How a Modern Podcaster Manages a Crisis

In today’s fast-paced, record-everything-and-post-online world, the distance between a brilliant, viral insight and a brand-threatening gaffe is much closer than you think.

The moment may come as a guest making a controversial statement. Or, the podcast host may state a factual error on air that gains traction on social media. Then again, it may be a technical glitch that ruins a key moment in an episode.

Mistakes like these can’t just derail momentum; they damage brands.

For those who aim to use podcasts as a means of establishing thought leadership, you need more than just a full content calendar. You also need a proper response protocol for when things go awry.

Here are some suggestions:

1) Remember the “Golden Hour” of Damage Control

Within digital media, the first hour that follows a controversial moment is absolutely critical. This is where no one involved can afford to stay silent. Doing so often gets interpreted as an admission of guilt.

The forward when something happens is to have a system that a) acknowledges who has the authority to pull episodes from hosting platforms, and b) acknowledges who manages the social media accounts so that emergency statements can be released.

This can allow podcasters to immediately and effectively address what’s happened within the “golden hour.”

2) Having a Guest Conduct Clause

Remember that it’s all about what you can control. Among those that you cannot are the words that come out of your guests’ mouths. Should they say anything damaging to your brand, you’re the one that has to pay for it.

The solution for this, however, is simple. Include a “conduct clause” in the guest release form. This can provide you with both legal and ethical right to edit or withhold episodes should the content prove itself to be a liability.

This also works well if the content is controversial but still worth airing. In such a scenario, you can add a disclaimer at the start of the episode that gives your audience enough warning. You may even record new footage that expresses how the views expressed within the episode do not necessarily reflect your brand’s perspective or values.

3) Employ The “Erratum” Strategy

There will be times when the podcast host makes a gaffe on air. Or, perhaps there was something in the episode that the podcast editor did not catch before it was released. In such cases, your best way forward is to be transparent.

You can use Dynamic Ad Insertion, or DAI, to place a correction at the start of an older, erroneous episode. You can also update the episode’s show notes with a statement of what the mistake was, when in the episode it happens, and even an apology over the fact that it occurred to begin with.

Mistakes happen and it’s not just because of incompetence or carelessness. What is arguably more important than the prevention of mistakes is how you react once they are made. Fortunately, there are more ways out for podcasters than you may think, and you can employ them as soon as the next gaffe happens.