Be a Pragmatic and Flexible Communicator or Violate the Law of Crisis PR

The 18th century Irish philosopher-Poet Edmund Burke is a role-model for many so-called conservatives who would be well-served to follow what Burke scholars report was his belief that policy innovation must come in response to specific problems. That means changing one’s position given new circumstances doesn’t mean you are a spin-master or a flip-flopper. Such repositioning could actually mean you are laudably a pragmatist looking for the best solutions.

Those of us who deal with crisis communications should address head-on accusations that we represent convenient positions and that staying-the course always translates to good leadership. In fact, “staying the course” may in reality translate to perpetuating a mistake.

So as the Obama administration deals with the realities of timetables or costs to leave Iraq or close Guantanamo Bay, the administration’s messengers aren’t being opportunistic or hypocrites, they are basing new actions or positions on changing circumstances. Crisis communicators must be flexible, also protecting their positions or clients’ positions as problem solvers and not ideologues that are intractable and subsequently unsuccessful.

Share your thoughts – do you agree or disagree?

The Law of Crisis PR Demands Complicated Messages Be Simplified Not Dumbed-Down

President Barack Obama stated late last month, “the biggest mistake … is this notion that you have to dumb things down for the public.” We couldn’t agree more, especially when the issue at hand is complex as most “crisis” communications tends to be. So, to be clear, we need to not lose the nuances of complexities but to make them more easily understandable to all audiences when critical communication is at stake.

In order to reach our communications goal here several points need to be addressed, including: concise messaging, perception of intelligence and use of jargon.

Since we are quoting famous people in this blog, another reference is illustrative regarding concise messaging. News icon Walter Cronkite said that there is no story that can’t be told in thirty seconds. Of course, most stories can be told better if there is more time to tell them but Cronkite had the right idea. Start your communications with a simple image-inducing message. For example, effective crisis communication is like driving by a good roadside ad; if you understand the message in a few seconds the ad was successful. If you need to think too long about what the ad was trying to communicate, the message was lost and it’s an ineffective ad.

Great communicators must leave their egos at the door. No one wants to hear what you have to say if you relate to them with a condescending tone. Don’t confuse the use of jargon or inflated words for intelligence. All audiences will benefit from clear communication from empathetic messengers who respect their audiences. Audiences will respect them in return and want to hear and learn about what the messenger is communicating.

What do you think?

Burris’ Debacle: Simply Denying Wrongdoing Breaks The Law of Crisis PR

Illinois Senator Roland Burris is being investigated by federal authorities as they question the legitimacy of his appointment to the Senate seat. With questions looming and stories changing, Burris is in the middle of a challenging public relations crisis that could have been avoided.

In the wake of Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, it’s plausible that Burris wanted to distance himself from the former governor. However, as Blagojevich’s appointee strong political affiliations between the two were inevitable. If Burris did nothing untoward, then he should have come clean and spoken out about his professional relationship with Blagojevich. Instead, this detail surfaced after the fact. In the midst of the sensationalism that has followed, we are left wondering whether Burris is hiding even more information.

Another PR misstep for Burris is that he has not taken a clear, consistent position on the events leading up to his appointment. He recounts situations and conversations differently each time he is interviewed. Instead of enlightening this confuses the public and builds mistrust in him. The level of public confidence he holds - if it were ever high – is extremely low.

Burris left the public and the media to their own devices. In a crisis situation, you must tell your story. Otherwise, others will tell it for you and fill in the blanks as they see fit. Denying wrongdoing is simply not enough if you expect the media or the public to feel real empathy and believe you.

Here are some lessons we can learn from Burris’ mishap:

1. There are no closets big enough to hide high-profile skeletons. Ask Elliott Spitzer. Gary Hart. And now Senator Burris.

2. Come clean - early. You’ll appear honest and it will downplay the story.

3. Consistency is key. Develop some clear key messages. If you change your story, or if you backtrack, the public will not know what to believe.

4. Make a statement. If you don’t speak for yourself, others will speak for you.

The Law of Crisis PR Says Put People First and Shelve Hypocrisy in Time of Trouble

Business can be all about acronyms: P&L, ROI, IBIDA. But the bottom line for business is, however, how circumstances affect people. So when the stock market or a plane crashes the test of a businesses’ future viability and image may very well fulcrum on management’s public statements in relation to how the crisis is reflected in the lives of the employees, customers, investors - people.

You can never go wrong when expressing sympathy, concern, even an appropriate empathy for people first and material things next.

This priority is especially true when the arbiters of the company’s future and even resurrection depend on mass consumers or politicians. Consumers identify with other people, the “every man.” Politicians are ultimately answerable to voters, the very same “every man” with whom consumers identify. Even juries want to hear first that a responsible party apologizes or cares about what happened to a victim.

Of course, any public statement has to be backed-up by an appropriate action or it will be seen a spin or, worse, an outright lie. A business manager can’t express grief for someone lost in an industrial accident and then cut off medical benefits to surviving family members. Corporate titans can’t apologize for losing stockholder’s investments and not take pay cuts themselves or ask congress for money before spending hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars on lush retreats. Mistakes can be forgiven. It is much harder to forgive hypocrisy or a long-planned crime, malice aforethought.

So, when reacting to crisis, prioritize your public statements based on what your neighbor might think and not necessarily how the numbers add up.

