When crisis hits, people look to leaders for clarity, confidence, empathy and direction. But even the strongest message can be undermined when departments contradict one another, elected officials get ahead of confirmed facts, or multiple voices compete to tell the public what’s happening.

This intensive, practical workshop focuses on leadership communication when the stakes, and pressure, are at their highest. Building on proven crisis communication principles including speed, credible messaging and victim-centered communication, participants learn how to lead the communication response while helping their entire organization speak with clarity and purpose.

Participants will explore how to:

• Lead with clarity, credibility and empathy when information is incomplete and events are moving quickly.
• Oversee a unified communication strategy that gives employees, stakeholders, media and the public consistent, actionable information.
• Coordinate with elected officials before and during a crisis, establishing who communicates what, when and why to reduce competing messages, speculation and public confusion.
• Manage the tension between speed and accuracy, recognizing that silence creates an information vacuum but rushing unverified information can damage credibility.
• Keep victims and affected communities at the center of leadership decisions and public messaging.
• Navigate AI, misinformation and the fight for public trust. Explore how generative AI, manipulated content and the accelerating information environment are changing crisis communication—and why trusted public institutions must work harder than ever to establish themselves as the credible source of truth.
• Prepare before the crisis by establishing communication protocols, leadership roles, approval processes and relationships before they are tested under pressure.

Through discussion, case studies and a complex tabletop exercise, participants examine how department leaders, communications professionals, and elected officials can work as one coordinated team to move through a crisis with trust and resiliency intact.