In most crisis management training class scenarios, the outcome depends heavily on what you do and say in the first few hours.

In media public relations What the news media report in their first stories — and how they view your coping skills — will often set the tone for the entire crisis. Chances are, with crisis PR, the media's first impression will persist until you have overcome the problem and emerged victorious ... or you've been humiliated, fired, put out of business, arrested, sued, divorced ... the crisis media training list goes on and on.

We Don't Want to Think About Crisis Communications Training Workshops

Planning for school crisis management classes and workshops is something we avoid. It is like buying life insurance or long-term disability insurance. Most people don't do it because they don't want to think about the possibility of their own death or disability. We have been forced by law and mortgage lenders to get accustomed to buying accident insurance for our cars, homeowners insurance for our houses. Medical insurance for most of us is provided by our employers.

But we still try to avoid contemplating those greater disasters that can lead to our death or disability; as well as the destruction of an organization — the careers, productivity and morale of the people who work there.

The Police Shooting Model
In recommending crisis management plan courses to my clients for more than 20 years now, I have told them most people do not think or function well when the crisis hits. I learned that when I was reporter, covering "officer involved shootings." When an officer is down, or has shot someone, the call goes out on the radio.

Officers rush in, sirens screaming, blue lights flashing. There is chaos at the scene. Without careful planning in advance, highly excited or grief-stricken officers will do something everyone will later regret. Or fail to do something that, in hindsight, was a terrible blunder.

Things to Do in Crisis Media Training Seminars
So virtually every law enforcement agency in America has an "officer involved shooting checklist." The last one I looked at had 21 things to do immediately after the shooting. Like notify the chief, wherever he/she is. If an officer is the shooter, isolate him/her. Offer the officer psychological and legal counseling. Relieve him/her of duty. Take custody of his/her weapon. Notify the officer's family. Do not move the corpse until it has been viewed by the medical examiner and prosecutor.

Media Crisis PR Plans Are Rare
Most organizations have written crisis management plans for fires, storms, floods. They practice those crisis management plans frequently. Should a fire or storm or flood occur, everyone will know — without thinking — what needs to be done and how to do it. Very few organizations have media crisis PR plans. And those that do rarely rehearse them.

Most of you reading this will have a media public relations crisis long before you have a fire or tornado or flood. And media public relations crisis training in a media-driven society can be much more damaging, much more demoralizing than those hazards of nature. The corporate reputation class outline I've provided at the end of this chapter is a skeleton to build on.

Organizations who use the crisis PR seminar it should flesh it out, custom-tailor it to their particular needs and people. Revisit it regularly to improve it and keep it up to date.

What is a Crisis Management Plan ?
A crisis is the imminent risk of death or serious damage. It can threaten you, people you care about, your organization, your property, your corporate reputation, your career, your future.
If and when the media discover the crisis, your skill in media public relations influencing how they report it — or decide not to report it — are key factors that determine the outcome.

The tone of the early stories usually hinges on how well reporters and editors know you, your understanding of media public relations and crisis PR strategy, your experience and reflexes in dealing with journalists.

One of the most difficult steps in a crisis management plan is making the decision that there is a crisis. Wait too late, and you may not be able to save the sinking ship. Send everybody to a battle stations workshop or class when hindsight shows there was no Armageddon looming, and you'll look like Chicken Little--a pathetic, paranoid manager who's out of touch with reality.

Source: Clarence Jones link

Related: Crisis Training