In the world of public relations, crisis communications firms are tasked with doing the dirty work: When clients get roped into a public scandal or say something remarkably dumb ― which happens a lot on social media ― these PR pros are the ones responsible for helping the person save face and keep their jobs and endorsement deals.
Given their line of work, we figured they must be pretty adept at handling their own occasional verbal fumble, so we decided to ask about what they personally do when they say something embarrassing.
Unsurprisingly, they had some great advice. Read it below.
Evan Nierman is the founder and CEO of the global PR firm Red Banyan. It rarely happens, but when he does put his foot in his mouth or make a mistake, he knows the fastest way to recover from it is to own it immediately: Not tomorrow, not next week, but right after the dumb words fall out of his mouth.
“What you want to do is acknowledge your errors, be accountable, correct any misinformation and steer the conversation back into the realm of the positive,” he told HuffPost.
Timing is everything, Nierman said. “The quicker you address a controversy, the faster you can move on and make material changes in your behaviour moving forward.”
The most important thing to remember when you misspeak is not to make things worse: If you called your new coworker Rhonda “Sharon,” the name of your other coworker, just say, “Whoops, I meant Rhonda!”
Truly, keep it simple. No need to go into detail about how the Rhonda-Sharon mixup was probably due to the fact that they both have the same Karen haircut.
“When I say something I regret, I don’t make a mountain out of a molehill, as this will only draw more attention to it,” said Stephanie King, the managing director of BlueSky PR. “It could even encourage the person you’re talking to home in on the subject or and ask more questions.”
If you’ve said something factually incorrect, rectify it, but King said to move on swiftly.
Let’s say you’ve said something that could be deemed offensive. In that case, a quality apology boils down to addressing three things, according to Amy Levy, the president of her own PR firm.
First, she said, explain why what you said was wrong. Second, acknowledge who, in particular, might have been offended and how short-sighted the comment was.
Third, she said, “Say you’ll put yourself in the shoes of those who were hurt by the behaviour and acknowledge that you feel terrible and will try to be more educated in the future.”
Not all of us are quick on our toes or polished communicators. Let’s say you let the embarrassing comment slide in the moment, out of nervousness or because you were at a loss for words. Is it still worth doing damage control after the fact, in person the next time you see someone, or with a phone call or text?
“If there’s any chance that what you said could be offensive, yes, an honest and direct phone call can help,” said Nicole Rodrigues, a crisis communication expert and the CEO and founder of NRPR Group. “Humans are humans and appreciate transparency and honesty.”
That said, Rodrigues tries to avoid texts, which can be misconstrued. (And what if you put your foot in your mouth again? Now there’s receipts.)
“Too much can be taken out of context with texts,” she said. “The old-fashioned phone call will do wonders.”
Nierman agrees: It’s never too late to apologise, and damage control can be quick and painless.
“Rather than dwelling on what went wrong, focus on moving forward with confidence and demonstrating that you are ready to take the next steps,” he said.
That’s an approach that not only mitigates the damage but also showcases accountability and resilience.
“People may not forget a mistake, but they will certainly remember how you handled it,” he said.
