A case study in crisis communications and effective leadership from Governor Jared Polis
At a press conference earlier this week, on March 30, 2020, Governor Jared Polis gave a great presentation and update on the COVID-19 situation in Colorado.
I was impressed by the honesty, empathy and strategic messaging. It was a breath of fresh air compared to what I typically hear from politicians.
Gov. Polis’s presentation serves as an example of authentic leadership and effective crisis communications. It also shows how you can — and should — speak conversationally, with a personality, and at the same time maintain appropriate tone and professionalism.
In this post I’m going to break the presentation down into its broad components, comment on strategic communications tactics, and highlight the key messages that jumped out at me. I include excerpts below that I edited lightly for clarity, and I added emphasis to sections that particularly relate to my points.
I list out my five big takeaways to keep in mind when crafting your own communications and presentations. Click here if want to just jump down to my takeaways.
To be clear, this article isn’t focused on policy or politics, though I do agree with and follow the safety messages imparted below.
Instead, think of this as analysis of leadership and crisis communications strategy.
Keep all this analysis in mind next time you’re watching a press conference, listening to a leader, or developing your own messaging.
Kudos to Gov. Polis, Dr. Marc Moss, and their associated communications teams.
If you like, go ahead and watch the full 35-minute presentation to see what jumps out at you first. For reference here are links to all the slides from the presentation and the press release.
Concise opening remarks, timely update, with context
Given the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, I appreciate that Gov. Polis didn’t waste any time getting to the meat. After a brief introduction — with opening remarks that took less than 40 seconds — he dove right in to an update, sharing results from recent dealings with the federal government. Furthermore, he explained the impact and what those results actually mean. More importantly, he worked in a key message early as part of that update.
(00:42) We have successfully secured a Colorado major disaster declaration from the federal government for our state of Colorado that unlocks access to additional resources. We were able to announce that Saturday night. I want to thank the president for granting that request and most members of our congressional delegations who supported that request, which really underscores the seriousness of the challenge that we face in the days and the weeks and indeed the months ahead. Now in a practical sense, this declaration is a prerequisite to greater emergency assistance. But it’s also a recognition of what’s already occurred, and the lives that are already lost and those who are transformed forever. This also helps make sure that Colorado can compete on a level playing field with states like New York and Washington when it comes to emergency assistance. For instance it helps ensure the national guard is placed in Title 32 status which means the Federal government is paying for their activities.
Brutal truths with empathy
At this point in the COVID-19 crisis, we need our leaders to be brutally honest with us about how the situation is playing out and what actions need to be taken. Gov. Polis did this by — before diving into his slide deck — taking a moment to hammer home the severity of the situation and set the stage for the long fight ahead of us. Gov. Polis presented an honest look at the landscape — grim as it may be — in a sensitive and inspirational way that also showed empathy.
(3:03) I just wanted to talk about how this crisis will be with us for days and weeks and indeed months ahead and it’s important to pace ourselves … We need to get through this in a sustainable way, which means finding new ways to relate socially through, through online chats and video chats, telephone. Reaching out to people in new and other ways. Just because we’re physically distant, doesn’t mean that we need to be emotionally distant. In fact this is a time that we need to be more together than ever before as we face this crisis. It’s just one in which we can’t be physically together. As First Corinthians chapter 13 says: “Three things will last forever: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” And of course that means faith in the broadest sense, it means faith in science and data, it means faith in your religious tradition, it means hold the faith in the important institutions that keep us together. It means hope. And of course. There’s a light at the end of this tunnel. And for the vast majority of us, most of us, we will get through this as a state, as a nation, and as a world. The day will come again when we can get together, enjoy and celebrate. That day will occur. As soon as we’re able to of course. And in the meantime, the greatest of all of these, love. That means love one another. Love yourself. And make sure that we’re reaching out and connecting more than ever before emotionally with others through different technologies that allow you do it without being in physical proximity.
