Are you really ready to handle a crisis? Take our test to find out…

Are you really ready to handle a crisis? Take our test to find out…

It’s almost impossible to predict when crises might happen, but it’s always possible to prepare for them, for example, by creating holding statement templates, or key messages for specific situations.

One way we help clients assess whether they need training to handle the media in a crisis is by asking them how they would respond to some generic scenarios that could happen to almost any organisation in real life.

So, could your company handle these, if they happened today?!

Scenario 1 - live TV face-to-face interview

Last night there was a break-in at your office. Laptops and memory sticks are among items that have been stolen. A reporter from the regional news channel has turned up and wants to ask you about any possible breach of customer confidentiality…and customers are already phoning you to express the same concern.

Scenario 2 - live TV down-the-line interview

Over the weekend a water tank burst at your head office, causing extensive disruption and damage, including to critical I.T. equipment. The regional TV news programme wants to interview you about what this means for the company, including the long-term effect on the business’s finances, its relationships with customers etc…

Scenario 3 - national newspaper interview (by phone)

One of your staff has tweeted an extremely derogatory comment about a high-profile sports star, who has just “gone public” about suffering from depression for years and how he is now receiving treatment. Your employee's remark has been extensively retweeted and criticised. This has caught the attention of the national media, and journalists are now phoning to ask what action, if any, has been taken by your company, how a remark - that’s being widely condemned as offensive - is affecting the business’s reputation and whether they can also interview the employee.

If you're in any doubt about how your organisation should handle the scenarios above, why not get in touch, so we can show you the skills and techniques required for these sorts of interviews? After all, it's so often not the crisis that does the serious damage, it's the way an organisation handles it in the public eye that condemns it.