Don't put on hold your holding statement!

By Robin Das.

If you do not say something, someone else will. It is one of the biggest mistakes in the world of PR – you leave it too late to take control of a situation and instead of being in the driving seat you are chasing the car down the road.

The holding statement is critical to being and staying in charge of the game. You may not have known something was going to happen, but you must be prepared for every eventuality in the event of a crisis or unforeseen situation. A well-written holding statement that covers all the essential points can make or break a businesses’ reputation and make the difference between reassuring that all is in hand or letting a situation spin out of control and unleashing a media circus.

What is a holding statement?

Very simply – this is a brief statement which organisations and businesses put out for general circulation to the media and public in rapid response to a particular situation or event.

All statements will vary depending on the situation, but as a rule of thumb, a water-tight statement will contain the following.

-        Brief factual summary of the event

-        What action/s the organisation is planning to take

-        Appropriate level of empathy or sympathy

-        A timeframe for what happens next

-        A key contact

Get it right

It seems obvious to state - but you have one time only to issue a first response holding statement so fact checking and accuracy are what it is all about here. As my grandma used to say measure twice, cut once!

Who are you going to tell?

Using different channels, such as social media feeds, direct calls to journalists and internal communications makes sure all audiences are kept in the picture. Ultimately the quicker a statement is sent out the more reassurance and confidence audiences will have. 

Prepare, prepare!

A tip here is to have several statements pre-prepared, knowing who will be quoted in them and signed off as templates that can then be quickly adapted. Doing this, allows an organisation to focus on the details of the situation and not worry too much about finely crafted copy as the clock is ticking.

Ultimately, responding quickly to a crisis keeps an organisation focused on what is important – dealing with the practical response steps – and ensuring a situation does not escalate out of hand.

That has got to make the holding statement front and centre of any comms planning.

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