For more than half a century, disaster experts have written articles about “the myth of panic.” Much government policy is based on the misconception that the public is always about to panic, or is already panicking. Among the common policies based on this misconception: cover-up of alarming information, false reassurance, premature over-confidence, and phony consensus – all of which erode official credibility just when it is most needed.

Crisis communication is the kind of risk communication you do when both “outrage” and “hazard” are high. Something has just happened that genuinely endangers people, or that threatens to endanger them in the not too distant future. They are appropriately fearful about what might happen; they may also be angry or miserable about what has happened already.

For most people, empathetic communication in high-stress situations is an unnatural act. Even people who are pretty good at communicating with other people are likely to see their skills deteriorate just when they need those skills the most: when everyone in the room is tense. That’s why it’s important to have rules, principles, guidelines – something to follow when your empathetic intuition is at its worst.