Sticky situations crop up daily across corporate America. Add in our never-ending 24-hour news cycle and the perennial risk of disgruntled employees airing out dirty laundry to their scandal-thirsty followers, and you’ve nailed the everyday worries of modern corporate leaders.
That’s exactly why I became a crisis communications speaker. In our increasingly eagle-eyed society, where everyone’s every move is either being broadcast or tweeted about, it’s more important than ever to know how to respond to the public, media, and your own employees in high-pressure situations.
The problem is many leaders don’t realize this until it’s too late. Or worse—they craft a dodgy response that throws even more fuel on their fire, resulting in loss of customers, public trust, and even good employees.
Crisis Management for Modern Communication
My vision has always been to re-establish a modern communications ethic for businesses and corporations. In 2023, it has never been more critical in the history of business to have a smart and thorough approach to crisis communication.
The average corporate leader often believes they’re at the mercy of their circumstances when it comes to crises. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, employees tweet something nasty about the CEO. An internal email about downsizing gets posted on Facebook. And harassment accusations are often leaked to the press.
You can still come from a position of power and influence others while managing any crisis, even in the most challenging and sensitive situations.
I know this because I’ve been discreetly helping executives survive crises of all shapes and sizes for two decades.
Common Mistakes Leaders Make
What I’ve found is 90% of leaders make one of two mistakes when things go wrong:
- They over-confess … “I can’t believe how badly we messed up. Here’s a laundry list of all the grievances, a thousand apologies, and full admittance of guilt.”
- They under-confess … “We did absolutely nothing wrong. We’ll make no comment and never speak to anyone about this matter ever.”
What they (and you) need to do instead is speak the truth without throwing themselves under the bus. If the news is bad, don’t sugarcoat it. But don’t saturate it in remorse, either. Stick to the facts. Make it clear how you’re going to address the issue and point back to all the good work you’ve done and are doing.
Leaders also make the most disastrous mistakes in the first few seconds of a crisis because they’re being led completely by their emotions. You must practice communicating when times are good (in an executive retreat or workshop setting), so the right message will naturally roll off your tongue when times are bad (in the heat of the business world).
Crisis Management Services from TruPerception
TruPerception offers Crisis Management Services for leaders and executives to know what to say so that they can avoid scandal and controversy. Leadership Skills Training courses help you reach your internal goals and gain the tools you need to resolve a current business crisis, work collaboratively and protect your company’s reputation.
From sexual harassment to sabotage and dealing with haters, it’s all included with real examples and texts you can use to rise above scandal and get back to what you do best.
Whether you’re a CEO of a multi-million-dollar corporation or a small business owner, you need to get your communication house in order, so you’ll never be caught off guard again.
Leaders are often reluctant to name communication as a skill they need help with. This is because we’ve all been speaking since we were two years old and writing since we were seven. We have no problem admitting we need help with finance or law, but if we don’t have the art of communication down by now, there must be something wrong with us. That’s a myth. It’s always a myth that communication is an art. It’s very scientific. All you have to do is pick the right words, place them in the right order, using the correct vocal inflection and body language and you can reduce or eliminate every crisis.
The New Rules for CEOs: How To Become A Designated Crisis Responder
Drawing from her book, “The Truth About Scandal: The everyday guide to navigating business crises,” Melissa will offer effective communication tools any CEO can employ to avoid major crises at their companies.
Through examples of destructive and disgruntled employees, irate customers, and negative online reviews, Melissa will show participants real-world power phrases and sample conversations that will help them learn how to communicate crisis responses the right way successfully. The session will include an interactive Q&A where Melissa will answer any specific questions from participants about crises they commonly face as CEOs and tools for how to craft the right response in each scenario. Melissa will then direct participants through building their own Copy Bible—a personalized messaging guide that lists the exact power phrases they can employ throughout a number of crisis scenarios.
You’ll learn the exact power phrases and communication tools needed to avoid crises, communicate effectively with specific audiences, and position yourself favorably even in worst-case scenarios.
Benefits of A Crisis Management Specialist
- The use of language to communicate effectively without creating barriers
- Learn reputation management strategies that are proven to work with over 20 years of world-class leadership development experience
- Learn to communicate openly while maintaining appropriate business discretion (this is great for young professionals!)
- Earn high approval ratings from employees, clients, and customers
- Gain clarity on roles and responsibilities while addressing underperforming leaders
- Embrace diversity to leverage strengths and improve your decision-making process
- Promote favorable impressions of your products and services
- Deliver authentic, compelling presentations in any setting or situation
The speaking event centers on key business drivers such as handling high-pressure moments, keeping your best employees engaged, knowing how to respond to a current business crisis, positioning yourself and your team as credible, and smoothing over leadership team rivalries that hurt productivity.
Crisis Management Consultant Services
Working with Melissa as your crisis management consultant is a training and coaching opportunity that builds a proactive reputation and crisis management strategy. It will help you communicate authentically to a variety of different audiences, prevent and respond to a crisis and help you gain practical skills for overall communication in the workplace.
