In the world of PR, the best crisis is the one you never hear about.

In the world of PR, the best crisis is the one you never hear about. Despite what people might imagine, a huge part of what this type of job is, is managing potential crises before anyone else notices they exist. Think of it as PR’s equivalent of sweeping crumbs under the rug before your guests arrive—it’s about anticipating what could go wrong and handling it quietly.

Take a client of mine, a well-known public figure who was set to join a global campaign. As we were preparing, we stumbled upon an old interview where he’d made a few offhand comments that, if pulled out of context, could have raised a few eyebrows (and most likely would have been a shitshow on social media). We both agreed that the last thing he needed was to be explaining himself to the internet.

So, rather than ignoring it and crossing our fingers, we put some groundwork in place. With a more recent interview that conveyed his views in full context, we headed off any potential “scandal” before it began the time anyone even saw the older remarks, they already had a broader understanding of his perspective, and the issue simply never took off. I also had the video removed from as many places as possible to limit the chances of someone watching it, spotting a viral opportunity and posting it.

Another client, an international fashion designer, was in the middle of finalising a partnership with a luxury brand when an ex-employee threatened to “reveal all” in a tell-all on socials. The accusations were mostly exaggerated grievances, but they included one particular claim that could have cast a long shadow over his career. We knew that if this story saw daylight, it would overshadow years of hard work and philanthropy.

Instead of waiting for the story to drop and scrambling for a response, we stepped in before it could take root. Through some careful conversations and quietly redirecting the ex-employee’s focus, we managed to prevent the post from ever seeing the light of day. We worked behind the scenes, reminding key media contacts of his reputation and ethics. When the luxury brand did its due diligence, the accusations were nowhere to be found. The partnership went ahead, and, to this day, no one knows there was ever a problem.

In crisis PR, early intervention is all about timing, context, and a bit of intuition. The aim isn’t to cover up mistakes but to help clients handle issues without becoming tabloid fodder. Some might imagine crisis PR as cloak-and-dagger, but in reality, it’s mostly cloak. If I’m doing my job right, no one will ever know.

Ask yourself this: if every mistake you’d ever made, every awkward comment, or every poor choice saw the light of day, would you feel confident about your reputation? Would any of us? Public figures are human, and they deserve the same space to learn, grow, and move forward without strangers dissecting their lives. Crisis PR gives them a chance to handle issues privately, because not everything warrants public scrutiny or cancellation.

But social media can be unforgiving. It’s a place where mistakes are magnified and people are more than eager to pounce on the next scandal, fair or not. My job is to make sure that those “almost scandals” remain private, to let clients face their challenges without an audience waiting to see them fall.

When everything goes right, the client goes to bed with their reputation intact, and the world carries on blissfully unaware.

Crisis PR is like a safety net: always ready, ideally invisible. Sometimes, it’s about a swift, precise action that heads off a storm before it can build. Other times, it’s about shaping a narrative so it aligns with the person behind the headlines. When all goes well, those “almost scandals” never make it beyond a minor ripple. And if I’ve done my job perfectly? The client goes to bed with their reputation intact, and the world is none the wiser.