It’s probably a fair assumption that until recently BP CEO Tony Hayward, Umpire Jim Joyce and Lake Local Schools Superintendent Jim Witt had little in common. Now all three share a common experience: they’ve unexpectedly been put in the public spotlight. 
Although their experiences have been very different, and their exposure has come on varying levels for drastically different reasons, all three have likely learned very quickly what it feels like to have the media knocking at your door. Rather, they’ve learned the importance of crisis communications.
The phrase “crisis communications” is one of those things that PR professionals say all the time; we talk about it, write about it, counsel about it. We constantly advise clients to be prepared for it. But by the very nature of crisis communications, no one knows what it means until it happens. And how can you be prepared for something you don’t know?
That’s where a thorough crisis communications plan comes into play.