Call to action: take responsibility for yourself, control what you can
With such a daunting and uncertain challenge laid out before us, it’s natural to feel anxious, frustrated and even helpless. That’s why a clear, specific and inspiring call to action is essential in these kinds of leadership messages. In the next section of the speech, Gov. Polis made it crystal clear what everyone — no matter what your age, health or fitness — is being asked to do in response to these challenges. I particularly appreciated how he emphasized personal accountability in light of uncertainty and lack of direction.
(4:40) The President just the other day said that the social distancing guidelines are likely to be in place by April 30. We know that it could be that date, it could be sooner, it could be later, but however long they need to last, to save lives, and prevent a longer term disruption to our economy and to jobs, we need to make sure that we’re all handling this ourselves.
(5:17) During this time period even if you’re fortunate to have your grandparents and aunts and uncles living in a nearby vicinity, it’s important that we particularly protect those who are most vulnerable. And since symptoms seldom manifest — and if they do they’re usually minor in our youngest Coloradans — we want to make sure that they’re, to the extent they’re interacting with their grandparents and aunts and uncles, that they’re doing so virtually in a way that can even bring people closer than they were before.
Data, trends and slides
Love me some graphs and tables on slides. This presentation did a pretty good job at keeping the visualizations simple, relevant and useful as part of the broader narrative. Gov. Polis used the data to set context and offer the audience a clear and focused view of how he and his team are approaching their response to the crisis.
The data and trends supported the broader messaging, which I see to be generally: 1) we’ve taken tough measures so far, and they’re working; but 2) we’re not out of the woods yet, and it’s still a really crappy situation; so 3) we need to stay vigilant and do everything we can to stay safe — that means stay at home, even if you’re young, even if you’re not sick.
I particularly liked the analysis of 3 Day Average Doubling Time (slide 6) and Car Volume (slide 7), shown below. These slides, along with the accompanying narrative from Gov. Polis, added color and context to the situation in Colorado.
On the other hand, even though I liked slide 6, the yellow line showing the increasing 3 Day Average Doubling Time was misleading. The upward trend of that line is actually a good thing because it means the virus isn’t spreading as fast. However, the upward trend of the red line, which shows cumulative case counts, is a bad thing. Thus, I would have inverted the scale on the right vertical axis so that the yellow line would show as decreasing. This would give a cleaner visual representation of the slowing spread of the virus.
Also, the presentation included too many slides on traffic. I would have cut slides 8 and 9 (not shown below, but available at the link above) since they convey the same message as slide 7.
Finally, the graph on slide 10 showing traffic on I-70 at Eisenhower Tunnel drove home the message that “this is not a vacation” and people should not be hopping in the car to go for a drive or a hike. (Meanwhile in Arizona, authorities irresponsibly encourage hiking and driving.)
(6:17) As you know we post our daily update figures at 4 o’clock each day at covid19.colorado.gov. Those will be posted today at 4 but I have a partial update now… Tragically in this last day we also had our first death of somebody under 40 years old again showing the severity of this virus for people of all ages. Now that’s one side of the coin, the severity, but it’s also important to tell you that about 80 percent or more — 80, 85 percent — of folks who contract this virus do not require hospitalization, do not require intensive treatment, and will self resolve. And if you do have symptoms of the virus it’s important that you completely self isolate until at least several days after they symptoms have subsided…So if you do have flu-like symptoms COVID-19 like symptoms, don’t panic…if you need medical attention don’t hesitate to get it, but if you’re able to breathe and if you have a fever experiencing coughing, if you don’t need immediate medical attention you need to stay in your home and self isolate until several days after those symptoms have completely resolved. And of course all Coloradans need to stay at home except when absolutely necessary.
(10:13, Slide 3, Supply Tracker) I’ve been beating the drum for weeks, but we need additional personal protection equipment, we had very successful personal protection equipment drives, with people and practices turning in their extra equipment. This is the reason for those of you who might be frustrated that you had to have your elective surgery delayed. This is the reason that we needed in the short term all the…masks, and gloves and gowns that would have been used in that elective procedure, we need them for the clinical setting for the COVID-19 patients in the hospital. So once that supply chain gears up we hope that there will be a point in the future where those elective procedures which again for people you know you need to have them and I know it’s a sacrifice that you’re giving them up for several weeks so we hope that we can address that equipment gap.
