Every business likes to think it’s prepared. There’s a budget spreadsheet for every quarter, a strategy for every launch, a timeline for every campaign. But when crisis hits, the phones start ringing, or the inbox fills with media requests, the air in the office can quickly thicken with a quiet panic, and all the tidy planning in the world can crumble in an instant.
That’s when the real test begins.
Because when things go wrong, it’s not the size of your marketing budget or the number of followers you have that determines whether your reputation survives. It’s how you respond. What you say, when you say it, and crucially, whether people believe you.
That’s the heart of crisis communications. It’s not about spin or damage limitation. It’s about controlling information, tone and crucially, trust.
And if there is anything I’ve learned during my career, its that the organisations that survive crises best aren’t the ones who can shout the loudest. They’re the ones who know when to pause, what to say, and how to bring people with them.
What a crisis comms plan really is
When people talk about a “communications plan,” they often picture a neat little document buried in the server, that’s full of flowcharts, phone numbers and pre-approved holding statements. But that’s not what I mean. A true comms plan isn’t a binder gathering dust. It’s a mindset. A framework for calm, coordinated decision-making when the world feels anything but calm.
At its simplest, it’s about preparation. Knowing who speaks, who signs off, who monitors, who reports back. It’s about making sure that when the unexpected happens (and it will), you don’t lose valuable minutes working out who does what.
Because those first minutes matter.
When the news breaks, whether it’s a product recall, a data breach, a regulatory investigation or even an ill-judged social media post, people will look for answers. If they can’t find yours, they’ll fill the void with their own. That’s how speculation starts, and once speculation takes hold, it’s far harder to reclaim the narrative.
A comms plan gives you the structure to act quickly, but not rashly. It lets you check the facts, verify the situation, and still move with enough pace to stay credible.
In other words, it’s your business’s way of taking a deep breath before it speaks.
How crisis comms actually works
When a crisis hits, the comms function becomes the nerve centre of the organisation. It’s not just about writing statements; it’s about orchestrating calm.
You start by understanding the problem. What’s happened? Who’s affected? How bad is it really? Then you bring in the right people. Not a crowd, but a core team. Communications, senior leadership, HR, legal, sometimes IT, sometimes operations. Everyone who has a role in either understanding or explaining what’s gone wrong.
Together, they piece together the facts – and only the facts. You’d be amazed how many businesses get this wrong by rushing to fill gaps with assumptions. In crisis comms, accuracy is your only currency. Say too little and you look evasive. Say too much, or worse, something wrong, and you’ll spend twice as long correcting it later.
From there, you develop your response hierarchy: who needs to be told first (usually staff and stakeholders), who needs to approve statements, and who will front the media if needed.
In that sense, a crisis plan isn’t about words at all. It’s about structure, trust, and calm. It gives you the scaffolding that keeps the business standing while everyone else is running for cover.
The people behind the plan
A crisis brings out two kinds of people – the ones who freeze and the ones who focus. That’s why it’s vital to know, in advance, who will sit around the crisis table.
There should always be a senior leader who can make rapid decisions. The comms lead, who translates those decisions into clear, credible messages. Someone from legal, who ensures you don’t inadvertently create new problems while trying to solve the current one. And crucially, someone who understands the human side, be that from HR or internal comms, because what you tell your own people matters just as much as what you tell the press.
Externally, having a crisis PR specialist can be a game-changer. Not because they’ll magically make the problem disappear, but because they bring perspective. They’re one step removed from the emotion of the situation, and that objectivity is priceless. I’ve sat in rooms where panic had taken hold, where leadership teams were paralysed by fear of headlines or shareholder backlash. In those moments, a calm voice that says, “Here’s what matters right now,” can steady the entire room.
And when it comes to fronting the story, choose your spokesperson wisely. It’s never wise to shove someone who isn’t media trained, or fully prepped, in front of a camera or microphone. Even the most confident executive can falter under the heat of scrutiny, and once a nervous soundbite is out there, it’s impossible to take back. A crisis interview isn’t the time for learning on the job. Your spokesperson needs to be seasoned, composed, and, most importantly, briefed within an inch of their life. The right words, the right tone, the right temperament.
