 Hi, and welcome to how to develop a crisis communication plan. Here's where we're going. How can I prepare a crisis communication plan? Information to know during an emergency. What is happening? Is anyone in danger? How big is the problem? Who reported the problem? Where is the problem? Has a response started? What resources are on scene? Who is responding so far? Is everyone's location known? A crisis communication plan is the prepared scenario document that organizes information in your responsibilities and lines of communication prior to an event. There are four critical elements to crisis communication. The crisis communication team members with contact information, the designated spokesperson, the meeting place or location, and the media plan with the specific procedures. The crisis communication team decides what actions to take, carries out those actions, and offers expertise or education in the areas relevant to the crisis. Here's some other considerations for crisis communication plans. A designated spokesperson to manage information, a designated area to meet, a media plan, and how to minimize spend damage by providing even the most tragic facts. In information vacuums where there is no information being provided, often, things get made up. So it's important to be as honest and forthcoming as possible as quickly as possible, even with the most tragic facts. In crisis communication, it's important to manage your objectives. Maintain connectivity. Be readily accessible to the news media. Show empathy for the people involved. Allow distributed access. Streamline communication processes. Famously, after the BP oil disaster, the CEO did not show enough empathy for the people involved. His communication instead focused on his own heartaches and problems, as opposed to the people involved with the tragedy. Be sure to maintain information security. Ensure uninterrupted audit trails. Deliver high-volume communications. Support multi-channel communications, including social media. Remove dependencies on paper-based processes. So to review, because crises are bound to happen, despite the best planning, every organization should have a crisis communication plan, which includes designating a crisis communication team and spokesperson.