(13:48, Slide 5, CO Calendar of Social Distancing Actions) What we’re going to be showing you today is likely the impact of school closures, the prohibitions of gatherings of 10 or more, and the closures of bars and restaurants.
(14:00, Slide 6, Cumulative Case Counts and 3 Day Average Doubling Time) Now this is a hopeful slide, and again there’s good news and there’s bad news in everything…This is why this is such a scary virus, this was doubling every two days in our state, even less, I think there was a point where it was doubling every one and a half days the number of patients, that goes incredibly quickly…This is just one days of data, and I want everybody to realize that we want to see where this number is over tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. But at least now as the effects roll on from the bar and restaurant closing it looks like the average doubling time is approaching five days. So first the good news: it’s a lot better than doubling every two days. Now the second piece of that is that it’s still an incredibly contagious virus, and it shows why just closing the bars and restaurants wasn’t enough.
(16:01) Another lagging indicator, a ghost that we’re going to be chasing and reporting on, will be the number of hospitalizations. So that will lag several days behind this. But we’re also going to show you how that is impacted as a trend. The hospitalization number is not necessarily significantly impacted yet by the bar and restaurant closures… We’re looking at all these lagging indicators to see the impact of what we did a week ago, 10 days ago. It’s why we want to make sure that at any given point in time that we’re doing enough, that we’re taking the bold actions necessary to prevent our state from having an outright public health crisis as is occurring in other parts of the world.
(17:14, Slide 7, Car Volume) Traffic isn’t a perfect proxy because it alone doesn’t say whether people are just going somewhere and walking around safely or they’re going somewhere and socializing with others. But it certainly is a good proxy. And for all of us we need to heed this advice. Don’t get in your car and go somewhere unless you absolutely need to right we want to say at home to the greatest extent possible. That’s why it’s called stay at home. It doesn’t mean you can’t you know walk your dog around your neighborhood um as long as you maintain social distancing while doing so. But please do your best to stay at home.
(19:40, Slide 10, Example – I-70 at Eisenhower Tunnel) You can see the dramatic impact that these measures have had on the Eisenhower Tunnel, the main gateway from Denver metro to the mountain communities. This is so important. People are not treating this like a vacation. And that people are staying at home. This is not a vacation. This is a very serious challenge for Colorado perhaps the most serious of a generation, certainly the greatest public health crisis since the Spanish Flu of 1918. But this is the key area that we’re showing success in reducing that traffic right now. Because you know what, mountains, our trails, our beautiful rivers, they’re gonna be there, they’re gonna be there for millennia, they’re gonna be there long after you’re there, so let’s take a few weeks and not visit some of these areas, and just recreate in our neighborhoods to the extent you need to, again walking your dog…you can be active without having to be out, without having to drive anywhere.
“We’re all in this together.”
Gov. Polis closed his section out with a return to inspirational key messaging that encouraged people to take appropriate action. Even though I’m sure this was all carefully scripted, the speech avoided the stuffy, cliche, robotic or obscure style that plagues many (most, nearly all) political speeches. The anecdotes shared by Gov. Polis gave a personal view of the uplifting scenes that not everyone might be witnessing — it was a good use of his platform.
(21:58) Countless acts of kindness that aren’t even being talked about…I know you’re doing all sorts of things in this challenging time. And I know that it’s a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice for you of course going without the things that are an important part of our Colorado way of life. And it’s an economic sacrifice for those living paycheck to paycheck.
(23:27) What remains to be seen and what we’re trying to do is significantly slow the rise and the spread of the coronavirus in Colorado. And these initial measures, the bar and club closure has already shown its impact we fully expect that these additional separation measures, as long as people are following them, will also show reduced spread of the virus in Colorado and help us all return to be able to support ourselves and lessen the need for more extensive measures over a greater period of time.
Expert perspective, solidarity from the front lines
Gov. Polis invited Dr. Marc Moss to close out the presentation, and it added a credible voice to the narrative and further emphasized the key messaging. This also put everything in perspective: for anyone complaining about how much it sucks to be staying at home, it made them think about the medical workers (like my sister, who’s a nurse) who are going into the fire and dealing with the crisis on the front lines.
