Looking something up for Lesson 14?
Language, when you need it
Search concise C2 rules, vocabulary and speaking phrases without leaving the course to hunt through past lessons.
What it is
Crisis register is a fixed four-part structure — Acknowledge, Facts, Gap, Next steps — for communicating clearly and calmly when something has gone wrong and people need information fast.
Form
| Form | Pattern | Model sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge | We're aware of + problem | We're aware that the payment system has been down since 9am. |
| Facts | What we know so far is + confirmed detail | What we know so far is that it's affecting card payments only, not transfers. |
| Gap | What we don't yet know is + open question | What we don't yet know is how many transactions were affected overnight. |
| Next | Next, we will + concrete action + timeframe | Next, we'll send a full update by 2pm today. |
Use it when
- Sending the first internal or public message during an outage or incident
- Briefing a team when a project has gone seriously off track
- Updating customers when a promised service has failed
- Speaking to press or stakeholders before all the facts are confirmed
Examples
- We're aware of reports that some orders haven't been dispatched.
- What we know so far is limited to the last twelve hours of data.
- There's still a gap in our understanding of what triggered this.
- Next steps: we're bringing in an external team to review the logs by tomorrow.
- We'll share another update as soon as we have more confirmed facts.
Watch out
✗ Everything is fine, don't worry about it.
✓ We're aware of the issue and are working through what happened.
Minimising a real problem damages trust once the truth comes out.
✗ We think it might possibly maybe have started sometime last week or so.
✓ What we know so far is that it started sometime in the last week — we're confirming the exact date.
Crisis register still needs a clear Facts statement, not vague guessing.
✗ We'll get back to you when we know more.
✓ We'll send a full update by 5pm today, whether or not the issue is resolved.
A crisis update needs a concrete next step and time, not an open promise.
Remember
Acknowledge, Facts, Gap, Next — in that order, every time.
Quick check
- 1. What do the four letters ACK / FACTS / GAP / NEXT stand for?
Reveal
Acknowledge the problem, state the confirmed facts, admit what's still unknown, give the next concrete step.
- 2. Why include a 'Gap' section at all?
Reveal
Naming what you don't yet know keeps you honest and stops people assuming you're hiding something.
- 3. What must the 'Next' step always include?
Reveal
A concrete action tied to a specific timeframe, not a vague promise to follow up.