OKSPRA - Tips

TIPS
Below you will find tips and information to help you become a more successful PR professional.

Best practices to start your year off right

Getting Back To School With Autry Technology Center
Ten Tips For Back To School

Posted July 25, 2008

crisis help
The best thing you can do in a crisis is have a written plan already prepared and a crisis team ready to respond. OKSPRA can provide excellent support in the middle of a crisis.

During the Ft. Gibson incident, OKSPRA members were on the scene providing valuable support to the school and community. Web support was included during the process with an original site established in the first 24 hours. A review site was also established at the Oklahoma Department of Vocational-Technical Education.

Although you can't anticipate every aspect of a situation, you certainly can get a handle on many things by brainstorming with your team. Topics to consider: Abductions, Hazardous Material Incidents, Runaway Student, Gunfire, Student Violence, Suicide, Child Abuse, Serious Illness or Injury, Tornado, Fire, Evacuation, Bomb Threat, Emergency Lockdown.

Think about things like where students are going to go if a tornado hits. How are you going to handle a bomb threat? What will you tell a distraught parent if there has been an evacuation of your building and their child is missing?

As you can already tell, prior planning can take the edge off of any event and free you up for the unexpected components.

If you are the spokesperson for your organization, you may want to consider the following tips for dealing with the media in a crisis situation.

Anticipate likely questions (Who? What? When? Why? How?)
Don't challenge the reporter's interest.
Keep answers short; answer only the question asked.
If you don't know the answer, say "I don't know, I'll find out."
Don't be defensive
There is no such thing as "Off the Record."
Don't speculate.
Don't ask to review a story.
Speak only to your areas of responsibility or expertise.
Don't disclose personal information about any staff member or student. Such information should be released only at the discretion of the family.
Emphasis what is being done by the school and the district to contain and resolve the situation.
Get the word out on how updates will be given to the public (radio, e-mail, internet posting, news media, etc.)
Network! Network! Network! Get input from other OKSPRA and NSPRA members who have dealt with similar situations.
Develop a crisis kit! Tony Heaberlin, APR, at Tulsa Tech has put together a great one. His kit:

Two way radios for communication when phone and cell systems are down.
35mm disposable camera.	Building plans.
Tape recorder and extra batteries.	Crisis plan.
Notepad and extra pens.	Flashlight.
Employee directory.	Personal identification tag.

Other Resources:
The Complete Crisis Communications Management Manual, NSPRA

Thinking About the Unthinkable, Seeking Solutions to School Violence (VIDEO) NSPRA

r.a.c.e.
At the backbone of every good PR Plan is RACE. The RACE acronym stands for Research, Analysis, Communication, Evaluation. While there are many ways to create an effective plan, this winning technique reminds communication experts to focus on continuous planning.

Research - Looking at the big picture and incorporating primary and secondary research to make an informed decision. Toss those hunches out the door!

Analysis - Identify key publics and strategies to change behavior based on the research you have done. Develop a working PR plan with measurable goals.

Communication - Develop your PR plan to include both one-way and two-way communication. Go beyond giving information ... persuade your target audience to take action.

Evaluation - Go back and visit your PR plan. Have you reached your measurable goals? What should you change? Why? Now ... you are back at research and the RACE is off and running once again.