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We don’t emotionally trust facts; we trust people – or we don’t.  As we process facts emotionally, we trust leaders who move beyond facts to speak in a voice that echoes how we feel, right now. At a time when the public is worried, communicating with the heart can help. Facts alone will not drive people to action, writes Gil Bashe, managing partner, global health, Finn Partners.

Communicators and marketers, uncertain how to handle influencer marketing, face challenges as they try to strike the right tone with an anxious public. Influencer efforts over the last week have been a mixed bag, with some celebrities winning hearts and minds, while others struggle with tone and content. Here is a look at recent attempts by influencer personalities to join the COVID-19 conversation—and lessons learned from each.

There was good news and bad news this past weekend. The good news is that most people are heeding health best practices that communicators are broadcasting in a variety of ways (hand washing, distancing, remaining home etc). Unfortunately, a significant number of people in globally are ignoring these health communications. Assigning blame is not the issue. Getting nearly universal acceptance is.

With so many communicators seeking to take physical events online, we asked PR pro and video specialist Doug Simon how to get started. We also asked how communicators can make their video and social video productions more engaging.

You’ve distributed messaging to staff regarding COVID-19. Sent emails to customers apologizing for canceling events and thanked those who RSVP-ed yes for their support. In addition, you’ve assured them the show will go on, just at a different date and possibly in the form of a virtual event. But how will you make your virtual event stand out, especially when there’s likely to be an unprecedented amount of them?

Logging into Nextdoor during the crisis, one senses a return to a more innocent time in social media history, when users took to Facebook, LiveJournal or Angie’s List to post their thoughts and feelings openly, exchange information about local contractors and services or ask for help from a small group of peers. This is in stark contrast to an online environment where brands and individual users are often concerned more with building their audiences, winning engagement or creating an idealized, but ultimately false online persona.

As many others are doing, members of the book industry have stepped up during the coronavirus crisis. Here are examples of how authors are working with PR pros to offer solace to a variety of groups during these difficult times.

As employees adhere to a new world of work during the coronavirus outbreak, they look to employers to provide clear and consistent messaging regarding not only the day-to-day, but what’s coming next. This gives a great responsibility to company leadership and internal communications officers, who balance on a very tense tightrope of trust during these challenging days.

Coronavirus has resulted in remaking the media and social media worlds into one-subject universes, at least for now. As a result, PR pros pitching stories to content creators need to adjust. And before you do anything, make sure your pre-scheduled messages won’t offend during this unsettling moment. After that, adjust expectations and pitch with the content creator’s needs in mind.

As PR professionals face an increasing number of communications challenges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, some communicators will encounter the daunting task of notifying customers, employees and others about the possibility that they have been exposed to the coronavirus. Here are tips to help craft that communication.