Media and Crisis Communications 

In today's world of 24/7 hour news, social media and citizen journalism, bad news makes great news and good news just doesn't make the headlines.  Information is out "there" in the blink of an eye and everyone has an opinion.  Communicating quickly and effectively with internal and external stakeholders is fundamental to an effective crisis response; your reputation and future depend on it.   

Crisis communications strategy and planning

Communicating effectively in crisis rarely happens by chance.  It demands a strategic approach, planning and integration into an overall crisis management framework.  Our staff are crisis communications and media specialists.  We offer expert advice in:

• Stakeholder identification and key message development
• Strategic advice on traditional and social media engagement
• Development and integration of your crisis communications plan with your crisis response plan 

Training

It is essential for any crisis communications response that the right people are equipped with the skills to communicate under pressure in a timely, coherent and, above all, credible manner, thereby ensuring brand reputation is maintained in the eyes of key stakeholders. Our crisis communications training options are tailored to your specific needs – examples may include:

• Introductory workshops to explore the systems, procedures and protocols necessary to effect robust crisis communications
• Media engagement for non-spokespersons – reception, security, call handlers and other 'frontliners'
• Media spokesperson training – best practice guidance and rehearsals for executives and other managers
• Social media engagement – preparing for and managing 'citizen journalism' in a crisis

The training is highly interactive and delegates will have the chance to put their media learning into practise with active debrief and feedback from professional journalists.  This may include scenario-based development of messages, bridging, live to camera interviews, down the line interviews and press conferences.

Exercises

We offer a full range of crisis management exercise options from simple plan walkthroughs to scenario based workshops and full crisis simulations which are designed to:

• Validate your crisis communications plan
• Rehearse your comms staff in their crisis role using a realistic scenario, building their capability and confidence
• Rehearse the integration of crisis comms as part of your overall crisis response