3 immediate considerations when writing a crisis response

The crucial first step of responding to a crisis is discerning what is known.

“If you’re like me and you’re an external communicator, you have to gather as much information as you can and then coordinate quickly with your internal team so that employees hear it from the company first and there’s less confusion,” said Jennifer Hawton, public relations and executive communications manager at PEMCO Insurance, during a panel discussion at Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference.

“You can’t share your message internally or externally if you don’t have a clear idea what’s going on,” she added.

Once this information is collected, comms teams can help leaders craft a response with accuracy, speed and style, said Assaf Kedem, head of internal communications and content and global banking at BNP Paribas.