Rules of crisis are rules for life

Last week I led a crisis training for a nonprofit leadership team. It’s my favorite activity in public relations.

Near the end of my slides, as I pretend to be a pesky TV reporter shoving a microphone and camera in participants’ faces, asking questions I’ve just trained them to respond in a new manner, I wait for the moment when someone announces, “I can use this in all relationships!” Then I know I’ve made an impact.

That lesson, in short: Listen, express appreciation for and summarize the question, offer a dispassionate observation, then “bridge” to prepared positive messages, pause, breathe.

– Chris Schroder, The 100 Companies