How to bring things to life
IncidentResponse.app supports delivery across five levels of sophistication. The first three can run single-player without a facilitator; levels four and five are where things really come to life and start to get truly immersive — video news bulletins dropped into the scenario feed, and broadcast media training with our partners at Tech TV.
Level 1 — Scenario alone
Core injects only — no distractions. Players see the email, IM and social channel that matter to the plot and nothing else. Useful for a focused tabletop where you want the room to concentrate on the decision tree without ambient noise pulling their attention. Runs single-player or hosted.
Level 2 — Embellishment
Embellish the scenario with parallel threads. Side conversations, internal escalations, related-but-not-central messages — texture that makes the room feel like a real organisation rather than a single email chain. Each thread is still scripted and reproducible, so the same scenario plays the same way twice. Runs single-player or hosted.
Level 3 — Background chatter
Ambient social and internal-comms noise on top of the embellished plot. Random executives chatting on Slack, opportunistic media posts, low-stakes IT tickets that have nothing to do with the incident — the kind of background that exists every working day and that an executive team has to filter through to spot what matters. Runs single-player or hosted.
Level 4 — Rich content (video news bulletins)
This is where the room stops feeling like a chat exercise. Pre- recorded TV news bulletins drop into the scenario feed at the right moment — a breaking-news segment about the breach, an analyst interview about the share price, a regulator’s statement on camera. The scenario pauses automatically while the clip plays, so everyone watches the same content at the same time.
Adding bulletins is straightforward. Download the scenario’s XLSX file from Prepare and add a timeline entry. If you mark the entry as a video with a YouTube link, the scenario will automatically pause for the bulletin to play. You can record your own clips, or commission one from us and our affiliates at Tech TV. See /vault § Video News Bulletins for worked examples and the Contact us button.
Level 5 — Live expert training (Broadcast media)
Working with Tech TV we set up our pop-up studio at your venue, or you come to us — being brought in live to the studio via Zoom. At key moments during the scenario, executives can appear in character on Tech TV for an interview drill — a few minutes, in front of the cameras, facing hostile questioning — so your CEO / CFO / CISO finds out how their answers play under pressure before the real cameras roll.
It’s the very best form of immersive training, and while the experience really puts them to the test, it’s oddly enjoyable — who doesn’t like being on TV? A great takeaway is a copy of the video file afterwards, ready for the executive to share with friends, family, colleagues and peers in the industry. Each video can carry a member’s branding and double as a piece of marketing collateral with a considerable shelf life.
What level 5 sessions include:
- Live, in-person or via Zoom into our virtual studio
- Pre-recorded TV news bulletins for the scenario feed
- Real-time interviews with blue-team members
- Panel debate putting them up against protagonists
- Briefing notes, feedback and training tips from top journos
- Post-session video files for playback (with member branding)
See /vault § Broadcast Media Training for the full partnership write-up and how to book.