Let’s save the term “crisis comms” for situations that really deserve it, like when your company’s CEO and CPO are caught on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, reminding us the digital panopticon is alive and well, for a totally random example.
Instead, we’ll throw some new corporate jargon into the mix: Uncertainty comms. Definition? Just about all corporate communication in 2025, because seemingly every company has had to grapple with conveying the uncertainty of the current moment without freaking out investors and employees.
There are good ways to do this, and there are bad ways to do this. Increasingly, it’s falling in the lap of the CFO to figure out which is which, whether it’s outlining a tariff mitigation plan in an earnings call or using the numbers to tell a story that appeases investors’ worries. Here’s what experts told CFO Brew about getting it right.
Last time around. Jennifer Finger, a principal with Baker Tilly’s CFO advisory services practice, which she dubs “the SWAT team for the office of the CFO,” has been with the firm for over 20 years. In that time, after guiding CFOs through different periods of uncertainty, she sees open, consistent communication as the link between turbulent eras of the last few decades.
“In periods of uncertainty, people get really nervous and they don’t know what to expect. A clear, calm leader will be communicating as much as possible, even if it’s ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen next,’ and whether it was 2008 or Covid or now, people don’t really know what to expect,” she told CFO Brew.
Of course, you can only say “I don’t know what’s going to happen next” for so long.
And if that’s still what you’re saying in July 2025, you’ve got a problem. Alyse Bodine, a partner with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles who serves as a member of the firm’s financial officers practice, notes that the current moment of uncertainty for CFOs seems to have started “within the past year or so,” beginning not with tariffs, but with AI adoption, with some executives viewing AI as a tool and others as a threat, leading to uncertainty about the right approach.
Now, that uncertainty is everywhere. “We have geopolitical [uncertainty], we have economic [uncertainty], we have countries in war, countries on the brink of war,” she told CFO Brew. “It’s not to say we haven’t seen these moments before, but there arguably is, no matter how you define it, there’s uncertainty in many regards that do have an impact on businesses and companies.”
Talk the talk. But how to talk about it? One of the key pointers, in Finger’s telling, is that you can’t just keep your mouth shut. Communication needs to happen, and ideally, it’d happen early, often, and openly.
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“People tend to create stories when communication doesn’t happen, and the stories tend to be really negative,” she said, noting that she’s witnessed situations where communication didn’t occur, and “people left the organization, people created really bad internal dynamics because they created stories: ‘Why are these consultants here? Why is this change happening?’”
Instead, she stresses that “the more communication that can happen from a calm perspective and an open perspective, the better,” adding it should arrive “as soon as possible, to guard against that negative response.”
Similarly, Bodine emphasizes the importance of articulating a clear story during uncertain times so the internal team has “guidance and direction and motivation.”
“When there is uncertainty, to be able to be the steady voice, the vision, and to lead during uncertain times, a lot of that does come through frequent communication, being transparent, being honest,” she said.
The outside world. Bodine added that for public companies, those internal communication skills also translate well to external communications, where you should also focus on articulating “a story and a vision.”
That doesn’t make external communication exactly the same, though. Finger acknowledges CFOs likely need to think about external communication in a more guarded manner “because they want to be a little bit conservative, not knowing what the future brings.” The best policy, in her mind? Be as honest and realistic as possible.
Through it all, there’s an added benefit to a heightened focus on communication. Uncertain times divide the great from the good leaders, and focusing on open communication can also open the door up to other avenues for success, Finger pointed out.
“What makes a CFO or other leaders shine more than others is really calling upon their teams and others to help with those big problems,” she pointed out. And a focus on communication also means asking questions, and letting talent shine and rise to new challenges.
“One person probably isn’t going to solve all of a company’s problems, so being able to utilize the talented people that they have in different ways will probably get them through that next phase,” Finger added. “And I think that will probably bring them from good to great.”
Likewise, Bodine encourages CFOs to really emphasize talent management. “You can have a brilliant strategy, you can have a brilliant business model or financial model, but if you don’t have the right people there to execute, it stays on the shelf, or it doesn’t happen, or worse,” she noted. “I do think that in these uncertain times, investing in talent and ensuring that you have the right team in place is critical.”