The Communications Golden Hour®
The Essential Guide to Public Information When Every Minute Counts. Updated and expanded for 2024.
From US$29.99
See editionsBooks, workbooks and training games for public information officers
The right words. At the right time. With confidence.
Public Safety Press publishes practical tools for the people who talk to the public when every minute counts: police, fire, emergency management and the communicators beside them.
Very Angry Mayors Demand Microphones
The five-step loop at the heart of The Communications Golden Hour method.
The Golden Hour family
Read it. Practice it. Play it.
One method, three ways to learn it: the book explains why the first hour matters, the workbook builds the habits, and the game lets your team rehearse under pressure.
The PIO Workbook
The hands-on companion to the book: checklists, templates, exercises and quick-reference cards built around the Golden Hour loop. Keep one in your go-bag.
Notify meVery Angry Mayors Demand Microphones
A cooperative training game. Verify facts, answer reporters, kill rumors and keep the mayor away from the microphone.
Watch the trailerThe book
When every minute counts
The first hour of a crisis decides how the public will remember it. The Communications Golden Hour gives public information officers and agency leaders a clear, practical framework for those minutes.
What you will learn
- How to organize communications when an incident crosses jurisdictions
- Ways to counter misinformation and AI-generated hoaxes
- How to craft effective statements in minutes
- How to prepare your leaders for the spotlight
Recommended edition2024 Expanded Edition
US$59.99 Buy now
1st Edition Classic
US$29.99 Buy now
Ordering for an agency? Bulk pricing and invoices are available. See below.
The training game
Very Angry Mayors Demand Microphones
Something has gone wrong in your town. The cameras are rolling, the rumors are spreading and the mayor has spotted the podium. Two to five players work as a PIO team. You win when every reporter packs up with nothing left to ask.
CooperativeYour whole team wins or loses together. About 40 minutes.
Every card teachesFrom “verify before you speak” to the words your agency is legally allowed to use.
Print or play onlineA tabletop edition and a browser version for training rooms.
Worst Day Ever expansionA loose llama, a sinkhole, a mascot and up to three mayors racing for the mic.
Training
Communications Golden Hour® workshops
Custom communications and media training for agencies, universities and organizations, built on the Golden Hour method. Workshops can include a live session of the training game.
- Crisis preparedness and first-hour action
- Key messages under pressure
- Media interview preparation
- Internal communications
- Briefing your chief or elected official
- Joint Information Centers
Early access
Be first to know
Get word when the workbook ships, playtest the game with your team, or ask about bulk orders and training. One email when there's news. No spam.
About the author
Doug Levy
Doug Levy is a communications strategist and the author of The Communications Golden Hour. He spent 20 years as a journalist, trained as a firefighter and emergency manager, and has advised police, government officials, medical leaders, scientists and universities on what to say when every minute counts.
Read Doug's full bioPeabodyAward
20+ yrsCrisis consulting
HundredsAgencies trained
Bulk book orders and agency invoices
Equipping a whole team? Call (202) 517-9087 or send a request.