At the height of a crisis, the pre-eminent principle of communication is empathy.  Every public utterance, every written statement, every action must display concern and care for those who’ve been injured, financially damaged or affected.  It’s astounding that this fundamental aspect of crisis communications is often ignored or poorly understood by organisations and their spokespeople, despite its essential role in maintaining the trust of customers, suppliers, sponsors, investors and other stakeholders.

Great speakers and accomplished media interviewees have much in common with other performers but the most important attribute is their apparent confidence.  Many high-profile actors, singers, comedians and dancers suffer from nerves, sometimes to the point of being physically sick or developing pre-performance panic attacks.  Yet you wouldn’t know it by watching them perform because they develop strategies to overcome the surges of adrenaline and stress hormone cortisol that can overwhelm a performance.

As you read this, it’s highly likely that the Theresa May is deep in preparation for one of the major media interviews of the general election campaign.  Tonight’s grilling on BBC 1 by veteran journalist Andrew Neil is the first of a series of party leader interviews taking place this week, including subsequent one-to-ones with Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, Nicola Sturgeon and Paul Nuttall.  Politicians going head-to-head with senior journalists usually prepare and rehearse such critical interviews with their closest advisors, right down to the last detail, to make the most of this moment when voters are really paying attention.  Any that don’t do so, risk making an embarrassing mistake or gaffe (see my blog on Diane Abbott’s car crash interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC).  Often this preparation will have included media training.

There are few more effective ways of trashing your credibility as a spokesperson than giving a car crash interview, as the Shadow Home Secretary has learned today.  So embarrassingly poor was Diane Abbott’s performance during her interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC, that it’s being openly debated whether this veteran Labour MP should resign her position.  Most damagingly of all, her super-gaffe has occurred in the midst of the General Election campaign, making not just Ms Abbott, but also her party’s policy on policing, a laughing stock.