Crisis Communications: Muck Rack’s Linda Zebian On The 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In Crisis Communications

An Interview With Dina Aletras

…Impeccable judgment — The ability to see around corners and spot a potential threat is paramount to success in crisis communications. This means paying close attention to news cycles, especially political and social unrest, to ensure your brand’s messages don’t miss the mark at the wrong time.

Crisis communications is a vital field that helps organizations navigate and manage challenging situations, protecting their reputation and maintaining public trust. The role requires a unique blend of strategic thinking, quick decision-making, and effective communication skills. What does it take to excel in this high-pressure field? How do professionals prepare for and manage crises effectively? As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Linda Zebian.

Linda Zebian is Senior Director, Communications at Muck Rack, where she sets internal and external communications strategy for Muck Rack’s enterprise, including messaging, issues management, media relations, social media and employee communications. Linda joined Muck Rack in January 2022 as its first-ever Director of Communications. She previously spent 10 years in various communications positions at The New York Times, developing and executing communications strategies for the business side of the company.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

It was always my goal to teach creative writing at the college level. I really gravitated toward academia. An English professor of mine told me it was a horrible idea, and suggested I bring my writing skills to businesses because they’d pay me a lot more and were desperate for good writers. I got an internship at a boutique lifestyle PR agency my senior year of college and they offered me a job after graduation. Outside of a quick stint as a journalist and as a conference content planner, I’ve worked in corporate comms ever since.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?

Eight months after I joined Muck Rack we received our first outside investment, a $180M Series A. When I was at The New York Times I’d worked on earnings and M+A announcements, but I’d never created a communication plan for a big financial announcement for a growing, private company before. I was the sole PR person on the marketing team at the time, so it was on me to deliver a solid plan that would generate results. I was able to pull it off, securing coverage in outlets like TechCrunch, Axios, Fortune and others.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started at The Times a journalist (non-NYTimes) called to ask me a few questions about a story he was working on. He asked the same question two or three times, and I avoided answering each time because I didn’t know the answer. Finally, out of frustration, I responded with, “I literally have no idea, let’s move on.” Needless to say, the story came out later that day, citing “Linda Zebian, spokesperson from The New York Times, said she ‘literally had no idea.’” It was a good lesson for me to remember that in PR you’re always on the record and that it’s OK to say, “I don’t know.”

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

As the head of communications for a communications software solution, my job is super meta. It’s really fun to work with and to provide feedback to our product and technology teams on the types of tools and features we’re building to help our customers do their best work.

Working in tech, AI, of course, is super exciting. I’m enjoying learning how we can leverage our data to make recommendations to our customers and enhance the user experience because I’m also a user. I love seeing new technologies working for us so we can devote our brainpower to high-value tasks like strategy and messaging.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I’m a big believer that a balance of IQ, EQ and AI is what leaders of the future will need to be successful.

IQ is the aptitude and experience to know how to get the work done. In communications, that means understanding how news is made and what is actually valuable to a journalist. It also means having excellent judgment and being able to spot reputational risks when no one else can, including executives and others in power.

Having emotional intelligence and understanding the role interpersonal dynamics play in business helps bolster productivity and innovation. In communications in particular, the power of your effectiveness lies within your relationships with executives, clients, the media, your team and your customers, so being able to build and maintain strong relationships is imperative.

The best thing about AI is that all that’s required, at least at this moment, is curiosity and openness to learn. It’s still so new and moving so fast that we’re all starting off on an equal playing field. That means if you commit to testing it out and stay curious about what’s to come, you can become a real asset as you get more comfortable with the technology.

How I’m preparing for AI as a communications person is ensuring my team and I centralize our data — media lists, team activity and our analytics — in one place within our public relations management platform so that we can take full advantage of the machine learning systems that haven’t been built yet.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. What essential skills and qualities do you believe are necessary for success in crisis communications?

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Can you share a specific crisis you managed and the strategies you used to address it effectively?

There are varying levels of crises and certain industries are at higher risk of having more detrimental crises occur more often. A very simple example occurred early on when I was at The Times. An incomplete ad on our site was published with dummy copy, causing a bit of a stir on Twitter. The press office was getting calls from journalists asking for comments about what happened.

The first thing I did was get my ad team on the phone to update the ad with the right asset, which was done swiftly. After some investigating we determined the asset was published prematurely, so we crafted a simple statement, taking responsibility for the error and removing any question that it was an error on behalf of the advertiser. The story died then and there. I’ve written about how acknowledging and apologizing can be critical steps to what I call the 5As of crisis, that determine how long the crisis will remain in the headlines.

