Crisis Communication Isn't Improv: Philippe Borremans on High-Stakes Decision-Making

Crisis communications isn't improvising well in the moment when things go wrong. It's a high-stakes discipline where hesitation, confusion, and a poorly chosen word can cost lives, trust, and reputation. In this inaugural episode of the Piar podcast, host Tan Sukhera sits down with Philippe Borremans—one of the world's foremost experts in risk and crisis communications—to unpack the dangerous assumptions that derail even well-prepared organizations.

Philippe brings 25+ years of experience advising global organizations including the World Health Organization and the European Council across 30+ countries. As author of Mastering Crisis Communication with Chat GPT and former president of the International Public Relations Association, he's built an ironclad reputation for sage wisdom, unwavering commitment to putting people first, and telling C-suite leaders what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

What You'll Learn:

The False Confidence Trap – Why having crisis plans for cyber attacks, product recalls, and other scenarios creates dangerous complacency. In today's polycrisis and permacrisis environment, flexibility beats comprehensive planning every time. The best-prepared organizations train constantly through lunch-and-learns, tabletops, and e-learning—not just annual reviews.

Why Comms Still Can't Get a Seat at the Table – Philippe pulls no punches: communications professionals remain too conservative with technology, speak the wrong language, and fail to make the business case. "If you're pushing out press releases and making the company look good, you're running a cost center. CEOs are right to see it that way." The solution? Understand the business inside and out, translate comms activities to bottom-line impact, and stop asking "how do we measure?" when the answer is already obvious to finance teams.

The Risk vs. Crisis Distinction – Risk communication happens before the crisis—it's strategic horizon scanning, predictive analytics, and stakeholder preparation. Crisis communication is reactive response when things go wrong. Organizations that conflate the two miss the opportunity to prevent disasters entirely.

The Heathrow Disconnect – When Heathrow went into blackout, business continuity professionals celebrated a 12-hour restoration at one of the world's largest airports. Comms professionals saw a reputation disaster. This gap reveals why crisis preparedness requires cross-functional collaboration between comms, risk management, and business continuity teams.

The "Rebranding" Problem – In one telling anecdote, Philippe was called in by risk management and business continuity teams to discuss multi-country crisis preparedness. When he asked why comms wasn't in the meeting, the answer? "They're busy with rebranding." This encapsulates why comms struggles for strategic recognition—and what must change.

Throughout the conversation, Philippe emphasizes that modern crisis communication requires understanding interconnected risks, speaking the language of business impact, and building flexible response capabilities. With AI enabling better horizon scanning and predictive analytics, the tools exist. The question is whether comms professionals will step up to use them strategically.

Whether you're an agency leader, in-house PR manager, or communications consultant, this episode delivers the frameworks and mindset shifts you need to elevate from tactical executor to strategic advisor. Philippe's direct approach and real-world examples make this essential listening for anyone responsible for organizational reputation in an age of continuous volatility.