What happens when a crisis occurs? So often, people are unprepared, do not know how to react, or don’t react in time, and the crisis only worsens.
The same thing can happen when boards and associations aren’t prepared. Crises, by their very nature, are unforeseen, and it makes sense to prepare for the unexpected.
The first step is to be trained beforehand: what to say, what not to say. The worst thing to say is ‘no comment.’ Reporters are taught to hunt for the answers wherever they may lead, and they can latch onto something that may not have been meant for public consumption or perhaps said in jest. It’s important to be careful about the message you’re conveying during interviews as nothing is really ‘off the record.’
Formal media training for your board may be one option. A professional, usually a public relations executive or former reporter, meets with your board for a fee and provides an overall understanding of the different media platforms and how they work.
Media trainers can help craft key messages for the association (usually three are sufficient) and help leaders understand how to pivot back to the real issue at hand and skillfully weave in the important messages they want to convey, even when difficult questions are being asked.
Leaders can practice communicating during simulated interviews to become more polished and learn how to anticipate tough questions. Learning how to prepare for upcoming interviews is crucial as well as understanding how to come across as natural, rather than artificial, by avoiding the use of jargon only members of the association’s industry might understand.
Sample crisis situations can be created with leaders jumping in to handle these interviews on the spur of the moment. This can be an effective way of learning how to anticipate problems and solve them without any preparation, since a crisis often occurs without any advance warning.
Positive interviews can increase the public’s awareness of the association and develop a stronger image for both the leaders and the association’s industry or profession. This can result in increased membership or an increased interest in the industry itself, which can spur growth. It can also decrease the risk that the industry would be viewed in a negative light since leaders are properly trained to avoid a negative ‘spin’ or ‘gotcha’ moments.
Even if media training may not be in the association’s budget, leaders can still engage in the following ways to deal with potential crisis situations:
- Create a crisis communications plan which would include an overview of the roles that individuals would play, identify the training involved, and specify what communication channels would be utilized along with the proper cadence for responding to the crisis in a timely fashion.
- Develop key messages and fact sheets that the association should use when talking with the media
- Designate key spokespersons to communicate with the media. Only these individuals and no one else should be involved, limiting the potential for the spread of misinformation.
- Identify potential crises in your industry. While crises cannot be anticipated, concoct proposed scenarios of potential problem areas.
- Schedule several hours during an upcoming board meeting to practice mock interviews with staff or other leaders.
- Should a crisis occur, put the plan into action immediately, and provide updates to the public, the industry, and the membership, as needed. Monitor results on a regular basis.
Good communication is worth striving for, whether in crisis situations or not, and can benefit both the association and its leaders. Strong leaders are strong communicators!