How blanket denials ruin your crisis response efforts

How you address devastating news can make the difference between being able to come back and being trapped in a cycle of scandal and backlash. Here’s how to avoid the trap.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

There’s a scene in the 1967 classic A Guide to the Married Man where Joey Bishop, caught in flagrante delicto with a mistress by his wife, simply denies that there is another woman in the room, so much so that she ends up believing him.

The immoral moral of that scene? Deny. Deny. Deny.

It works in shtick, but not in real life. When faced with a crisis, your first instinct might be to deny all wrongdoing. However, that’s rarely a path to reviving your reputation.

In fact, your denial could make a crisis even worse.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.