Because in those moments, they don’t just represent the organisation; they are the organisation. And how they come across, be that calm or flustered, credible or evasive, will ultimately shape public perception long after the headlines fade.
The golden rules of crisis comms
If you’ve ever worked through a live crisis, you’ll know that clarity and discipline are everything. There are certain golden rules that should never be broken.
First: Only ever convey facts.
Guesswork is the enemy. If you don’t know something, say so. But also commit to finding out. People forgive uncertainty, but they don’t forgive dishonesty.
Second: Never share more than you have to.
Transparency is not the same as oversharing. Give people what they need to understand the situation, but hold back anything that isn’t verified or could cause harm if misinterpreted.
Third: Be human.
Crises are emotional. They affect people and the tone of your response should reflect that. Empathy builds trust in a way that corporate statements never can.
Fourth: Act, don’t react.
Every action you take in a crisis should be deliberate. If you’re being hounded for comment, don’t rush to fill the silence. Silence can be strategic, provided it’s accompanied by reassurance that you’re investigating and will provide updates when ready.
And finally, learn. Every crisis leaves behind lessons. Capture them, refine your plan, train your teams. The next time, you’ll be sharper.
Why a crisis plan isn’t just for big business
Smaller organisations often assume crisis comms is a corporate luxury – something reserved for household names and global brands. But reputational damage doesn’t discriminate by size.
A small business hit by a sudden wave of negative reviews, a local scandal, or even an internal HR issue can find itself just as exposed as a multinational, and sometimes more so, because it lacks the infrastructure to absorb the blow.
A well-structured plan doesn’t need to be elaborate. It simply needs to exist. It needs clear points of contact, escalation procedures, and draft templates that can be quickly tailored. Because when something goes wrong, you don’t have time to build these from scratch.
Whether you’re a start-up or a century-old institution, the principle is the same. You’re not planning for the crisis itself; you’re planning for clarity when it arrives.
The aftermath – and why it matters
People often think crisis comms ends when the media coverage dies down. In truth, that’s just the halfway point. The recovery phase is where reputations are either repaired or quietly eroded.
What you do after the crisis defines how people remember it. Did you apologise meaningfully? Did you fix what went wrong? Did you follow through on the promises you made when the cameras were rolling?
In my experience, the public rarely expects perfection, but they do expect sincerity. When a brand genuinely learns, changes, and communicates that change, people notice. The silence after the storm can be just as powerful as the noise during it.
That’s why the best crisis comms plans always include a debrief. Once the dust settles, you bring everyone back to the table. What worked? What didn’t? Where did the delays happen? What questions went unanswered for too long? Then you update the plan and train again. Because reputational resilience isn’t about avoiding crises, it’s about improving your response to each one.
The calm before the storm
The irony of crisis communications is that its value is never truly seen until it’s tested. When the sun is shining, no one wants to talk about worst-case scenarios. It feels pessimistic, even paranoid. But I’d argue the opposite.
Having a plan isn’t about expecting disaster, it’s about respecting your reputation. It’s about acknowledging that mistakes happen, technology fails, and people occasionally make poor choices. What matters is that when those moments arrive, your business doesn’t fall apart trying to figure out how to communicate.
A crisis plan gives you the one thing every organisation needs most in chaos: composure.
And in the world of communications, composure is credibility.
Final thoughts
After years of helping organisations through their toughest days, I can tell you that no two crises ever look the same. But the businesses that come through intact, even strengthened, all share one thing – preparedness. They’ve rehearsed the conversation before they needed to have it. They’ve mapped out who speaks, who leads, and who listens.
So, before the next quarter’s strategy session or brand workshop, ask yourself this: if the worst happened tomorrow, would everyone in your business know what to do?
If the answer is no, start now. Build the plan. Test it. Refine it. Because when the storm inevitably comes, you’ll be grateful for every minute you spent rehearsing calm.
Crisis comms isn’t about expecting failure. It’s about protecting what you’ve built when it matters most – your reputation, your people, your integrity.
And in this fast, loud, unforgiving world, that kind of preparedness isn’t just smart PR. It’s survival.
