Great communication can open the door to plenty of opportunities — opportunities to tell your organization’s story, share news, build excitement, provide clarity, drive sales, offer thought leadership on interesting issues, protect your brand and much more.

But communication, when done poorly or addressing controversial topics, can close just as many doors, too.

It’s essential to consider the potential pitfalls before communicating with your audiences, whether internal or external. What is the potential upside vs. potential downside? How do you communicate effectively — on social media, internal memos, public meetings or shareholder events, in media interviews and so on — while staying true to your organization’s values and goals? Which messages are must-delivers, and which messages might just be don’t-delivers?

While those and similar questions should always steer your organization’s communications, that’s never truer than when considering whether to weigh in on a controversial societal issue or navigating a time of widespread cultural clashes and disconnect.

Times such as, for example, right now! The past few years have been fraught with change, controversy and things said that are perhaps better left unsaid. And any time it’s an election season, much less a presidential election year and an under-the-microscope one to boot, the corporate communications landscape can be even trickier.

There are many lenses from which to consider how to communicate during sticky times or on sensitive issues. One way to look at it is through the five foundational questions that drive journalists (the so-called “five W’s): who, what, where, when and why. Let’s start with your “why.”

Why? Why are you considering communicating on a tricky issue? Why would your brand jump into broad social conversations, or why would it make more sense to stay out of it? Why do your stakeholder groups care about this? Are you sure? Why is your company uniquely positioned, or not, to weigh in?

Who? Who needs to hear/see your communications? Who is the right person to deliver your messages? Maybe it makes sense for the CEO to handle a speech at a community event, but the communications leader handles media interviews to keep the top brass out of the immediate spotlight on other issues. Who on your team has the right expertise, position and disposition to tackle certain messaging? Who among your partners, third-party support team and advisers can help you weigh your options? Who must be kept in the loop when your organization faces tricky or trending topics — you don’t want to risk surprising your board or alienating the elected officials or community leaders that are important allies.

What? If you determine that it does, in fact, make sense to communicate about a tricky issue — or even when you’re trying to communicate effectively on a seemingly non-controversial topic but during tough cultural times — what are the “what’s” that matter? What do you need to communicate? What do you need to steer clear of? What are you hoping to achieve? What are you hoping to avoid? What are you obliged to do, perhaps because of shareholder demands, audience expectations, contractual obligations or ethical guidelines?

Where? Where should your communications be directed? Where should they live — maybe it makes sense to share certain things in your newsletter but keep them off your social media platforms. But keep in mind that any messaging, no matter where it lives and where it’s directed, can always find a broader audience beyond your intent. Even internal communications have a way of creeping beyond the company doors.

When? Sometimes, timing is everything. When should you communicate? When should you instead hit pause and wait for a controversy or season to pass? Timing matters for a variety of reasons. Your customers or shareholders might be primed for annoyance if your message lands during a time of scrutiny — they may be sick of hearing about X, Y or Z right now. Or they might be disappointed if you wait too long to communicate about an issue that directly affects them. With media relations, in particular, the “when” matters. The tsunami of coverage pre-election means they might not have the bandwidth to hear you now. On the other hand, if you determine it’s right to wade into the public conversation about an issue, it makes no sense to do so after that ship is already sailing.

Communicate with intention

Your organization’s communications should always be intentional, but never more so than when the subject is potentially tricky — or even seemingly benign but falling during a tough cultural time. Common sense and your conscience should be your guide, and the five W’s of who, what, where, when and why can serve as a roadmap.