What to say when the words aren’t right.

At university they call it “Crisis Communication” - something alarming you read about in a smelly text book with a million post-it notes stuck to all the important bits you need to remember, but quietly hope you don’t.

But what they don’t tell you is that when you find your self in/near/witnessing a crisis, it will be wildy different from the corporate communication plan you have to painstakingly detail in order to save the reputation of the fictional multi national conglomerate whose CEO has pilfered the payroll.

Of course there are always brand disasters, where the talent goes off script or someone runs off with someone they shouldn’t or someone posts something and it spirals (I’m not talking about those kind of dramas) but when a real life disaster happens, like we are seeing played out in Europe now or in Northern NSW or the pandemic or the climate crisis that sometimes feels so overwhelming I can hardly breathe; the books never tell you that sometimes the right words are actually hard to find. Sometimes there are no right words and contributing could be unhelpful and sometimes it’s appropriate to speak up; and the fact that you are even wondering about this is a good start.

How should you communicate to your audience when you are watching a disaster, or three, unfold before your eyes in tiny squares on a small screen, but you still have to pay the bills, pick up the kids and make dinner? Of course there are a million scenarios, and there is no perfect answer, but here are a few key things to think about first.

PAUSE & REFLECT

It’s often helpful to temporarily pause everything you have scheduled on social media so you have some space to read the room and listen and watch. Don’t be tempted to jump on a bandwagon prematurely, or feel obligated to comment on everything that happens in the world, this can really work against you as things unfold and more is learned about a situation. An incorrect, unthoughtful or ill-timed comment can do more harm than you might imagine and just adding noise for the sake of traffic is unhelpful, particularly if you are not directly affected.

WHO AND WHERE IS YOUR AUDIENCE? WHAT IS RELEVANT FOR THEM?

What is your audience or your community doing? Are they directly affected by this situation? How are they feeling right now? This will be a major factor in your decision making process. Just be thoughtful.

Also consider your internal audience, your employees or suppliers and clearly communicate with them what your plans are, if you need to adjust things which might be affected - postage and delivery for example.

COMMUNICATE CONSISTENTLY

Sometimes in a crisis even though you are not directly involved the fallout could impact your business. So ask your self if the situation requires you to adjust at all and prepare a straight forward consistent thoughtful statement which you and all of your team can use consistently to manage expectations of those interacting with your business.

FACT CHECKING AND CREDIBLE SOURCES

If you want to communicate publicly in support of something, research first and make sure you fact check like crazy. Consider what you are about to say from multiple points of view. Find credible sources for your information and reference. Not everything you read online is true, and our view of the world is compiled from small snippets of content some of which don’t have ethical origins.

A TIME FOR LEARNING

You might feel strongly that things are not right in the world and I understand the frustration of not being able to help/change/fix it. Social media seems like a great way to add support but understanding is key. If you don’t understand, or know enough about a subject but feel strongly, then acknowledging that can also be appropriate sometimes, but consider first whether it is necessary to broadcast this to the world and add additional noise - maybe just just go about learning first.

If you are asked directly, then that might be the time to mention your desire to get things right, and that you want to learn more about the issue before speaking out. You could respectfully ask for credible sources from your audience and then do the learning, reading and thinking before speaking publicly.

CAN YOU TEMPORARILY CHANGE DIRECTION?

If your current online content is best paused, consider whether you can focus on something different for a while. Can you use the time for product development, networking, writing content for later or updating your website? Join a community group and help someone in need or if you need to keep things going, reassess and change marketing direction.

Pick up the phone, change up your messaging and try local marketing to specific areas where you can control the distribution more closely than on social media. Marketing has been around a lot longer than the internet - there are many many very effective offline ways to communicate with potential customers.

A TIME FOR QUIET

And if it all feels too overwhelming, it’s also ok to take some time out from posting on social media. Pop up a message that says you are here holding space for what’s going on but taking a break for a few days. It’s fine to look after yourself too!

No matter what the textbooks say, there are no real people in there, and there’s no perfect template for what to do in a crisis like we are living through. Just be thoughtful, kind and compassionate and the right words will come at the right time for you.