The Law of Crisis PR Dictates Common Sense: Jetgate’s Huge Faux Pas

Automaker CEO's were nailed for flying-in on their luxury jets to beg congress for a $25-billion bail-out. The faux pas became a cause célèbre for all the news media and congress certainly didn't let the PR perception blunder go unnoticed. Little wonder why the automakers are still trying to convince congress to buy into their proposal.

The Homer Simpson character would have responded with a big fat "Duh" if he would have witnessed Jetgate.

The automaker CEO's and their organization's lack of PR judgment is inexcusable although one could argue they were focused on other issues - like staying afloat in the current stormy sea of the financial maelstrom. But bad PR generally boils down to ignoring common sense while good PR usually happens when you consider consequences from a "little guys" perspective - that is certainly how most journalists view the world.

Now let's look at Jetgate in the context of the little guy. When you go to ask for a loan from your banker do you offer to take out the loan officer to an expensive lunch in a Lamborghini while wearing a $3-thousand suite and big diamonds? No.

Did Martha Stewart win the hearts and minds of the public and the court system when she showed up for her insider trading trial in a limo toting a very expensive pocketbook and dressed like a queen? No.

Martha Stewart's poor judgment did loft a softball in the air for critical journalists to smash out of the park and so did the automaker CEO's. She has paid dearly and so have they. A little common sense with an eye toward hungry journalists and the little guy's perception would have saved all a bunch of trouble. The lesson for the rich and famous - make sure that you and the people around you think about public perception details before you leap into the headlines.

What do you think?

Set Right Expectations from Onset

Surprise! A few weeks into the financial bailout Secretary Paulsen announces his strategy is changing and by the way, no one is really 100 percent sure about where half of the $700 billion-dollars went. Oversight is about over before it begun. So now there is yet another crisis of credibility with the current administration and certainly of Congress which became an enabler in this situation.

That credibility could have been preserved to a great degree if Paulsen and the other bailout advocates had better expectations. If you are definitive in order to quell fears during a crisis you should also clearly explain how things may change as any new situation will almost invariably change. But, if you don’t set this kind of expectation, you set yourself up for criticism later and certainly loss of credibility.

We are not proposing starting a campaign by saying, “this is a completely new situation and nobody knows how it will turn out.” Because if you said that nobody will believe you are the best person for the job. It is, of course, very touchy. However, you can’t be wishy washy at the outset because that doesn’t instill confidence and your credibility will suffer even more if you don’t enunciate possibilities.

So messaging should include phrases like:

“Here is what we will do and here is what could happen …”

“We know what we are doing but our experience says we must be ready to change direction when it makes sense to change …”

“We know there will be changes to our plan as this is a unique situation but we will be ready to deal with those changes and put the best resources to bear …”

You get the picture. If you don’t qualify actions, especially during a crisis, nobody will trust you.

We are interested in your thoughts.

The Law of Crisis PR Predicts: Smart People Will Do Stupid Things

The AIG executives who decided on a $400K retreat after their firm was in the process of being bailed-out by the US government (American taxpayers) for $85B may have:

1) Taken a calculated risk that no one would notice.

2) Figured they needed time to regroup and the retreat expense was a reasonable business expense.

3) Selfishly decided they deserved a break from an incredibly high-stress time in their business and/or professional lives.

4) Lived in such an insulated C-suite/rich guy’s bubble disconnected from mainstream society that they golden-parachuted into a PR mess that would hurt them professionally and further damage their business’ reputation.

Whatever the truth is about the decision to hold the retreat you would think those executives would have better common sense and business acumen to dictate corporate and fiscal conservatism in the face of theirs and the nation’s financial crisis. We have, however, seen this mentality before of not-living-in-the-real-world famously manifest itself many times in crisis situations and play out away from the public spotlight.

Remember, the media and public outcry when Martha Stewart went to court for insider trading carrying an extravagant handbag worth thousands of dollars? Or when presidential hopeful Senator John McCain while campaigning under the aegis of economic prudence and a populist banner couldn’t even count how many mansions he owned? Or potential First Lady Michelle Obama who said the first time she was proud to be an American was when her husband decided to run for the presidency?

All of the above gaffes were perpetrated by smart folks who should have thought out better answers or taken other commonsensical actions given their situations. Of course, those kinds of faux pas keep PR crisis counselors in business. That said, a responsible PR counselor should also be in the business of creating preventative PR plans or teaching clients to predict what kinds of actions will hurt reputations, increase legal liability or decrease brand value.

So what are the lessons learned? How can people of power understand what their reactions will trigger from the common man or the mainstream news media – the surrogate of the common man?

Lesson 1. When you are open to high-profile public scrutiny list all possible perception outcomes on a matrix.

Lesson 2. If the stakes are high enough, role play in front of outside PR counsel who is not afraid of telling the boss they are pulling a bonehead move.

Lesson 3. Put yourself in an enemies’ or critic’s position and decide what their reaction would be before you act.

Lesson 4. Don’t forget details or common sense. If you are going to be seen in public or comment upon a sensitive issue make sure you speak appropriately, dress appropriately, act appropriately for the given context; i.e. don’t wear expensive jewelry if you are raising money for the poor or speak before a Mothers Against Drunk Driving audience when you have DUI tickets unless you are talking about changing your life because when you are under the public magnifying glass nothing is secret.

Lesson 5. Don’t surround yourself with “yes men” and expect to break the Law of Crisis PR and survive.