Effective communication in challenging times

The communications landscape has changed massively: Not only have social media and speed been changing factors, but new types of crises have also emerged - cyber and hacker attacks, for example. This often puts companies, the public sector and their management circles in difficult situations. In crisis situations in particular, it is crucial to react correctly. There are indeed examples from practice where, thanks to good communication, the bottom line is that the image wins despite many a mishap. However, the opposite is unfortunately becoming increasingly common.

Two experts who have been working on this topic for some time have now published a suitable guide: Stefan Häseli, the Swiss expert for credible communication, has once again teamed up with Mario Cortesi, press spokesman and well-known face of the Zurich city police. In their recently published book, they take the reader into the complex world of crisis communication. Theoretical principles are combined with practical application and case studies.

How can messages be designed to be clear and trustworthy? What role do honesty and transparency play? How do you deal with the increasing pace of communication and social media that put pressure on official channels? How do you meet the expectations of the public? And what to do with people who have become more thin-skinned and less loyal to companies and other institutions?

React confidently - especially in critical situations

The authors address these and similar questions and have created a guide with many suitable answers for effective communication in challenging times. From the initial response to a crisis to long-term reputation management: the book offers practical tips and strategies for acting confidently in critical moments. The case studies range from small company crises and corporate crises to major public scandals. It is not only the fire at Zurich railroad station or the train accident with injuries in Zurich-Oerlikon that are of interest. Companies in particular are affected by new forms of crisis and have to manage and articulate them both internally and externally. Such as the data theft and subsequent blackmail of a large industrial group, which narrowly avoided insolvency - thanks in part to well-crafted crisis communication.

This essential guide examines the psychology of crisis as well as the role of the media. It examines the importance of transparency and authenticity, consistency and empathy as well as clarity and accountability, and sensitizes readers to the need to understand communication strategies.

The book is aimed at communication managers, managing directors and CEOs, executives and senior managers, PR officers as well as public relations officers in administration and politics, in short: anyone interested in the mechanisms and challenges of crisis communication. The guide aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the complexity and importance of credible communication in crisis situations, while offering practical tools and techniques for its implementation.

Interdisciplinary approaches and global perspectives

Whether changing media landscape or new challenges and types of crisis, whether current case studies or advances in communication technology: these aspects find their place on the pages as well as new demands from the public, interdisciplinary approaches and global perspectives. In order to be fit for the crisis communication of the future, readers also learn from the past.

Cortesi and Häseli have been traveling together as a tandem for years, giving lectures and advising both companies and institutions in the field of crisis communication. This gave rise to the idea of combining their experience on the one hand and the wealth of theoretical knowledge they have acquired in the meantime into a practical and useful book. This guide thrives precisely on this crossover approach of the two experts with their different perspectives and experiences.

This is because the professional perspective is repeatedly supplemented by personal experience reports from communication experts who have worked in the hotspots of crisis communication for decades. Their stories offer valuable insights and make the abstract concepts tangible and understandable. The authors show how successful communication can defuse crisis situations or even turn them into opportunities.

Crisis communication practice book

Strategies for greater credibility, transparency and trust

Publisher Wiley-VCH, Weinheim

250 pages, hardcover

32.99 Euro | CHF 45.90

ISBN 978-3-527-51208-9

The next Seminar for crisis communication will take place in the Zurich region on July 2 and 3, 2025.

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/effektive-kommunikation-in-herausfordernden-zeiten/