The holding statement
Why speak before you know
The "let's wait until we have all the information" argument is the most frequent and the most expensive. In an environment where clients see the outage in real time and comment on it publicly, the absence of a message is not neutrality: it is a message, and it reads as concealment or incompetence.
The practical threshold is around two hours. Beyond that, the narrative is written without you.
The four elements
A holding statement contains four things, and nothing else:
- What we know — confirmed facts, without technical detail.
- What we are doing — the action under way, in the present tense.
- What we ask — a concrete instruction for the recipient.
- When we will speak again — a specific time, honoured.
"Since 14:12, our online payment service has been unavailable. Our technical teams are mobilised and working on restoration. Our branches and telephone service remain available for urgent transactions. We will publish a further update at 16:30."
Four sentences. No cause, no announced duration, no premature apology, no technical detail.
The six phrasings that make things worse
| Avoid | Why | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| "A minor incident" | Qualifies before you know, and contradicts what the client experiences | Describe the observable fact |
| "No data has been compromised" | An unverifiable claim at this stage | "Analysis is under way; we will communicate as soon as it concludes" |
| "The problem comes from our provider" | The client contracted with you | "We are working with our partners on restoration" |
| "We should be back within the hour" | An unsustainable commitment that will be held against you | "We will publish an update at [time]" |
| "We apologise for the inconvenience" alone | An empty formula if nothing follows | Apology + concrete action + remedy |
| Silence | Read as concealment | A message even with nothing new |
The order of audiences
Order matters as much as content:
- People physically affected, if any — before everything else.
- Employees — they are the first involuntary spokespeople; if they learn from the press, they will comment.
- Directly affected clients — individually where possible.
- Regulators, within applicable deadlines — DORA, NIS 2, data protection.
- Partners and suppliers concerned.
- The public and the press.
The classic error inverts 2 and 6: the press is informed before the teams, who discover the situation on social media.
Alignment with regulatory notification
Public communication and regulatory notification are two distinct streams, with different content and recipients — but they must not contradict each other.
Two rules:
- Regulatory notification never substitutes for client communication, and vice versa;
- Legal reviews public communication, it does not write it. A message drafted by legal protects the organisation and destroys the client relationship. The right sequence: communications drafts, legal adjusts, the crisis director approves.
Key takeaways
- Four elements: what we know, what we are doing, what we ask, when we speak again
- Never speculate on cause or duration
- Silence reads as concealment within two hours