can make your incident management organization part of the conversation with a well-informed public; not doing so can put you “behind the story,” playing catch-up to rumors and misinformation. When multiple organizations are in the same fight to […]
The Crisis Communicator 