The field of crisis and emergency communication continues to grow. Crises and disasters are occurring more frequently, commanding more attention and generating more research. Chief executive officers and managers are increasingly realizing that effectively preparing for and responding to a crisis require effective communication. The resulting expansion in research and theory regarding crisis communication has created the need for synthesis and summary.

“Best Practices in Crisis Communication: An Expert Panel Process” was published in 2006 in the Journal of Applied Communication Research. The essay had the goal of providing a set of accessible guidelines for crisis planning and response. Although there has been some debate about the individual formulation of these 10 best practices, they have generally held up for more than a decade. This book expands on that essay and presents these 10 best practices as a set of accessible principles that can help inform both research and practice.

There are many people to thank for their patience and support including our spouses, Beth and Deanna, and our children, Maggie and Henry and Debbie and Rick. We also would like to especially thank Ashleigh Day, Stephanie Church, and Sydney Wallace for research and editorial support.

Many colleagues and current and former students allow us to share ideas: Laura Pechta, Marsha Vanderford, Barbara Reynolds, Keri Lubell, Charles Bantz, Joel Iverson, Dennis Gouran, Lee Wilkins, Bill Benoit, Tim Coombs, Andreas Swartz, Dan O'Hair, Kevin Barge, Robert Littlefield, Robert Heath, Finn Frandsen, Keith Hearit, Robert Rowland, Ron Arnett, Jeanne Persuit, Donyale Padgett, Julie Novak, Brooke Liu, Yan Jin, Amiso George, Hamilton Bean, Shawn McElmurry, Steven Venette, Patric Spence, Ken Lachlan, Adam Parrish, Jeff Brand, Robert Ulmer, Melvin Gupton, Colleen Ezzeddine, Catherine Galentine, Suzanne Horsley and Christine Yi‐Hui Huang, J. J. McIntyre, Alyssa Millner, Elizabeth Petrun Sayers, Kathryn Anthony, Bethney Wilson, Morgan Getchell, Emina Herovic, Emily Helsel, Maxwell Kuchenreuther, Rebecca Freihaut, Julie Smith, Nathan Stewart, and many others.

We hope this work is useful to the next generation of crisis scholars and practitioners who will likely find themselves needing to communicate in times of trouble.

We dedicate this work to Seneca Jane Swift and Lincoln Robert Sellnow‐Richmond.