[eGuide] Lessons from a crisis: Experts tell their stories

Making the right decisions in a crisis is crucial, not just for your company’s reputation but also to demonstrate the impact of comms.

The pandemic has shown the importance of having comms in the boardroom. Handling crises effectively will only confirm that seat at the decision-making table.

Improving how you respond means scanning your environment and beyond, and taking time to learn from how others have performed.

We spoke to three comms experts for their insights in thriving during a crisis, such as:

• The importance of monitoring your world and real-time alerts
• Why conducting a post-mortem is integral to success
• How to dig deeper to get to the bottom of the story quickly
• The value in focusing on those most affected

Our experts

Kerry Jack, CEO and Co-founder, Black Letter Communications.

Legal and litigation PR specialist Kerry started her career over 25 years ago in a niche professional services consultancy before going onto to work for a number of large PR agencies.

Kerry has also held senior in-house positions at City University London, where she was Head of Communications & Events, the Department for Work and Pensions as Head of PR, and Lloyds TSB Foundations as Head of Information and Communications. Kerry holds the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Postgraduate Diploma.

Katie Spreadbury, Managing Director, Vested

Katie works in Vested’s London office and has 13 years’ experience in the financial services industry across a wide range of sectors including mobile payments, insurance, savings, credit cards and business banking.

Katie was named a Rising Star in PR by Gramercy Institute in 2018. She also participated in the 2016/17 Women in PR Mentoring Scheme which aims to encourage and support more female leaders in the communication industry.

Amanda Coleman, Crisis comms consultant 

Amanda is the director of the crisis communication consultancy Amanda Coleman Communication Ltd. Based in the UK, she has 20 years’ experience in emergency services communication and leading law enforcement communication at a time of crisis.

In 2017, Amanda led the law enforcement communication response to dealing with the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. She has more than two decades of experience in managing crises.