Tiger Woods and Communicating in a Crisis

Whenever there's an awkward celebrity moment making headlines, I go in search of crisis communications expert Jonathan Bernstein's thoughts on the situation. Keeping tabs on Jonathan's perspectives on the crisis of the day -- this time, it's the Tiger Woods fiasco -- helps me learn how to react appropriately and productively in these situations. (It's a skill I hope I never need.)

Jonathan's words of wisdom appear this time in the Toronto Star: "It could be, `I had a fight with my wife. I drove off in a huff and lost control of my car.' If that's what happened, this would be over within 24 hours...."

Just a reminder: I've got some of JB's tips for communicating in a crisis at this link.

Tips for Talking to the Press in a Crisis

I recently hired crisis communications specialist Jonathan Bernstein to provide crisis media training to clients. We addressed how to handle interviews in general but focused on what to do when it's a bad news situation.

Here's some of what Jonathan shared with the group regarding how to answer questions. Some of it is counter-intuitive to those who haven't done many interviews before:

1. Attempt to get 3 good messages out during any interview. What do you want people to remember from the interview?
2. The goal of any interview is not to answer the reporter’s questions but to use them as opportunities to deliver your message.
3. Remember when answering questions that your ultimate audience is your client or customer.
4. Always answer the question you wish they asked, not the question that was actually asked. “Bridge” to your message by saying, “That’s a good question but it’s important to understand …” or “Before I answer that, I’d like to say…” Use politicians as your role models.
5. Before answering the reporter’s question, state your key message first, then respond to the question. When it's a TV interview, you don’t want the producer to have to dig for your message when editing the piece.
6. Say what you did, not what you didn’t do. Bad: “We did nothing wrong.” Good: “We did everything right.

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