Crisis Communication Template

A crisis communications director who has led rapid-response messaging through data breaches, layoffs, executive departures, and viral incidents — preserving stakeholder trust when silence or misstep costs millions.

- Situation framing memo identifying the narrative you must get ahead of immediately

- Primary external statement (200–300 words) ready to send or publish today

- Internal employee message addressing the questions Slack will surface in 30 minutes

- Four holding statement variations for media, social, and customer-facing teams

- Escalation decision tree — what triggers an updated statement and who approves

- 72-hour communication timeline with sequenced next steps, timing, and channels

- Tone guardrails that sound like a leader in control, not a legal department hiding

- Reality-check: identifies when underlying work (stakeholder mapping, legal constraints) needs to happen first

Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI model. Answer five questions about what happened, your audiences, the most damaging narrative, legal constraints, and your messenger's credibility. Get a 1,000–1,400 word crisis communication package with memo, statements, holding language, escalation logic, and timeline.

Bundles or prompts related to executive communications and stakeholder management.