Crisis Communications for Higher Education Institutions

Welcome to the virtual "Crisis Communications for Higher Education Institutions" workshop with Donald Steel!

The past year has shown us how we, and our institutions can rapidly adapt at a time of global crisis.  In an environment where rules were often relaxed whilst students and staff were learning new ways of working, the education sector displayed a medal winning response.

It’s not over yet, but a different crisis may be waiting around the corner to hit just as we are at our most exhausted and vulnerable.

In this one day specialist workshop, international crisis communicator Donald Steel will lift your vision and energy to make sure your organisation is fully crisis communications ready. 

In this fully interactive and engaging day, together we will discover what success looks like in crisis communications and gather learning from situations where people have got it right.  We will also find solutions together and hear from the experience of each other.

We will explore how the cameraphone will dictate the narrative in a crisis, and how we must broaden our crisis communications response to include pictures as well as words if we wish to succeed.

At the end of this workshop you will:

• Understand the relationship between advance preparation and speed in crisis communications
• Be equipped to review your organisation’s tone, language and style on social media in a crisis
• Be familiar with aggressive question types in crisis media interviews and how to deal with them
• Be ready to review your organisation’s crisis communications plan in the light of the workshop

You will leave the workshop feeling energised, with a checklist of actions to take back as you seek to take your crisis preparedness to the next level.

You will leave the workshop feeling energised, with a checklist of actions to take back as you seek to take your crisis preparedness to the next level.

Donald Steel is a widely admired crisis communicator who works internationally with clients from a range of settings, from healthcare to aviation and government bodies, as well as high profile individuals.  London-based, he is Vice-President, Crisis Communications, at Kenyon International Emergency Services.  With headquarters in Houston and London, Kenyon has been dealing with mass fatality incidents for more than a century, including natural disasters, terrorism and aviation incidents.  A former chief media spokesman at the British Broadcasting Corp., Donald’s clients include universities and schools, UN agencies, broadcasting and entertainment companies, government departments and high profile individuals.  He has recently made acclaimed appearances at the Canadian Association of Education Communicators Conference in Winnipeg and the Girls Schools Association Conference in London.  Donald began as a Registered General Nurse in Scotland, and worked in regional neurosurgical and trauma units during a ten year hospital career.  He is a regular lecturer in crisis communications at the London School of Economics and the University of Westminster.

Please note that this workshop is limited to 30 participants only!