After taking a class in crisis management, the first thing I learned was the same thing my mother taught me.

Remember when your parents told you not to do something, and you did it anyway? Then, something happened that you were hoping wouldn’t? The first words out of my mother’s mouth after she asked what happened was, “Tell the truth.” After I hesitated, she would then say, “If you tell the truth, you won’t get in trouble. I want to hear the truth about what happened.”

Isn’t it interesting that the same applies in adulthood. Many public relations blunders happen when the truth is not told immediately. Can you say, Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner?

The second thing I learned happened after I learned to tell the truth. Although in the instance of public relations, you actually do this first, tell it first. If you know that a company accident happened and several people were hurt…YOU be the first to get the information out to the public. YOU take control of the media. Do not let false information leak.

Lastly, make sure you take responsibility and correct the problem. For me, I had to either apologize, pay money or suffer the consequences. In the cases of Clinton and Weiner, they both suffered the consequences of their actions. Would it have been different if they had told the truth first? Probably.

The art of public relations is knowing how to handle the public. As mentioned in the previous blog, you have to know your audience and act accordingly. You audience may be stakeholders, employees, parents, senior citizens…you name it. Each responds differently to the same situation.

Did I learn my lesson about telling the truth? I think so. At least it’s the first thing I said to my children when they did something they weren’t supposed to. “Tell the truth.”