Another useful formula
One of the stops on my recent trip was Cape Town, South Africa, for the African Regional Conference. I heard a number of good speakers today, but one in particular impressed me.
She is Janine Lazurus, a former journalist, current media consultant. She offered a simple formula to handle crisis situations. I thought in today’s climate, this might be useful. It has three parts:
–Connect emotionally with the audience (”We are deeply sorry about the impact on people’s lives that our actions have caused”)
–Refer back to the past (”This current situation is unusual for our company. We have a very good record in XXX)
–Refer to the future (”At this time we are taking the following steps to ensure that this situation does not happen again.”)
I found this to be a simple, yet effective approach to communicating in difficult times.