There are a lot of books on the market about crisis communication. As a public relations professor, I read a lot of them and I must say I am often disappointed.
Many crisis communication books dwell on handling the news media and don’t have a deeper perspective. Others are written by seasoned professionals and full of interesting anecdotes and even wise takeaways, but they lack a broader application beyond lessons learned from one professional’s context.
So I was happy to read “Breaking Bad News: 12 Essential Crisis Communication Tools” by Jeff Hahn, published in 2020.
The book has some examples of major crises faced by well-known brands and small enterprises. Such cases is fundamental. But what I love about the book is the solid roots in academically derived and tested models and theories.
Hahn starts the book by talking about the value of models (he could clarify how a model is distinct from a theory). He then discusses reputation and forming a rapid response team before getting into a sequence of chapters that outline crisis response on a timeline, from the first 15 minutes to what should be done in the 90-120 minutes after a crisis breaks. He ends with a chapter on restoring and earning reputation.
When I teach crisis communication, as with many other subjects, I like to blend theory and practice. So I certainly cover case studies. But I also want students to discuss them through the lens of and by applying relevant theories. Hahn covers a good number of them, including some of my favorites that I review in class. A partial list:
- Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Model
- Coomb’s Crisis Type Matrix
- Benoit’s Image Repair Typology
- Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Model
Some people disregard theory as too abstract and impractical to be of use, particularly in a time of real crisis. But I always tell my students theory = strategy. This book is another example of that. PR professionals who read this book now and institute some of the wisdom into their own specific crisis communication plans will be well served, and better prepared. Ultimately, their reputations will not only survive but grow (there are some theories about that too).
