Keeping Cool On The Hot Seat Summary

The author, Judith Hoffman’s book, Keeping Cool on the Hot Seat, addresses the need to handle the media when dealing with a crisis.

One of the advantages of being proactive when referring to a crisis, is that the chances of reducing the problems, issues, fatalities of a crisis go down exponentially. With no preparation for a crisis, many will find themselves” being reduced to being reactive and chasing the crisis, making a poor first impression”. (Hoffman 2011, 4). By thinking through the types of crisis that could occur during any specified event, hurricane, flood, vandalism, epidemic, etc., and taking the proactive approach can 1. minimize the damage that the media – to include social medias – could do to an organization, business or agency;

A sudden crisis is an event that occurs unexpectedly and often escalated quickly, such as a fire at a neighboring house, or a relative or loved one that has been in an accident. This type of crisis can be planned for (emergency contacts, ‘what-to-do-in-case-of…”, etc.), but often catches the person off-guard. The creeping crisis is a problem that may have started out small, but due to poor management or being unprepared, it grew into a large crisis. Predictable crises are ones that can be counted on to happen; cars on a racing course may crash causing minor and/or major injuries or fatalities. Crises caused by dumb decisions usually stem from an internal source that does not foresee or predict the final outcome. The 2008 stock market crash could be counted in this type of crisis; lack of government supervision and bad financial decisions by the consumers nationwide led to one of the largest financial collapses since the Great Depression. Finally, there is cyber crisis. When a major breach of a system occurs, attackers/hacker are working at network speed as is the media, both news and social are reporting at the same speed. Thus crisis action teams must also respond at the network speed. A cyber crisis has multi-dimensional issues that are far too complex for a normal planning process and

Be cooperative, provide control, demonstrate caring and concern, demonstrate competence, be credible, be consistent, be clear, be concise, keep current, and act with calm. These are important for anyone who must put out statements/messages. This goes both ways for both the spokesperson and the media. By losing control of emotions, letting people taunt or de-rail the speaker is a sure way of losing credibility for both the spokesperson and the organization. By keeping things current, clear, and concise with the message being conveyed, it is hard for splentetics and skeptics alike to stir the hornets’ nest, and the organization stands a good chance of getting a fair and objective coverage from the press corps. (Hoffman 2011, 79-90).

Hoffman points out in chapter 14, there are two “C’s” to avoid when the situation has emotions and tensions running high: cute and cleaver. There is a time and place for these, but a crisis is not one of them. It can make the speaker/organization look like they are not taking the situation seriously, and will cause damage to both the mission’s message and the loss of credibility. (Hoffman 2011,