Dr. Peter Sandman
- Crisis Communications: Guidelines For Action
The strongest antidote to denial is the legitimation of fear. The way you prevent people from going into denial is to allow them to be afraid. Give them permission to be afraid. Make it legitimate to be afraid. If people feel that fear is inappropriate, they might try to get down to apathy. But if they're scared, they're scared and they can't make themselves apathetic but they can go into denial.
Jody Lanard
- Dilemma Sharing
"I don't know" is hard enough to say; "I'm not sure what to do" is even harder. If you haven't made a decision yet, say so. Outline the options and the pros and cons of each and ask for help. This has many advantages, one of which is that you may actually get some help. You will also get your public to understand that the decision isn't easy. Once you make it, you'll get more buy-in from the people you consulted than from the people who were left in the dark.
