Inside the Book

Your essential blueprint for developing a crisis communication plan in today’s social media age.

In a crisis, especially in today’s lightning-fast digital age, there’s little time for planning. The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management eliminates guesswork by helping professionals plan their crisis communication strategy based on predictable patterns of a crisis, from the triggering event to the stages that unfold because of it.

Across five sections, the book examines best practices in professional crisis management techniques and how to apply them in the Web 2.0 era. Author Jane Jordan-Meier includes dozens of case studies as well as academic research to illustrate an effective four-stage approach to crisis management, helping managers understand what and who work at each stage.

SECTIONS

Section 1: Media, Crisis, and New Reporting Tools
Understand how social media and the changing role of journalism impact how the news of a crisis unfolds in mere seconds after the triggering event.

Section 2: Stages of a Crisis
Luckily for managers, every crisis plays out in four distinct, predictable stages. This section helps you plan for and apply professional crisis management techniques during each stage.

Section 3: Spokespeople
People make up their minds about whether they trust a spokesperson within nanoseconds. This section provides a decision framework for selecting the right spokespeople depending on the stage of the crisis – and how to build a CEO’s trustworthy image well before a crisis even happens.

Section 4: Media Interviews
Learn how to turn tough questions from journalists into opportunities, and understand best practices depending on different types of media interviews — TV, radio, phone, and even Twitter and email.

Section 5: Communication – Rules and Tools
As you begin developing a crisis management plan, consider all of the traditional and social media platforms available to you, and learn which tools to use to advantage during different stages of a crisis.