(24:00, Gov. Polis) I want to ensure that you get to hear some of the same stories that I hear first hand about the situation from someone on the ground [early] as a front response, frontline response to this virus. Dr. Moss stepped away just today from his important duties to attend this press conference to help share with you really what’s going on from a clinical perspective, what he’s seeing with his patients. He’s representing of course tens of thousands of Coloradans in the medical field who can’t be here now because they’re risking their lives to save the lives of our friends, neighbors, grandparents and ourselves. I want to thank all of our medical workers from those who clean our hospitals, to the nurses, to the paramedics, to the doctors. Dr. Moss will hopefully help give an articulation of some of what you all are seeing. But I know that of all the Coloradans who are making a sacrifice. We, those who are making a sacrifice yes, we find it difficult to be at home all day and to not go out, but we know that our medical workers putting themselves at risk of exposure everyday, working double shifts, you are really in the front lines of making the sacrifice to save lives.
(27:09, Dr. Moss) I want to emphasize that healthy people can be infected with this coronavirus and become critically ill. This pandemic can affect anyone. I also want you to understand that once hospitalized we’re observing that COVID patients can go from requiring a bit of extra oxygen to needing to be put on a ventilator or a life support system within a few hours. However it takes a much longer time for them to get better. The critically ill COVID patients that we are now treating are at the beginning of a very long road to recovery. In general those who are fortunate to survive will on average remain on a ventilator for two weeks, sometimes it can take even longer. New covid patients are being admitted to the hospital at a faster rate than patients are recovering. And as a result the hospital census is steadily increasing, putting even more strain on our capacity and resources.
(30:37, Dr. Moss) But in order to be successful and increase the number of lives that we can save we need two things: we need more equipment and we need Colorado to take the pandemic very seriously.
(31:59, Dr. Moss) So what can we do as a community? The most important thing you can do is decrease the spread of this virus is to stay home. And if you must go out as the governor said maintain social distancing and wash your hands frequently. We all need to limit our interactions as much as possible to slow down the spread of the virus. Our healthcare professionals, my colleagues, are working as hard as they can under stressful conditions to save the lives of your friends, your neighbors, your family members, and even maybe you. We cannot risk overwhelming our healthcare system. These social measures might seem onerous but they’re absolutely necessary for the time being.
Stick the landing
The ending of a speech and presentation, and arguably any narrative, is often a crucial part because it’s one of the few things that sticks with people as they walk away. But it doesn’t always need to end with a big bang or confetti falling from the ceiling. In this case, a sincere and encouraging conclusion — with a final emphasis on the key messaging — served well.
(34:19, Gov. Polis) Do your best in difficult circumstances to really cherish this time together with your families and spread that love to your greater extended families to your friends to those you haven’t connected with for many months or many years. We can get through this together. And the hope will be all the brighter the more love that we can show one another during this crisis.
Gov. Polis and Dr. Moss took questions after the presentation, and this was not captured on the video linked to above. Both of these leaders answered questions with poise, honesty and specificity. They answered the questions specifically, often leading with a clear Yes or No answer, followed by additional context.
Takeaways
- Keep the intro and opening remarks tight. Don’t dilly dally or spend much time at the start building up to the content, or going through ceremonious motions. Get to the meat quickly.
- Remember that you’re a human with your own voice and personality. Make sure that surfaces throughout your presentation and communications — say in the form of empathy, humor, or keeping your style conversational yet professional. Don’t speak or write like a stuffy corporate political robot.
- When you dive into the data, remember that less is more. For every major point you’re trying to make, keep it to one or two supporting graphs or slides.
- Switch back and forth between personal anecdotes and insights from data. You need to master both to craft compelling arguments and useful communications.
- Stick the landing with a simple and strong closing that hammers home the most important points you want the audience to walk away with.
Note: I came back and updated this post to add this final recap section of takeaways. I also cleaned up a few of the speech excerpts and corrected some minor typos.