Why Prompting Matters for Crisis Simulations

Think of AI as a highly intelligent, but literal, assistant. The quality of its output directly reflects the clarity and specificity of your instructions. For crisis simulations, this means:

• Relevance: Tailored scenarios that mirror your organization's unique risks, industry, and operational environment.
• Realism: Scenarios that feel authentic, with credible triggers, evolving complications, and realistic stakeholder reactions.
• Depth: Multi-layered scenarios that challenge your team's decision-making, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Actionability: Scenarios that provide clear learning objectives and reveal actionable insights for improving your crisis response plan.

Core Principles of Effective Prompting

Be Specific, Not Vague

Bad Prompt "Generate a crisis." (Too generic, will give you a basic, unhelpful scenario.)

Good Prompt "Generate a cybersecurity crisis scenario for a mid-sized e-commerce fashion retailer. The trigger is a ransomware attack that encrypts customer databases and disrupts order fulfillment."

Why it works It defines the what (cybersecurity crisis, ransomware), the who (e-commerce fashion retailer, mid-sized), and the impact (encrypted databases, disrupted orders).

Define your organisation and context using our drop down fields, and then add additional context.

Industry (e.g., healthcare, finance, manufacturing, tech, retail)

Threat (e.g., data breach, natural disaster, product recall, public relations nightmare, supply chain disruption, insider threat, workplace violence, financial fraud)

Attack vector (e.g., phishing attack, severe weather event, manufacturing defect, viral social media post, disgruntled employee action, sudden market downturn)

The more information the AI has about your specific context, the more tailored the scenario will be so consider adding further information such as:

• Company Size: (e.g., small startup, multinational corporation)
• Key Products/Services: (e.g., cloud-based software, physical goods, financial advisory)
• Target Audience: (e.g., B2B clients, general consumers, specific demographics)
• Geographic Scope: (e.g., local, national, global operations)
• Relevant Regulations/Compliance: (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, industry-specific standards)
• Current Trends/Challenges: (e.g., supply chain issues, inflation, new technologies)

Example: "Our company, 'Global Pharma Solutions,' is a multinational pharmaceutical company with a focus on novel drug development. We operate globally and are heavily regulated by the FDA and EMA. Generate a scenario reflecting a crisis involving a mislabeled drug batch, discovered shortly after market release in Europe and the US."

Outline Key Stakeholders and Their Potential Reactions

Realistic scenarios involve diverse stakeholders with varying interests and reactions.

Internal: Employees, leadership, legal, HR, IT, communications, specific department teams.

External: Customers, media, regulators, investors, suppliers, partners, general public, affected individuals.

Desired Reaction: How should these stakeholders react? (e.g., panic, confusion, outrage, demanding answers, seeking legal action, offering support).

Example: "Include reactions from panicked customers flooding social media, calls from concerned regulators, and an internal IT team struggling to diagnose the issue. Also, factor in a potential negative news story breaking on a major industry publication."

Inject Complications and Escalation

Crises rarely remain static. Build in elements that make the scenario evolve and become more challenging.

Secondary Events: (e.g., power outage during a cyberattack, additional product defects discovered, key personnel unavailable)

Information Gaps/Misinformation: (e.g., conflicting reports, rumors spreading on social media, difficulty in verifying facts)

Ethical Dilemmas: (e.g., balancing transparency with legal implications, prioritizing different stakeholder needs)

Time Constraints: (e.g., a critical decision needed within 30 minutes, public statement required by end of day)

Example: "After the initial system outage, introduce a new complication: a cyber-espionage group claims responsibility on a dark web forum, threatening to release sensitive customer data if demands are not met, despite the initial incident being unrelated to a breach."

Define the Learning Objectives (Optional, but Recommended)

While the AI won't "know" your objectives, including them in your prompt can subtly guide its generation towards a scenario that helps you test specific aspects of your plan.

Example: "The scenario should test our team's ability to communicate effectively under pressure," or "Focus on evaluating our supply chain resilience and alternative vendor protocols."

By following these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to leveraging our AI crisis simulation feature to its fullest, preparing your team for any challenge the real world might throw at them. Happy simulating!