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The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson
The PR Breakdown reveals the moves behind the mess. Crisis communication expert Molly McPherson dissects the viral scandals, celebrity meltdowns, and corporate disasters dominating headlines to show you the strategic mistakes and desperate moves that destroy reputations - so you never make them yourself.
The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson
The First Mistake That Will Sink You in a Crisis
The Breakdown:
The first move most people make in a crisis is often the one that causes the most damage. It happens when emotion outruns strategy, and the brain mistakes public pressure for personal danger. The result is impulsive action, usually in the form of a rushed post, a scrambled statement, or a desperate attempt to make the backlash go away. But the real problem isn’t public. It’s neurological.
This episode explains why the body’s threat response takes over during high-stakes moments, and how that hijack shuts down the very part of the brain responsible for leadership, regulation, and long-term thinking. It’s not about judgment. It’s about biology.
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I've had a week, actually two. I was supposed to be taking a break, like a two-week break, because I know September's gonna be a huge month of crisis, but apparently crisis doesn't sleep and neither does my calendar. Here's what's been happening. My team has been working through a tech issue connecting my scheduling software with my meeting platform. In the meantime, people are still finding the link on my website to book 60 or 90-minute sessions. Most people don't even know that I offer these sessions. I don't promote them heavily, but they're there and right now they're full. I keep taking them because one I don't want to cancel someone in a crisis just because my backend isn't working.
Speaker 1:These aren't casual check-ins. These are public, high stakes, emotionally charged crises. Some of the people I'm speaking to are public figures. Others are leaders having a very private panic or someone online a known person online going through a viral spiral. But across the board, there's a through line, a pattern, and it's the same one I see every year, especially around this time.
Speaker 1:So this week on the podcast the last one before the summer ends in the US I want to talk about the number one reason people self-destruct in a public crisis, whether you're in the spotlight right now or watching someone else go through it. This will apply. Hey there, welcome to the PR Breakdown. I'm your host, molly McPherson, and let me say this up front I'm not a therapist, but I've had so many PR calls that turn into therapy sessions. Not a therapist, but I've had so many PR calls that turn into therapy sessions. I've started calling them what they are, and there have been days where I've thought about going back to school to become a therapist honestly because I enjoy it so much Until my friend and colleague, doug, reminded me that if I did, I wouldn't be able to talk about anything publicly, and I thought, hmm, you have a point there. Not that I talk about people's private crisis. There's always a confidentiality agreement with every single client I work with. However, I can talk about the patterns, and right now, the pattern is clear In my role as a crisis manager.
Speaker 1:People call me when something breaks and recently, more and more of these calls are not about the external noise, they're about what's happening inside. Usually, I enlighten the person that they have a problem inside the house, like within their culture. But there's also another crisis happening even deeper. Sometimes the call comes from the person at the center of the crisis. Sometimes it's their operations lead or comms director, someone just outside the eye of the storm who can see the damage but can't get through. They're hoping I can. The story is almost always the same.
Speaker 1:The issue may look like a PR problem, but it's not. It's a neurological problem, it's biological, it's behavioral. The call is coming from inside the brain. Here's what I mean. Located deep inside the temporal lobe is the amygdala. Now are you thinking, molly, you have no credentials to talk about this? You would be right. I do not have any certification, any higher ed credentials that says I have any right to talk about this. But I do have Google and I have experience. And of course I have Dr Abby who monthly joins us on our Substack calls. We always talk about the amygdala and we always talk about what happens when people just spiral in these crises. She'll break it down from a therapist's point of view.
Speaker 1:But the amygdala even if you had a high school biology class, you probably learn about it. It's that small almond-shaped cluster of neurons. It's your brain surveillance system. Its job is to detect threat quickly. That threat can be physical, it could be a loud noise, a car swerving towards you. It could be personal a confrontation, an accusation, but it can also be reputational a leaked email, a really bad hit piece in the press, a viral TikTok or backlash in the comment section. The amygdala is the brain surveillance system. I am the crisis surveillance system. My job is also to detect threat and that's why I tell them. The amygdala does not distinguish between any of those categories. Right now, what you're going through, your brain is sensing danger and it's pulled the alarm. That signal is getting routed to okay, back to non-Dr Molly. The hypothalamus that acts like your body's command center, the sympathetic nervous system kicks in. That's the adrenaline flooding, cortisol spiking.
