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This chapter defines the fields of risk, crisis, and high concern communication and outlines the broad and varied range of situations that require their application.

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

 describe how risk, high concern, and crisis communication practices can be employed for a wide and varied range of issues;

 explain the terms used in risk, high concern, and crisis communication;

 explain the defining characteristics of risk, high concern, and crisis situations; and

 determine the scope and nature of situations in which you may need to draw on risk, high concern, or crisis communication.

Good words are worth much, and cost little.

— George Herbert.

In this chapter, I define and discuss the core concepts of risk, high concern, and crisis communication. These concepts may appear familiar, but what appears to be a simple concept is often more complex in application. Core concepts provide a framework upon which you can build strategies and action plans. The concepts function as a compass, pointing the user in a particular direction.

I also include a brief history of each core concept as their meanings have morphed or changed. My hope is these brief histories not only are interesting but also suggest alternative ways of thinking about the familiar. For example, one of the original meanings of crisis was a “turning point in a disease; a sudden change for worse or better.” This original meaning suggests a crisis can cause either a bad or a good outcome. The following case diary illustrates the importance of understanding high concern as a core communication concept.