Tag: Spokesperson Training

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Why crisis communications orthodoxy no longer works

Abby Mangold at the Media Scoiety

I wrote an article for The Media Society on why crisis communications orthodoxy is no longer working.

The old rulebook assumes crises happen one at a time. That you’ll have time to establish facts, gather your team, and carefully plan your response. That internal comms will reach employees before they see it on X.

None of that is true anymore.

I’ve watched this pattern in dozens of simulations: organisations handle the first crisis competently. Then we introduce a second issue twenty minutes later: a regulatory inquiry whilst managing employee grievances, social media escalation coinciding with media pressure. The collapse happens predictably.

The problem isn’t the plan. It’s that we’ve prepped for an environment that no longer exists.

Crisis communications now happens in a permacrisis era where disparate crises interact, where misinformation spreads six times faster than truth, where one social media post can catapult you into immediate crisis mode.

Documents can’t think. They can’t adapt to unanticipated conditions. It’s people who manage a crisis, and they need to be ready.

What needs to change:

  • Practice with your people regularly
  • Use tech as your 24/7 team member for monitoring
  • Simplify – decision-making committees are the enemy in a crisis
  • Prepare spokespeople for difficult questions, not the ones they’d like to be asked
  • Own your social media spaces before the crisis hits

The full article is on The Media Society Substack.

If your crisis plan still assumes one issue at a time, it may be worth pressure testing it against something closer to reality. Get in touch to talk about crisis planning and preparation, or find out more about running a simulation with your team.

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Why blaming the PR team is a warning sign, not a strategy

Why blaming the PR team is a warning sign, not a strategy

Blaming the PR team has become a bit of a trend. And it’s getting predictable.

You know things aren’t going well when the PR advisors are in the news.

  • BrewDog’s founder: “My responses always came from PR advisers.”
  • Trump: “Maybe you have bad public relations people.”
  • IOC President at a closing press conference: “I’m really looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed.”

The pattern is always the same. Something doesn’t land. The public aren’t buying it. And suddenly it’s the Comms team’s fault for not “messaging it better.”

Never mind that we said it wouldn’t work. Never mind that we flagged exactly what would happen. Never mind that some things genuinely cannot be spun.

It’s just easier to blame the people who had to explain it than admit the thing itself was the problem.

But here’s what nobody says out loud: good PR advisors tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. And sometimes what you need to hear is “this is going to be difficult.”

When that advice gets ignored and it does, in fact, turn into a disaster, well, apparently that’s still the PR’s fault.

The PR team didn’t create the crisis. We just got stuck explaining it. And sometimes you can’t comms your way out of a crisis.

Next time you see a leader pointing at their communications team, just remember: you know things really aren’t going well when the people behind the scenes become the story.

If you want communications advice that’s built to stand up under real pressure, not just sound good in the room, get in touch to find out how we work with leadership teams before, during and after a crisis.

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14 years in crisis communications: 6 lessons that matter

2012-2026: 14 years in crisis communications: 6 lessons that matter from Abby Mangold

I’ve spent 14 years in crisis communications. Here are the 6 things I think matter most.

1. People manage crises not plans

I’ve watched organisations with brilliant crisis protocols completely fall apart because the person who needed to use them had never opened the document.

The CEO freezes when asked a basic question. The spokesperson defaults to jargon. The plan was perfect. The people weren’t ready.

Documents can’t think. They can’t adapt when something unexpected happens. People manage crises. And if they haven’t practiced, the plan won’t save them.

2. Credibility beats control every time

You can’t control what gets posted about you. You can’t control how fast misinformation spreads. You definitely can’t control the narrative once it’s out there.

What you can control: whether people believe you when you finally respond.

And much of that is built before the crisis hits, not during it.

3. Spokespeople need muscle memory, not talking points

One media training session doesn’t work.

People need to practice answering the challenging questions repeatedly until the response is instinctive. Out loud. Under pressure. With someone pushing back on their answers.

That’s the only thing that holds up when a journalist asks “Are you saying the customer is wrong?” and you have two seconds to respond.

4. Speed matters more than legal perfection

I get it. Legal needs to review. But by the time your statement clears three rounds of edits, thousands of people have already formed opinions based on something false.

Sometimes fast and good enough beats slow and perfect.

Not always, but typically more often than most organisations realise.

5. Monitor where crises actually start

Not The Times. Not the BBC.

Reddit threads. Industry forums. Discord servers.

That’s where your crisis is building whilst you’re watching traditional media and thinking everything’s fine.

I’ve seen this pattern repeat: the issue’s been spreading on Reddit for three days before it crosses over to X, then journalists notice, then your CEO finds out.

By then, you’re not managing the crisis. You’re fighting misinformation.

6. Pattern recognition is the real skill

I’ve run many crisis simulations. The pattern is often the same.

Organisations handle the first issue competently. Decision-making works. Communications activate. Then we introduce a second issue twenty minutes later.

The collapse happens predictably.

The crisis team becomes a bottleneck. Spokespeople freeze. Internal comms fail because employees are getting contradictory information.

That’s what you need to prepare for. Not one crisis. But at least two happening simultaneously.

14 years between these photos. Still learning.

If your organisation hasn’t pressure-tested its crisis response, now is a good time to start. Get in touch to talk through how prepared your team really is, or find out more about our crisis management and media training services.

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Briefing tour crisis spokesperson: 5 Top Tips

Abby Mangold Top Tips for Briefing

If you’re briefing a spokesperson before an interview in a crisis situation, there is a high chance that you’ve got a lot to juggle.

You’re probably managing multiple communications to people inside and outside the organisation while responding to a fast-changing situation in a swirl of facts and rumours.

So, to get the most out of your time and support your spokesperson in this really challenging environment, these are my top tips:

Top tips for briefing your CEO / spokesperson in a crisis.

  1. Block out time for rehearsal interviews. I promise you they will thank you for it.
  2. Walk through some physical prep so that they can limber up.
  3. Run practice questions which probe around rumour and speculation.
  4. Build in comfort breaks, a gulp of water, a snack – especially if they’ve got multiple interviews.
  5. Pinpoint a clear interview entrance and exit strategy, especially if things run over.

These are the things your spokesperson needs from you to help them give their best performance

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5 things a crisis communication spokesperson does

5 Things a Crisis Communication Spokesperson Does. Photo by Fardad sepandar on Unsplash

Being the face of the organisation in a crisis is a BIG ask.

So a spokesperson must ask a few things in return before doing an interview.

Here are 5 things great spokespeople do in a crisis:

  1. Complete clarity on what they can say publicly at this stage.
  2. Answers on information gaps. Even if the details are not available.
  3. Space to rehearse key messages, and their way of saying them.
  4. Confidence to make the most of the interview, conveying empathy and personal commitment.
  5. A reliable deputy for their usual role so they can focus on the media.

Comment here if you have any more tips…

Featured Image by Fardad sepandar on Unsplash