When a crisis hits the oil and gas industry, it is big, big news. That's why it's absolutely critical for you to plan in advance to handle a crisis if you're in the oil and gas industry. bp, with its Gulf incident, back a number of years ago, didn't plan properly, what was the result? $70 billion, lost in market capitalization in just a few short months $70 billion in part because of the incident, but in part because of how they reacted to the crisis, how poorly their CEO and others reacted. Their horrible job of communicating, they're constantly stepping on themselves in interviews, bad quotes, and the like. That's why this is different folks.

Huge dollars are at stake. $70 billion is nothing to sneeze at. It's enough to Destroy most companies. That's why you've got to plan right now for how you're going to speak to the media deal with the media during a time of crisis. If you're in the oil and gas industry, if something bad happens, the world is going to see it. It's not like a crisis in the banking industry.

That's all just computer bits. There can often be an explosion, a leak of oil, a leak of gas, there can be fire. And unfortunately, that's good television. That is going to give you massive, massive amounts of scrutiny. And you've got to be prepared for now. Here's something you'll hear many crisis communications counselors talk about.

There's really no difference between how you plan for a media interview during a crisis versus any other interview. The planning steps are the same. you brainstorm a message points, you'd come up with the top three, you have a strategy for answering questions you package, your message. With sound bites, the difference is during a crisis. If you get something wrong, it can destroy your represent your entire reputation. It can destroy your market cap, you can see your stock price plummet, people's futures, melting away careers destroyed.

All because of one slip of the tongue. You don't believe me? Ask Tony. I want my life back Hayward formerly of BP. There are lessons to be learned here, folks. And this course is going to walk you through step by step what you need to do, to plan for a crisis and crises will come.

I hope they don't happen to you in your organization. The crises do come and you have to plan accordingly. This course is going to give you step by step what you need to know in order to plan on how to speak to the media during a crisis, how to communicate To the media during a crisis. So let's face it, a lot of people in the media have pre determined that people in the oil and gas industry, they're the bad guys. They're the polluters. They're awful.

And now here they see a leak of fire and explosion, and it's just there you are sitting duck. So you can't hope to just have good luck with the media. You can't hope for a lucky break from reporters. You have to plan you have to have a strategy, and you have to execute. That's what this course is going to train you to do step by step, so that if something bad does happen, at least you'll be able to get over it. You can not make matters worse by damaging your reputation more.

You won't make matters worse by being seen as an organization that hides things that secretive that lies to the public and you're not going to have to have mass firings of resignations from your executive suite. You can get through this if you plan the right way. And if you take the right attitude. Now one of the things that is a problem in my experience with oil and gas corporations all over the world is there is very much a top down attitude. Many people come from the military, and they're used to that sort of hierarchy in the oil and gas industry. Once a crisis hits, you have to realize the lowest reporter who's 23 years old who makes $19,000 a year now has the right to question you have to question your judgment, to question your intelligence.

And you have to take it, you have to answer them if you do not answer reporters, they will assume the worst. They will assume you're hiding. They will assume you're lying. So that's something that every organization has to grapple with and To get over quickly if they want to survive a crisis, too often, and many large corporations in any industry, but especially the oil and gas industry, there's the sense that the CEO is almost a God. He's so smart. He makes 100 million dollars a year.

We can't possibly question we can't dare suggest he practice and interview or tell him what to say, no, that all has to be thrown out. Dealing with the crisis in the media is like preparing for any other media interview, only the stakes are higher. You've got to practice you've got to practice on video. You got to make sure you have good messages that are relevant during the crisis. More about that in subsequent lessons. I'm glad you're here.

Please don't just watch the videos, go through the exercises. We'll work on this together and then there ever is a crisis that hits your organization. You will be prepared and you will make the best of a bad situation.