How do you stay prepared for unexpected crises in an ever-changing media landscape?

Crisis comms is much more effective when a communications pro can spot a risk and prevent it before it happens versus trying to clean up the mess after the fact. This is true for internal crises that almost always become externally known, as well as public-facing missteps.

While you can’t always know how to manage issues that haven’t happened yet, there are simple ways to plan for crisis moments that will help you build systems, stay organized and set your internal teams up to be as prepared as possible. Every organization should have an established crisis communications plan, or playbook, before a crisis occurs. The plan should name the crisis project manager who will direct traffic on a crisis, and outline who is on the core crisis team. Your crisis plan should include an issues matrix that defines the types of crises your organization may encounter, and the actions that will be taken should a crisis occur. Think of it as an “if…then” matrix, and try to bucket similar issues together based on their severity. The crisis team should meet at least annually to run through possible scenarios.

What role does digital media play in modern crisis communication strategies?

When digital media replaced the print cycle, news became 24/7 which meant that a crisis could hit anytime. Social media has been an even bigger disruptor since it can be a breeding ground for reputational threats. Social can be a good tool for reaching your audiences directly when addressing a crisis but it can also be a risky space if used without the same oversight and scrutiny as you would traditional media. For example, sometimes we see celebrities using their social media to share news or respond to an issue to make them seem more human and connected to their fans; but too often there is no PR person providing counsel in these instances and the message may fall flat or make it worse.

How do you measure the success of a crisis communication plan?

Sentiment analysis can measure if the conversation around your brand is positive, negative or neutral over a certain period of time and is a good indicator of your brand standing. We use Muck Rack to follow our brand sentiment. Web traffic, sales and revenue post-crisis should also be considered over longer stretches of time to understand if a crisis had any impact on your bottom line.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In Crisis Communications” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Impeccable judgment — The ability to see around corners and spot a potential threat is paramount to success in crisis communications. This means paying close attention to news cycles, especially political and social unrest, to ensure your brand’s messages don’t miss the mark at the wrong time.

For example, let’s say you’ve booked a CEO or public figure you represent to give a commencement speech. As the date of the speech approaches, that particular campus starts to experience student protests about a brewing social issue. It’s your job to consider the circumstances and the risks involved with participating and determine if the plan needs to shift, and if so, how.

2. Strong executive presence — Being a trusted counsel in comms means saying things no one else will say and what your client may not want to hear.

Here’s an example from my own experience. Minutes before a big keynote presentation, an executive I worked with asked a room full of folks if they should change their outfit. The reaction from the room was “no way, you look great!”

They did look great. But I told them to change. I knew their goals, their insecurities and what message they wanted to send about themself and about our brand. They changed and they rocked it — and I’m sure they would have either way–but again, sometimes being a trusted counsel in comms means saying things no one else will say and what your client may not want to hear.

3. Staying cool under pressure — In communications, watching something boil on social media about your brand can be excruciating, particularly if what is being said is untrue. Knowing when to act or to let something ride comes with experience. Some of the questions I like to ask myself are; Does this post really warrant a response? Will a response solve the problem? Do we want to get into a public back and forth about this issue and potentially draw more attention to it?

4. The ability to think like a journalist — When it comes to crisis management, getting the facts straight is the most important part. However, the trickiest part is balancing the time it takes to gather those facts with responding in a timely manner.

The longer your organization takes to respond to a crisis, the more heated an issue can become and the more restless your audiences will become as they await your response; but getting your facts wrong and having to course-correct or walk back statements can be more detrimental to your reputation. When in doubt: move slower and get it right.

One of the key things I think folks sometimes forget when fact finding during a crisis situation is the importance of what remains unknown. It’s easy to say, “here’s what we know,” but it gets trickier when you’re trying to determine what’s missing from the story. Think like a journalist and investigate every crevice of the story because if you don’t, someone else will.

5. Empathetic writing — A basic apology composed of well-crafted authentic messaging is the first step to brand rescue. It’s not always easy to convince leadership (or a board) that an apology is the best route, but encourage them to embrace it. In a crisis, empathy, understanding and humility can increase brand affinity, while the wrong words can make the crisis worse.

Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Increased funding for independent, quality news organizations and programs to increase news literacy.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising. Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.