Keys to Writing the Perfect Crisis Response Press Release
- ksizzle00009
- Apr 28, 2021
- 2 min read
For this week’s COMM 415 lectures, we talked all about crisis responses and all that is associated. I want to look more at how we write a press release for crisis response. The lecture talks about three main points:
1. Isolate the actual problem.
2. Write 1-3 key messages to communicate your response to the crisis.
3. Write the release to convey the most essential information and focus on key messages.
While there are definitely other things that could be included, sticking to these three main points will set you up for success or in this case “damage control”.
1. Isolate the actual problem
When you want to write a press release to respond to a crisis, you must first lock in and find the actual problem. You want to clear all of the “fluff” information and as they say, “get down to brass tacks”. By identifying the actual problem first, you can react appropriately and then begin the process of your press release. If you don’t locate the actual problem, you may not respond in a suitable way, and will then have to release a second crisis response press release. That’s when things get messy and don’t show that your team/company/organization is responding well.
2. Write 1-3 key messages to communicate your response to the crisis
The important part of this tip is “key messages”. These are the things that you most want to communicate so that the response to the crisis is effective and professional. This is where you want to be concise and straight to the point you are making. As you respond to a crisis, these will be the major things that you want the public to know and remember. You want to choose these key messages wisely, while also not taking too much time. This is where responding to a crisis can become very difficult. You want to ensure you respond properly, but you also need to do it in a timely manner.
3.Write the release to convey the most essential information and focus on key messages.
Many times, we can get caught up in interesting information, even though it may not be essential. In times of crisis, we must be able to be professional and to the point. You also want to keep bringing the focus back to the key messages. This may seem repetitive, but you really want to stress these key messages. This will allow the public to remember what you are saying and will help keep your image strong.
Final thoughts
As I wrap up, I hope you all see that isolating the actual problem, writing 1-3 key messages to communicate your response, and writing the press release to convey the most essential information and focus on key messages will all greatly improve the quality of a press release for a crisis. My question for you all this week is, do you feel a crisis response should be more offensive or defensive? By this I mean do you feel the company/organization should preemptively react to a crisis or wait for the criticism and then try and enact damage control? I look forward to reading your comments down below.
To answer your question, I think it might depend on the type of crisis, what's all involved. Sometimes being proactive might create more attention and criticism from other people, and the other time it might put out the fires. It's suggested for an organization to be transparent during a crisis, but at the same time depending on the issue company might want to avoid excessive publicity.
I'd say it's a mix of the two. If you don't want your business to be associated with negativity, you can address any issues as soon as possible. But, for the sake of defending your brand, you can also repair it after someone derogatory says something.
I would say a little bit of both. You do not want your company to come off negative so you should fix any situations right away. But you should also fix it after someone negative gets out, for the sake of protecting your company. I think when a crisis is fixed after the fact, it shows a company cares. That is a great question!
I feel like a crisis response should be defensively response. Crisis response is bad news I think upon your company or name. So to protect your name or company, I would response with defense. I would wait and then react to there response with how every way I feel like doing so.
Kurt,
I like that you really specified your blog to focus on press releases. I think that writing the press release is an essential part of the response to crisis. Going in depth on that topic can be very beneficial to both you and I. I think that part of crisis can be the response from the public all in its own. When the public responds to crisis, that can almost serve as a whole new crisis for organizations. I would say that organizations can try to avoid this by responding quickly to crisis, but it is likely that they will receive backlash no matter what.
Good work!
Hannah Anderson