When things go wrong, people don’t remember the crisis first.

They remember how you responded.

I’ve seen this pattern across companies, teams, and even personal situations. A problem becomes a disaster only when communication collapses. And the truth is uncomfortable: half of companies don’t have a crisis communication plan, yet every business will face a crisis at some point.

The good news? You don’t need fancy words or a PR degree to handle tough moments. You just need clarity, empathy, and speed.

One Topic: Crisis Communication Strategies What to Say When Everything Goes Wrong

The 1-Hour Rule That Changes Everything

When crisis hits, you have one hour. Maybe less.

Research shows that 74% of people expect a response within 60 minutes. Wait longer, and the narrative writes itself without you. Social media fills the void with speculation, misinformation, and angry customers.

I’ve seen companies lose control of their story simply because they waited for “all the facts.” Meanwhile, competitors, critics, and random Twitter users shaped the conversation.

The hard truth? You need to say something fast, even if you don’t have complete information yet.

What Actually Works (Based on Data, Not Opinions)

Dr. W. Timothy Coombs spent years studying crisis communication. His research revealed something crucial: the way you communicate during a crisis matters more than the crisis itself.

He identified three types of crises:

1. Victim situations (natural disasters, external attacks): You’re not at fault. Acknowledge, inform, support.
2. Accidental situations (technical failures, supply chain issues): Low responsibility. Explain what happened, show you’re fixing it.
3. Intentional situations (misconduct, fraud, safety violations): High responsibility. Apologise, take ownership, commit to fixing it.

The mistake most leaders make? Using the wrong response for the situation. Apologising when you’re a victim wastes resources. Making excuses when you’re clearly at fault destroys trust.

Match your response to your responsibility level. Always.

The Seven Messages Your Stakeholders Need

When crisis hits, people need specific information in a specific order:

1. Acknowledge it. “We’re aware. We’re on it.” This stops the bleeding.
2. Show empathy. “We understand the impact this has on you.” People need to know you care.
3. Share facts. What you know, what you don’t know, what you’re investigating.
4. Explain your actions. Not what you’ll do tomorrow. What you’re doing right now.
5. Be transparent. If you don’t know something, say it. People forgive uncertainty. They don’t forgive dishonesty.
6. Take responsibility. If it’s on you, own it. No corporate speak. No deflection.
7. Communicate recovery. Show progress. Demonstrate improvement. Rebuild confidence.

Most companies skip steps two and five. That’s why they fail.

The Mistakes That Amplify Crises

Poor communication costs businesses $1.2 trillion annually. Here’s why:

• Delayed response: Waiting for perfect information while your reputation burns.
• Corporate jargon: Using phrases like “We take this matter seriously” when people need human language.
• Ignoring social media: Acting like it’s 2005 while your crisis trends on three platforms.
• Contradictory messages: Your CEO says one thing, your PR team says another, your customer service gives a third answer.
• No follow-through: Promising action, then going silent. This damages trust more than the original crisis.

I’ve watched companies destroy themselves not through the crisis, but through these communication failures.

The Surprising Upside

Here’s what surprised me most in the research: well-managed crises can actually strengthen your reputation.

Organisations that respond quickly, communicate transparently, and demonstrate genuine accountability often build stronger stakeholder relationships than they had before the crisis.

Think about it. A crisis gives you a chance to show your values in action. To demonstrate what you’re really made of. To prove you care more about people than protecting your brand.

But only if you communicate well.

What You Should Do Today

You don’t wait until your house is on fire to buy insurance. Don’t wait until crisis hits to prepare your communication plan.

• Create your crisis team now. Know who speaks, who decides, who coordinates.
• Identify your vulnerabilities. Where could things go wrong? What would you say?
• Practice your response. Run scenarios. Make mistakes in simulation, not in reality.
• Build relationships before you need them. With media, stakeholders, your community.
• Set up monitoring systems. You can’t respond fast if you don’t know there’s a problem.

The companies that survive crises aren’t lucky. They’re prepared.

The Bottom Line

Only 49% of companies have formal crisis communication plans. This means most organisations are one bad day away from disaster.

Your crisis will come. Maybe not today. Maybe not this year. But it will come.

The question isn’t whether you’ll face a crisis. The question is whether you’ll be ready to communicate through it.

Because when everything goes wrong, what you say and how fast you say it determines whether you recover or become another cautionary tale.

Start preparing today. Your future self will thank you.

Interested in travel, read last week’s LensLetter newsletter about How Photography Burnout Actually Looks Like

Read last week’s JustDraft about The Zone of Proximal Development: Stretching Without Breaking

Two Quotes to Inspire

Trust breaks fast in silence; rebuild it with presence, not perfection.

Your crisis communication plan shouldn’t be written during the crisis. That’s like learning to swim while drowning.

One Passage From My Bookshelf

The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. This is one of the key reasons why less charismatic leaders often produce better long-term results than their more charismatic counterparts. Indeed, for every Chrysler saved by Lee Iacocca, there are dozens of companies ruined by executives who believed their job was to be the most important person in the room. We came to call this the ‘genius with a thousand helpers’ model. In contrast, Darwin Smith exemplified a style we came to call ‘plow horse.’ Not a horse to be ridden, but a horse that pulls. His guiding philosophy was that you don’t need to be a genius or a celebrity to build a great company. You need to be a person who faces the brutal facts of reality while maintaining unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end. This is what we came to call the Stockdale Paradox, named after Admiral Jim Stockdale.

📚From “Good to Great” by Jim Collins