Crisis communications start before the headlines break.
Maude Blouin is an internal communications expert.
When people picture crisis communications, they usually imagine the drama: late-night calls, frantic meetings, executives scrambling to approve a statement, reporters circling like sharks. But ask any communicator who has actually lived through a high-stakes crisis and they will tell you the truth: the outcome of those moments is decided long before the headlines break.
The best crisis communicators are not firefighters. They are architects. They spend less time improvising under pressure and more time designing the systems that allow their organization to respond with speed, consistency and credibility.
Because here is the hard truth: if you are scrambling to build trust with your leadership team in the middle of a crisis, you are already too late.
The misconception: Crisis is about reaction
Too many organizations treat crisis communications as if it is only about clever messaging under pressure — the perfectly worded apology, the reassuring town hall, the slick press release. In reality, those visible actions are only the tip of the iceberg.
What really determines whether your company weathers the storm or sinks is the invisible preparation done months, sometimes years, before. The credibility you have built with executives. The trust you have established with employees. The protocols you have pressure-tested so decision-making is not paralyzed by confusion.
When those things are missing, even a relatively small issue can spiral. When they are in place, your team can respond with calm and confidence, and that makes all the difference.
The prep work that matters
Preparation does not mean a dusty three-ring binder labeled “Crisis plan” sitting on a shelf. It means embedding real, practical readiness into your organization’s culture and processes. Here are the areas that matter most:
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Build trust with leadership. A communicator who has not earned a seat at the table before the storm will not suddenly get one during it. Invest time now to align with executives on your role, your judgment and your ability to guide messaging. When the clock is ticking, hesitation or mistrust will cost you.
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Define decision processes and rights. Crises collapse under confusion. Who has final say on messaging? Who is the spokesperson? What gets shared internally before going external? Having those roles crystal clear means you do not burn precious hours debating process.
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Pre-draft holding statements. You do not need a polished speech for every hypothetical disaster, but you do need solid starting points — a few paragraphs for a data breach, a workplace incident, a product recall. When emotions are high and facts are incomplete, you will be grateful to have a template instead of a blank page.
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Train your spokespeople. The first time your CEO faces hostile questions should not be during a live interview about your crisis. Media training, rehearsal and even small practice moments build the muscle memory leaders need to stay calm and credible.
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Establish internal-first protocols. Few things erode trust faster than employees learning about a crisis from X or the evening news. Your people should always hear from you directly, quickly and honestly. A rapid text alert system, manager toolkits or a “first-draft” email channel can make this possible.
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Test your plan regularly. A plan that lives on paper only is not a plan — it is wishful thinking. Tabletop exercises at least once a year, and twice a year if possible, help you refine and adjust processes, spot gaps and confirm that everyone knows their role. Because it is not a matter of if a crisis will come, it is a matter of when.
The payoff: Activation, not chaos
When you prepare well, a crisis does not feel like a panic. It feels like activation. You know who to call, what to say and where to say it.
Instead of scrambling to create materials, you can focus on judgment — how much to share, how to balance transparency with legal considerations, how to express empathy without inflaming the situation. Those are the nuanced decisions that require calm thinking, and you only have the bandwidth for them if the logistics are already handled.
Think of it like rehearsing for a play. The performance may still bring surprises, but because the script and roles are locked in, the cast can improvise without losing the story.
A quick audit for your team
How do you know if your organization is prepared? Here is a starter checklist:
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Do we have an escalation protocol that everyone knows and trusts?
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Do our leaders understand their role in a crisis, including when to stay silent?
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Do we have holding statements drafted for our most likely scenarios?
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Can we reach every employee quickly, even if they are remote?
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Have we tested our response with a tabletop exercise recently?
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Do employees and stakeholders know where to go if they see an issue?
If you hesitated on any of these, the time to act is now. The best crisis work happens when nothing is burning.
Crises rarely destroy reputations because of the incident itself. More often, it is the response that lingers — the silence, the denial, the confusion, the way employees felt left in the dark.
That response is only as strong as the preparation behind it.
Do not wait to be a firefighter rushing into the blaze. Be the architect who designed the fireproofing, the evacuation routes and the safety drills long before the alarms went off. That is what separates communicators who survive crises from those who lead through them.
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