What Does a Crisis Communications Expert Actually Do?

A crisis communications expert helps an organisation prepare long before disaster strikes. That means planning scenarios, shaping simple and trusted messages, and making sure leaders are ready to speak with honesty and clarity under pressure. When the crisis hits, the expert steadies the response, guiding staff updates, supporting media briefings, correcting misinformation, and keeping communication flowing inside and out. More than anything, their job is to make sure people know what’s happening, what it means for them, and that they can trust the source of information.

When a crisis hits, it looks like the whole world wakes up at once. The media wants answers, staff are desperate for updates, and the public wants to know what’s going on immediately. But here’s the truth: good crisis communication doesn’t begin when the crisis does. It begins much earlier, with preparation.

I’ve always known that preparation matters. I learned it from my mother, who had a calming presence whenever things went wrong. She never panicked, never added to the chaos. That lesson stayed with me. But I want to be clear about something: none of us are perfect communicators. Not me. Not you. Not even presidents.

We sometimes confuse performance with communication. A leader might look polished on camera, but that doesn’t mean they never misspeak, misjudge a moment, or regret their words later. Every human being makes mistakes. Even the most experienced communicators slip up. What matters isn’t perfection, it’s preparation. Because preparation steadies you and helps you recover when those inevitable mistakes happen.

And here’s another truth: in a crisis, the relationship behind the message is just as important as the message itself. People don’t just listen to what you say; they decide whether to trust it based on who is saying it. A strong relationship, built before the crisis, can carry words further than the most polished statement delivered by someone who isn’t trusted.

My Experience in Crisis Communication

I don’t write about this from theory alone. Yes, I have a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. I’ve also worked as a communications manager in large urban and smaller regional public hospitals, where emergency response and crisis communications was part of the job. I was also the communications manager for a country’s largest public health service, where I dealt with communicable disease outbreaks, major earthquakes, and the constant reality of health emergencies. Across my career, I’ve managed communication in heartbreaking situations with life and death consequences in hospitals, and crises and scandals in other industries. I’ve seen up close how preparation, clear messaging, and trust can change the course of a crisis. And I’ve seen how damaging it is when those things aren’t in place.

My Lived Experience in Hospitals

And my perspective isn’t only professional. I’ve also spent a great deal of my life waiting in hospitals as a family member. My late mother lived with rheumatic heart disease after surviving acute rheumatic fever as a child growing up in Samoa. My younger sister, who has since passed away, spent long stretches in and out of hospital too. I’ve been through these experiences with family, and alongside friends facing sudden loss. Those were big, life-shaping experiences. They taught me what it feels like to be on the receiving end of clinical hospital communication when you are tense, upset, or grieving.

That dual perspective, professional and personal, stays with me every time I write or talk about communication in crisis.

Preparing Before the Storm

The foundation of crisis communication is planning ahead. That means thinking through different scenarios, deciding who speaks, shaping clear messages, and making sure systems are in place. When a crisis comes, the team isn’t scrambling. They’re following a plan they already know.

Anticipating the Questions

Another big piece of preparation is asking: what will people want to know? Staff, patients, families, communities, reporters, each group has different concerns. By anticipating those questions before they’re asked, you avoid confusion and panic later.

Helping Leaders Communicate Clearly

Crises put leaders under enormous pressure. They don’t want to make a mistake, but silence isn’t an option either. Preparation includes coaching leaders in advance, so they can step up when it matters most. It’s about speaking with honesty and humanity instead of hiding behind jargon and technical words that most people won’t know.

Crafting Simple, Memorable Messages

In stressful moments, people don’t absorb long explanations. Three clear points will land better than ten complicated ones. Preparation means having those core points ready to go, so they can guide every update, whether it’s a press release, a staff email, or a media interview.

Staying Connected Inside and Out

Crisis communication isn’t just about what the public hears. It’s also about how the organisation communicates internally. Teams need quick updates, easy-to-use templates, and clear reporting lines. Preparation ensures those channels are in place long before anyone is under pressure.

Where the Message Comes From Matters

Where information comes from is just as important as the information itself. In a crisis, people don’t just weigh what you say, they weigh who is saying it. If trust is already fractured, even the clearest message can fall flat. Recovery begins not with more words, but with rebuilding the relationship behind the words.

People Process Information Differently in a Crisis

Here’s something I know from both professional and personal experience: in a crisis, people don’t process information the same way they normally do. I’ve seen it in hospital command centers during emergencies, and I’ve felt it as a family member at the bedside.

Stress changes how we hear things. Crisis psychology and emergency communication research have shown for decades that under stress, people remember less, misunderstand more, and often don’t fully absorb a message the first time. Some even experience what’s known as normalcy bias, downplaying the seriousness of the situation, or delaying action despite warnings.

I’ve seen this play out again and again. You can tell a group the same thing, and every person will walk away having heard something slightly different, or sometimes missing the most important part. That’s why in a crisis, clarity comes from repetition and reinforcement. You hold onto one clear core message, but you repeat it, you share it across different channels, and you keep coming back to it with calm consistency. That’s what helps the message land when people are overwhelmed.

Watching and Adjusting as Things Unfold

Of course, once the crisis begins, preparation shifts into monitoring. What’s being said online? What rumours are spreading? What questions are still unanswered? The faster you can close the gap between misinformation and truth, the better the outcome. That is the big challenge.

Building Trust That Lasts

When the dust settles, what people remember is whether they could trust you. Did you prepare? Were you honest? Did you keep them informed? If the answer is yes, you’ve built a foundation of credibility that lasts long after the crisis is over.

Crisis communication isn’t about perfection. There are no perfect communicators, only people doing their best, sometimes stumbling, sometimes recovering. What makes the difference is preparation. Preparation won’t stop you from making mistakes, but it will stop those mistakes from defining the whole crisis. And that’s where calm and clarity win out over panic.