From War Zones to the White House 30 Key Communication Lessons Learned Bob Jensen / Strat3 LLC

Content versus process What’s most important? Content versus process

But to be effective… need to focus on all parts of the function. Lesson 1 Content is tops. But to be effective… need to focus on all parts of the function.

Content, planning, process, team, audience, infosphere. Crisis Comms Function Content, planning, process, team, audience, infosphere.

Content 2. Info matches objectives 3. Use Plain Language 4. Use Risk Comms best practices

Planning 5. Plan, train, exer., assess, improve 6. Include external factors in plans 7. Identify all failure possibilities, including backup if tech fails

Process 8. Review processes frequently 9. Be ready for first 24 hours 10. Media is no longer the only focus, use all channels of communications 11. Use Whole Community approach

Team 12. Leadership must be visible 13. Team knows + trained to roles, backups for key roles 14. Team can function w/o tech.

Audience 15. Multi-lingual/cultural/disability community outreach essential 16. What they want, how they want it 17. Ensure feedback mechanism

Infosphere 18. Understand what it is and how to impact it, plan with it in mind 19. Coord, integrate, synchronize 20. Expect mis/disinformation

Whole Community 21. Feds, state/local, private sector, academia, NGOs/faith-based, public integrated into effort 22. Build relationships early 23. Understand their capabilities

Response/Recovery 24. Response is command/control, recovery is collaborative 26. Feedback key to both, esp. increased social media 27. Consistency from DC to field

Don’t Forget 28. Imagery: powerful element 29. First say it, then show it. 30. Presence is communication

Recap A. Ensure full function working and constantly follow the infosphere B. Use all channels of comms C. Whole Community approach best way to effective comms in large events