Please keep in mind if you're a major oil or gas company, there's more than one type of crisis. It's not just the explosion, the tanker collapse the leak the fire, there's a lot of crises that could dramatically affect the reputation of your organization. There could be labor disputes, bribery, charges, corruption, harassment charges, other problems with employees problems with the community environmental problems. Any one of these if left unchecked, could harm your reputation could harm you in the marketplace with investors, the public regulators, so it's critically important that you treat those justice seriously. Now, a crisis by definition is anything that can fundamentally alter the reputation of your organization. Long term.

It's not just one unpleasant story today. It's something that really goes to the fundamental nature of your reputation. So it's Not just accidents. Keep in mind if there's new legislation that is attacking your very right to exist. If there's a lawsuit that contends contend there's corruption going on in your organization, you have to address that. And you have to address it today.

All the rules, we've talked about this entire course apply to these other issues too. You've got to have a message. You've got to have a messenger. You've got to have sound bites, and you've got to have speed, you've got to be able to address that. Talk to reporters right away. If they're calling on this.

Reach out to them if they aren't calling because you want to define this crisis on your terms. You want to have people reacting to you, you don't want to be reacting to other people's charges. So if bad news is coming in quite often you do know in advance if it's pending litigation, or pending labor strike, you need to plan your crisis communication strategy every step of the way, don't just look at the legal remedies and then as an afterthought, your communication, they have to be planned together. Do not wait for reporters to find out about your legal problems, political problems, regulation problems. First, you need to reach out to them. State exactly what the issue is, state what you're doing about it.

That way. You'll be seen as credible, you'll be seen as not hiding and you will defuse this issue, the best you possibly can. Now, you still may get some negative coverage, but you can contain it. And you can build goodwill with reporters, rather than burn relationships and get even worse publicity.