Plan for Your Communications—Even the Ones that Seem “Unplannable”

In the wake of alleged terrorist attacks on the United States with the disease Anthrax, some Americans are justifiably scratching their heads and wondering what to make of it all.

Initial media reports about the disease’s potency caused confusion—and fear—for people we talked to.  Some experts early on suggested that a relatively small amount of Anthrax spores released in the air could kill thousands of people in a matter of days.  Other experts insisted the disease was easily treatable with common antibiotics and could have an incubation period—the period of time before the person exposed actually comes down with the disease—as long as weeks. 

Complicating matters were which form of the disease was used—cutaneous, or contracted through skin contact, or airborne, or contracted through breathing—and whether the bacteria was “weaponized,” meaning engineered for maximum effect as an instrument of mass destruction.  There are also different grades, or qualities, of Anthrax.

While experts insisted the disease was not contagious, some also suggested simply breathing spores in the right concentration or getting them on a cut in the skin, regardless of the source, could lead to infection.  Further, they said, simply being exposed doesn’t necessarily mean one will come down with the disease.  

The average American suddenly found him- or herself confronted by a sea of jargon—grade, spores, cutaneous, weaponized, Cipro (an antibiotic), exposure, incubation period—that seemed to require a degree in microbiology to decipher.  And, of course, with that still came the threat from a potentially deadly disease.

In a perfect world, information about Anthrax would have been compiled before predicted attacks occurred, analyzed for consistency, described in terms the average person could easily understand, and given to the public—perfectly.  Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world.  Given how quickly events occurred, the media still did an admirable job of gathering and disseminating information for a needy public.

What business communicators can learn from these events is to be prepared through planning.  Thankfully, most of us don’t have to respond to emergency needs for information—but we may still face deadlines that make them seem like emergencies.  Therefore, take time when things are slow to contemplate how you might provide information for your readers or customers if you were in an emergency.

Start planning by answering these questions: 

·       How would you explain complicated issues? 

·       How would you define jargon readers might find confusing?  What words might you choose instead? 

·       Is there consistency in your organization in how information is disseminated and by whom?  Is there consistency in the information you send? 

·     How quickly could you gather the necessary information?  What would be your sources?

·       How would you get this information to your audience?

For more information on planning communication, see Module Four.  For more information on Anthrax and similar biological threats, see the Center for Disease Control’s Web page at www.cdc.gov