Crisis communication

Bringing order to the chaos

Crisis communication is not just a matter of issuing a press release. It is a way of managing information when everything turns uncertain, fast-moving and emotional. And in a crisis you rarely have the luxury of waiting until all the facts are known: you have to decide what to say, to whom, when, and on what evidence.

Solid crisis communication rests on three things: a clear organisation, a structured set of messages and realistic training. Without them, communication becomes improvised, contradictory and therefore fragile.

A crisis scenario built for your industry

We simulate a crisis specific to your industry and show you how to be ready for it. Our personal coaching is designed for senior managers who have to speak to an international audience, in France and beyond.

When a crisis hits, leadership is measured in minutes.

Before, during and after

• Before: mapping the risks, preparing holding statements, agreeing who signs off what, planning how the crisis could escalate
• During: establishing the facts, giving regular updates, dealing with rumours, keeping every channel consistent
• After: reporting back, showing what has been done, learning the lessons, rebuilding trust

Handled this way, crisis communication becomes a process: you are no longer reacting, you are carrying out a plan.

The crisis unit and the spokesperson

• A leader who takes the decisions
• A fact-checker who pulls together what is actually happening on the ground
• A legal adviser who vets any risky wording
• A communications lead who shapes and circulates the messages
• A spokesperson who is the public face of the organisation

Most crisis communication fails for organisational reasons: too many people speak, or nobody has formally been given the role. The rule is to set up a crisis unit, however small, with these five roles clearly assigned.

Structuring your messages

• What we know: confirmed facts, with times and dates
• What we are doing: action already under way, resources committed
• What we do not know yet: the uncertainties, stated openly
• The next update: when and how you will speak again
• Protecting people: safety, care and support

The classic trap is to promise too much before the facts are established. A precise, cautious statement is always better than a reassurance that is contradicted two hours later.

Timing matters almost as much as content

Speak too slowly and the silence fills with speculation. Speak too often with too little to say and you feed a cycle of anxiety. What works best is regular updates, short if need be, but structured: the facts, the action taken, the next update.

A crisis in France can make headlines abroad, and foreign media will call. You need to be able to respond straight away, around the clock, and keep your corporate website up to date.

Realistic scenarios, debriefed in detail

A realistic exercise exposes the gaps in the chain of command, internal contradictions, sign-off that takes too long, ambiguous wording and unclear roles. The closer the scenario is to your business, the more useful it is: a technical failure, an accident, a cyberattack, a service outage, an HR controversy, a product problem, an environmental incident.

Sessions are built on realistic scenarios: hostile interviews, emergency statements and on-camera questions and answers, each debriefed in detail. They take place in your offices or in a fully equipped TV studio.

Every exercise is filmed and analysed, and you receive a copy of your interview or presentation afterwards.

What to avoid

• Playing things down too early
• Blaming anyone without evidence
• Giving several versions of events
• Switching to marketing instead of addressing the facts

Staying calm, credible and in control

Led by journalists, our bilingual crisis coaching helps you prepare key messages you can deliver at short notice, and protect your reputation under media pressure.

Sessions can be one to one or in small groups, depending on what you need.

From the switchboard to the CEO

Not only managers and executives need training: IMT provides programmes adapted to other employees, from telephonists and receptionists up to the CEO.