Speaker 1:I see people on these calls, whether they're in person or virtual. I can tell that their heart is racing. I can tell when the breathing quickens, the muscles are tightening. I can tell just by how they're sitting, how they're talking to me, what they're doing with their hands. It's in that moment that my rational brain because I'm using a prefrontal cortex I can recognize that their prefrontal cortex went offline. That's an amygdala hijack. It was coined by psychologist Daniel Goleman. It describes the moment when your emotional brain overrides your rational brain, and here's why it matters in a PR crisis. The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain responsible for judgment, self-regulation and long-term thinking. It's where your leadership voice lives. It's where your values-based decisions are made.
Speaker 1:In these calls I am trying to rationally connect the person when they're at their most emotional. I'm telling them that their brain has been hijacked. My job is to tell them this public attack has really created a brain hijack and your system is temporarily shutting down. Your emotional brain is driving the bus right now and that's usually when the call comes in. As I mentioned, I see all the physical signs of it, but also there's this obsessive urge to say something. We have to get something out. We have to do it now. They're just obsessed because they think if they say something or do something it's immediately going to go away and that's not a communication problem. That reaction creates a bigger communication problem. But this is a nervous system issue that looks like a communication problem and if I don't address the hijack first, any PR advice I give falls flat because the brain can't hear it.
Speaker 1:And here's what it sounds like on these calls, particularly in the six weeks that I've been taking calls. I need to post something right now. I need to say something right now. I've written this statement 14 times. None of it feels right. I need you to rewrite it for me. I need to post something on TikTok immediately. Should I do an apology post or should I just address what's happening there?
Speaker 1:I want people to know exactly what they did to me, point by point by point. I want to explain it. Here's another big one. I hear a lot. I want to get legal involved. Now. I tell them it may seem like strategic thinking, but what you're doing right now is emotional processing. So here's what I tell clients and here's what I'm going to tell you now.
Speaker 1:When you're under attack and your brain has been hijacked, do these things? Just picture me in the room with you telling you this One recognize the signs. If your heart is racing, your shoulders are tight, you feel a compulsion to respond. Right now, that's your amygdala talking. The best move in that moment is just to stop, not speak, and if this is personal, just put down the phone. Don't reply to the text.
Speaker 1:Two breathe. By the way fun fact my favorite Pearl Jam song is called Just Breathe. Listen to that song. That's my personal recommendation. I love that song. That's why I tell like my kids I said in the words of Eddie Vedder just breathe. This isn't mindfulness platitude. It is science. Deep, slow breathing helps regulate your nervous system and brings your prefrontal cortex back online. Three create space between you and the crisis.
Speaker 1:Don't read the comments. Don't check DMs. Don't peek at the quotes. Don't read the news article. Don't watch the video of someone destroying you. Hand it off to someone who's emotionally neutral and knows what to filter. The closer you are to the crisis, the more likely you are to pour gas on it. I always tell people find the employee, find someone not related to you. Recently, someone said could I have my husband do that? No, no, no, no, no, no. Get someone who's not emotionally tied in.
Speaker 1:Four wait before speaking, and I'm saying this as a crisis strategist. I have plenty of information out there. It's even in my book. If you've been called out within 15 minutes, you have to say something somewhere. Oh my gosh, that is all over my material. But now the algorithm has caught up with the amygdala. A 24-hour pause can save you 24 days of damage control.
Speaker 1:If you're in a hijack, you're not thinking clearly, and if you're not thinking clearly, you're not communicating wisely. Now, this isn't every single crisis, so take this for what I'm telling you. This is typically for these viral crises. On TikTok, on Instagram, there's a Facebook group going against you and it's just heightened and it won't stop. Take a breath, you don't need to respond right away and five return to values.
Speaker 1:As you go through this response, ask yourself what do I want to be known for when all of this is over? Not in terms of perception, but in terms of principle? That's the question your cortex is equipped to answer. And here's the part most people don't realize the biggest risk in public backlash isn't the audience, it's the overreaction. You can't fix what people think about you while you're still panicking. That's why they call me. I'm the regulator in the room until they can be whole again. You're not just hiring me to write the message. You're hiring me to protect your decision-making until your brain catches up, because the right words don't come from panic. They come from clarity, and clarity only comes when the hijack ends. That's all for this week on the podcast. Take a breath and let your brain, your cortex, take the lead. Bye for now.
