How to Choose a Spokesperson for Your Business or Crisis

A good spokesperson is someone credible on the subject, calm under pressure, honest, available when the story breaks, and senior enough to speak with authority. For routine news that may be a communications lead or a subject expert. For a serious crisis, especially one where people were harmed, the most senior leader usually needs to be visible, supported by a trained spokesperson for day-to-day questions.

This guide covers the qualities to look for, how to match the spokesperson to the situation, how to prepare them, and the mistakes that make even a good choice look bad.

What a spokesperson actually does

A spokesperson is the person authorized to speak for your organization in public. They give interviews, deliver statements, take questions and sometimes front video updates or social posts.

Just as important is what they prevent. When one named person speaks for you, everyone else can say “our spokesperson will get back to you”, and you avoid five slightly different versions of the story. That consistency is the main reason to choose one before you need one.

The role is not the same as writing the message. Statements are usually drafted with leadership, communications and, where needed, legal counsel. The spokesperson’s job is to deliver that message clearly and handle follow-up questions without drifting from the facts.

Qualities to look for

• Credibility on the topic. The audience has to believe this person knows what they’re talking about. A head of engineering explaining an outage is often more credible than a marketer.
• Calm under pressure. Hostile questions, interruptions and cameras don’t rattle them into guessing, arguing or joking.
• Honesty. They’ll say “I don’t know, I’ll find out” rather than bluff, and they won’t repeat a line they believe is false.
• Clarity. They explain things in plain language, in short answers, without jargon.
• Empathy. When people are affected, they sound like they care, because they do.
• Authority. They’re senior enough, or trusted enough by leadership, to answer questions without checking every sentence.
• Availability. Crises don’t keep office hours. A great spokesperson who can’t be reached for six hours isn’t much help.
• A clean fit with the story. They shouldn’t be personally involved in the matter being discussed.

Nobody is perfect on all of these. Credibility, calm and honesty matter most. Polish can be taught through media training; honesty and composure are much harder to teach.

Matching the spokesperson to the situation

Situation	Usually best	Why
Routine news, launches, awards	Communications lead or relevant manager	Keeps the CEO for moments that need them
Technical questions	A subject expert, briefed and trained	Credibility comes from knowing the detail
Serious crisis with people harmed	CEO or most senior leader, at least for the key statement	Shows the organization takes it seriously at the top
Fast-moving incident with frequent updates	A trained spokesperson for updates, leader for major moments	The leader can’t be on camera every hour and also run the response
Legal matters	Spokesperson using lawyer-approved wording, sometimes counsel	Keeps statements within what’s been approved
Allegations against the CEO	Board chair or another senior leader	The subject of an allegation shouldn’t be the voice responding to it
Local incident at one location	Regional or location leader, supported centrally	Local credibility, with consistent messaging from head office

When the CEO should speak

If the issue is serious, affects many people, or questions the organization’s values, audiences expect to hear from the top. Sending a junior spokesperson to deliver an apology for a major failure can look like leadership is hiding. Our guide to writing a public apology covers what that statement should include.

The CEO isn’t always the right person, though. Some leaders are poor on camera, some are too close to the problem, and some are needed to run the response. In those cases, a short statement or video from the CEO, followed by a trained spokesperson for questions, is a common compromise. If you decide a live event is needed, our guide on running a press conference covers the format.

Small businesses

For a small business, the spokesperson is usually the owner. That’s fine. The same principles apply: prepare, stay factual, and make sure staff know to pass inquiries to you instead of answering themselves.

How to prepare your spokesperson

1. Name them in your crisis plan. Record who speaks for what, and who the backups are, in your crisis communication plan.
2. Train them before they’re needed. Practice interviews with realistic hard questions, recorded and reviewed.
3. Give them a message and the facts. Two or three key messages, the confirmed facts, and a list of what they must not speculate on.
4. Agree the limits. What they can decide on the spot, and what needs approval. Include any legal constraints.
5. Set up the support. Someone to track inquiries, log what was said to whom, and update the spokesperson as facts change.
6. Tell the organization. Staff should know who the spokesperson is and what to say if a reporter contacts them: take details, pass them on, don’t comment.
7. Debrief after every interview. What went well, what was misunderstood, and what needs correcting.

Your spokesperson should also understand media ground rules. Our guide to what off the record means explains why it’s safest to assume everything is on the record.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

A regional logistics company has a warehouse fire overnight. No one is hurt, but deliveries to many local businesses are delayed and local TV crews arrive at the site by morning.

The company’s crisis plan names the operations director as spokesperson for operational incidents, with the head of communications as backup. The operations director is on site and knows the facts, so she speaks to reporters: what happened, that everyone is safe, that the fire service is investigating the cause, and how customers can get delivery updates.

The CEO records a short video for customers the same afternoon, apologizing for the disruption and explaining the plan to reroute shipments through another site. When a reporter asks the operations director whether faulty wiring caused the fire, she says: “I won’t speculate while the fire service is investigating. When we know the cause, we’ll share it.” Every media inquiry goes through the communications team, which keeps a log so nobody gets conflicting answers.

Common mistakes

• Choosing the most senior person by default, even when they’re uncomfortable on camera or too close to the issue.
• Choosing a spokesperson who is part of the story. They’ll struggle to sound impartial and may create legal complications.
• Having several people speak. Different voices giving different details look disorganized, even if everyone means well.
• No backup. The one trained person is unavailable exactly when the story breaks.
• Sending them out unbriefed. A good spokesperson with bad information still gives wrong answers.
• Letting them say “no comment”. It sounds evasive. Our guide on saying no comment has alternatives.
• Hiding behind a written statement forever. Written statements are useful, but in a serious crisis people expect to see a human.

If a crisis has already spread to your reviews, social channels or search results, speaking well is only part of the recovery. Our crisis management support covers the online side, and our guide to handling negative press coverage explains what to do after a story runs.

Frequently asked questions

Should the CEO be the spokesperson?

For a serious crisis, especially one where people were harmed, the CEO or most senior leader should usually deliver the key statement. For routine news or technical questions, a trained communications lead or subject expert is often better. If the CEO is the subject of the story, someone else, such as the board chair, should speak.

Can a PR agency be our spokesperson?

An agency can handle inquiries and deliver approved statements, but audiences generally find it more credible to hear from someone inside the organization, especially in a crisis. Agencies are usually most useful preparing and supporting your internal spokesperson.

How many spokespeople should a business have?

One primary spokesperson for each type of issue, plus at least one trained backup. Small businesses often have just the owner and one backup. Larger organizations may have separate spokespeople for operations, finance and local matters, all working from the same approved messages.

What should employees do if a reporter contacts them?

Politely take the reporter’s name, outlet, question and deadline, say they’ll pass it on, and send it to the spokesperson immediately. They shouldn’t comment, even informally, because anything they say can be quoted as coming from the company.