Public Relations: Crisis Communications

Overview

Course duration: 1 day.

Problems, incidents and emergencies do not have to turn into PR crises. Management turns to PR when things are going wrong and reputations may be damaged. This course shows how PR crises can be avoided and how best the PR can be handled if a crisis does happen.

Is it right for me?

Middle to senior level PR professionals and company managers with responsibility for crisis communication and corporate reputation management.

What will I learn?

By the end of this practical course you will be able to:

• Plan a robust strategy for dealing with crisis communication for your organisation and/or clients
• Employ practical steps in a crisis situation in order to limit damage to reputation, brand and shareholder value

What will it cover?

Overview of Crisis Communication

• The impact of crises on corporate reputation
• Can crises be managed
• Benefits of crisis management

The Strategic Approach and Minimising Risk

• Forecasting crisis scenarios and how to avoid them
• Planning for trouble
• Crises and management behaviour

Tools for Effective Crisis Communication

• The role of the communicator in a crisis
• Crisis communication procedures and manuals
• Handling the media and other audiences
• Special audiences and how to handle them
• Invisible crises: • e-terrorism • other threats

Training Method A mix of practical and theory with a substantial number of examples of how to, and how not to, handle crisis situations. Participants will run through a number of crisis scenarios to exercise their skills.