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Dear reader,

Today, I want to share something that resonates deeply with our daily work in crisis communication. It's about the power of words and how we use them in times of emergency.

I've come across a resource that I believe will be incredibly useful for us: The Warning Lexicon.

This lexicon is a product of extensive research and offers a structured approach to crafting emergency messages. It’s not just about what we say, but how we say it, ensuring our messages are clear, direct, and actionable.

Also in this edition, a little gift for you 🎁. A 35-page Crisis Case Study.

While everyone was busy talking about the (ridiculous, if you ask me) debacle at Open AI, my colleague Gerry McCusker and I wrote a case study about another company.

Below you will find the download link for a free 35-page crisis communication case study on Optus. The document analyses a network outage that occurred at the company earlier this month. This event created a significant crisis communication challenge for the telecommunications giant.

The network breakdown left nearly half the population of Australia without internet or phone, throwing payment, transport, and health systems into chaos and raising questions about the fragility of the country's core infrastructure.

Enjoy!

The "Warning Lexicon", developed by a team led by Jeannette Sutton, Michele K. Olson and Nicholas A. Waugh, is a carefully researched guide that promises to reshape the landscape of crisis communication messaging.

The Warning Lexicon was created to cover a wide range of hazards, including atmospheric, technological, biological, and man-made events. It covers a total of 48 types of hazards.

This breadth ensures that emergency managers and risk communicators are prepared for a variety of crisis scenarios. The Lexicon goes one step further by providing 112 instructions for protective actions specifically designed to trigger immediate, appropriate responses.

The lexicon's emphasis on actionable content is particularly noteworthy. In crisis situations, clarity and specificity of instructions are of paramount importance, and the lexicon adequately addresses this need.

The study offers practical examples of how these strategies can be implemented.

For example, when creating a flash flood warning message, the lexicon suggests a structured approach:

Start by identifying the hazard, then move on to the consequences, safety precautions, the source of the warning, and the timing.

For flooding, for instance, it would give this:

This structure is recommended for all warnings to optimise understanding and response.

The lexicon also promotes emergency preparedness. By developing templates for anticipated hazards, crisis communicators can facilitate the rapid dissemination of messages in emergencies. These templates can be tailored to local circumstances and specific hazards to ensure relevance and effectiveness.

The Warning Lexicon isn't just a theoretical contribution, but a very practical tool that has proven itself in practise. It is comprehensive, research-based, and will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of warning messages, an important aspect of protecting lives and property in emergencies.

I'm excited to share this with you all!

Gerry McCusker and I have been hard at work putting together a case study that cuts through the noise and gets right to the heart of what happened during the Optus network outage in November 2023.

We've combined our experience and dug deep into the crisis communication tactics used, looking at what worked, what didn't, and why.

Our goal was to pull out the most practical insights and lessons to help you handle any communication curveballs that come your way.

This case study isn't just about recounting a crisis—it's about understanding it. We've looked at the initial reactions, the customer frustrations, and the government's take on the situation.

But more importantly, we've focused on the concrete steps and strategies that can make or break your communication in times of crisis.

Whether you're dealing with your own crisis communications or just want to stay ahead of the game, this case study is packed with real-world lessons that are easy to grasp and apply.

It is free for you, my dear readers, so go ahead and download the case study via the button below.

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What I am reading/testing/checking out:

• Harpa: Brings AI to your browser, allowing users to chat with websites, PDFs and videos.

• Structured Prompt: a prompt engineering tool

• Article: Situational awareness: A lever to face challenges and build resilience

A Quick Note on How I Create Content for Wag The Dog

As you know, I'm passionate about AI and its applications in the fields of PR and crisis communication. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I use AI to help draft my articles.

Why? Well, for starters, English isn't my first language. While I'm comfortable with it, AI gives me that extra edge to ensure clarity and coherence. Secondly, I write about AI, so what better way to understand its capabilities than to use it in my own work?

I value transparency, so it's crucial for you to know that although AI assists me in drafting, I personally review and edit each article to guarantee its authenticity.

PS: I hope you've enjoyed this newsletter! Creating it each day is a labour of love that I provide for free. If you've found my writing valuable, the best way to support it is by sharing it with others. Please click the share links below to spread the word with your friends and colleagues; it would mean so much to me. Thank you for reading!

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