Best Practices in Crisis Communications including: ✔ The four key parts of a strong crisis communications strategy. ✔ The key differences in planning for and managing communications during values crises and physical-risk crises. ✔ The key questions to answer when a crisis starts—including a special hand-out reference that will make this easy hereafter.

1. BEST PRACTICE IN
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
Pete Mackey, Ph.D.
President, Mackey Strategies
CASE Annual Conference for Media Relations Professionals
September 18, 2019

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Program
Let's Play Crisis Jeopardy!—including Yours…1
The Crisis Communications Essentials: The APPEX2
Language and Temperature: Keeping Cool4
Speed and Fact: Minding the Gap3
+ Scenarios, Practice & Discussion

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Experience

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Sample Crisis Experience
4
President resigns in national scandal
Sports Illustrated cover story on football team's steroid use
Parents host booze party in dorm for underage students—and track it on social media
National newspaper digs up damning records in junk yard (wins Pulitzer Prize...)
Student lawsuit alleges prejudicial expulsion
Racist drive-bys and anti-Semitic posters from locals

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Sample Crisis Experience
4
Students take over library
Campus flood
Mascot with racist history
Hired major coach resigns the next day
Visiting professor seems to threaten the life of a mayor on social media
Dean writes every public HS in the state promoting a new class to "combat Christian fundamentalism"

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1. Let's Play Crisis Jeopardy!

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Name That Institution….
The head of a
national lab at this
institute stepped
down over ties to
Jeffrey Epstein.
What is
MIT?

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Name That Institution….
The dean of
students at this
university resigned
after Breitbart
resurfaced old
tweets.
What is
U. of
Alabama?

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Name That Institution….
A professor at this
university inspired
a national debate
after calling an NYT
columnist a
“bedbug.”
What is
GWU?

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Name That Institution….
The chancellor at
this university
apologized after
body-cam footage
showed her
berating campus
police officers.
What is
Rutgers?

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Name That Institution….
This college paid
$11,000,000 to a
local bakery over
its response to
student protests.
What is
Oberlin?

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Name That Institution….
At this university,
students demanded
free fabric softener
to combat racism.
What is
Sarah
Lawrence?

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Name That Institution….
At this university, a
controversy has
erupted between
faculty over a
faculty-diversity
initiative.
What is
Yale?

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Name That Institution….
This college walked
back a “Common
Language
Document” it had
posted online.
What is
Amherst?

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Name That Institution….
This university is
facing a lawsuit
alleging that it
allowed three
professors to
sexually assault
students.
What is
Dartmouth?

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Name That Institution….
Your crisis.
What is
Your
Institution?

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2. Crisis Communications APPEX

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The Crisis Communications APPEX
Awareness
Protocol
Preparedness
Execution
(and Xfactor)

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Crisis Communications Strategy Essentials
Awareness: What is the nature of the risk?1
Protocol: Who does what, when, in which situations?2
Preparedness: Of the team, the community, and the
systems.
3
Execution: Sound communications until (Xfactor) the
issue is fully resolved and your community is fully
informed.
4

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Awareness
The Crisis Communications APPEX

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My View? Two Primary Types of Crisis
Physical Risks Values Risks

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Two Primary Types of Crisis Examples
Physical Risks
• Natural disaster
• Bad human
behavior
• Hazmat
• IT breaches
Values Risks
• Racial conflict
• Religious conflict
• Political conflict
• Free speech
conflict

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Primary Crisis Communications Objectives
Physical Risks
• Minimizing physical harm
• Providing guidance on
how to minimize the risk
• Fostering calm and clarity
Values Risks
• Clarifying relevant
institutional values
• Addressing complex
human questions
• Offering paths for further
dialogue and discussion

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Primary Crisis Communications Types
Physical Risks
• Quick
• Factual
• Brief
• Detailed information
thereafter
Values Risks
• Substantive
• Reflective
• Developed across
hours, even days
• Typically a few
elaborate
communications

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Primary Crisis Lead Communicators
Physical Risks
• Campus police usually
first (the first several…)
• Later: messages from
senior administrators,
depending on
situational gravity
Values Risks
• President, if the matter
is of regional or
national severity
• Sometimes others: e.g.,
provost, head of
student affairs,
Title IX officer

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Discussion

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Protocol
The Crisis Communications APPEX

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The Two Teams Approach
Leadership
• Support the president in decision making.
• Delegate communications responsibilities as needed.
• Hold final authority for communications unless delegated otherwise.
• Ensure institutional crisis responsibilities in all areas are thoroughly, carefully managed.
Communications
• Draft required communications.
• Manage communications review, vetting, and distribution.
• Determine audiences for and timing of communications.
• Sketch out announcements plan, goals, audiences, media, and timing.
• Follow through until crisis is fully resolved and community is fully informed.

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The Three Teams Approach
for Severe Physical Risk
Leadership
Management
• Front-line operational staff
• Coordination among them is critical
• E.g.: Counseling & health services, housing,
dining, plant operations, IT, religious services,
parking
Communications

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Discussion

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Preparedness
The Crisis Communications APPEX

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Key People Preparedness Questions
• Is the crisis team regularly practiced?
• Case-study conversations regularized?
• Table-top practices regularized?
• Live-action training regularized?
• Media training completed, regularized?
• Post-event review embedded?
Leadership
• Students, faculty, and staff know the
communications plan in a crisis?
• How are new students and personnel educated in
plans & expectations?
• Is your alert system in place & regularly tested with
campus?
Awareness

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Key Systems Preparedness Questions
• Student & personnel cell phone #s in your alerts
system?
• Parent contact information in your databases?
• Pre-populated groups established for rapid
communications/alerts with
• Leadership Team?
• Communications Team?
• Management Team?
Data
• Protocols online?
• Crisis-specific webpage ready?
• Homepage-alerts module ready?
• “Black” homepage ready?
Website

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Discussion

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Execution
The Crisis Communications APPEX

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3. Speed and Fact

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Mind the Gap: Perception v. Reality
Ownership
Speed
Message
Messenger
Medium
Chaos
Vacuum
Media
Distance
Rumor
Reality
Perception

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Mind the Gap: Perception v. Reality
The
message
The messenger
Reality
Perception
Audience

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Moving to Clarity and Resolution
Crisis (chaos)
Rumor &
Confusion
Comms
("calms") Resolution
Repeat as necessary.

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Close the Gap: The How, to Whom
The
Message
Values
Campus
Danger
Off
campus
+
Media
Info
Students

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Discussion

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4. Language and Temperature

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Temperature in the Gap = Language?
-Non-factual
-Judgmental
-Irrelevant
-Beware modifiers
-Factual
-Understated
-Relevant
-Contextual

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Discussion
Connect
pete@mackeystrategies.com
mackeystrategies.com