When It Hits The Fan: Turning crisis into opportunity

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There you were, minding your own business, when - Splat! Out of left field, a crisis knocks it for six. It's the big one, the fear that makes you wake up screaming in the night: a product recall or tampering; major fraud; IT collapse; mystery explosion; scandal; pressure group onslaught; a media report claiming your product harms children.

Whatever, your words and actions in the next few hours will determine the survival or failure of your company or organisation.

What do you do next? When It Hits The Fan tells you what to do. How to prepare for the worst. What to do when it happens. How to communicate - and maybe even come out of it smelling of roses. And it contains a series of unique, invaluable, fast and easy-to-use checklists on how to prepare, what to do, what to say etc etc.

This 2013 edition has been extensively revised and updated to include the latest case studies and developments such as social media. This is your life's work we're talking about. You can't not read this book.

“When It Hits The Fan is an eminently practical guide, which takes a no-nonsense hands-on approach to the subject. The checklists alone are worth the cost of the book. It shares the same bookrack by my PC as my English dictionary and thesaurus and style manual.” Robert Minton-Taylor, senior lecturer, School of Marketing, Public Relations and Communication, Leeds Metropolitan University.

About the Author
Michael Bland, FCIPR, MBCI, is a consultant, author, trainer and lecturer in Corporate Communication, Crisis and Issues Management, Media Interviews, Presentation Skills, Reducing Stress and Enjoying Life.

He served a commission in the Army and was a survival instructor before working in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as a sales manager for Reuters Limited. After five years in finance and financial journalism he set up and ran the first PR activity for the Institute of Directors and played a key role in putting it on the map.

He then spent six years as head of government relations and corporate public affairs for Ford Motor Company Limited before becoming an independent consultant in 1984. He has worked in 37 countries, counselling and training a number of leading world organisations to prepare for and handle the reputation aspects of numerous crises and issues - and was one of the pioneers of modern crisis communications methods. He is one of the only practitioners to teach a psychology-based planning and handling approach - as opposed to the more cumbersome, procedural approach which is still practised in most organisations.

He has also pioneered a number of media training techniques since 1975, having trained more than 10,000 people all over the world - from junior executives to CEOs, VIPs and celebrities - and written the first and most successful book on the subject. His teaching has evolved with changes in interviewing styles and international media developments to stay ahead of the game.

Through the Thomson Reuters Foundation he has trained journalists from numerous different countries in television and radio interviewing skills. Michael has delivered innumerable conference keynotes and lectured at London and Cranfield Business Schools and the Universities of Cambridge, Leeds, Sunderland, Belgrade and Tsing Hua, Beijing.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Realtions, Member of the Business Continuity Institute, the Society of Authors and the National Federation of Spiritual Healers. He is the author and co-author of 13 leading communication text books and guides, numerous articles and two popular humour titles.