Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Keeping Control: The Importance of Nonverbal Expressions of Power by Organizational Spokespersons in Times of Crisis An-Sofie Claeys 1 & Verolien Cauberghe 2 1 Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium 2 Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium Tis paper examines the impact of nonverbal expressions of power by organizational spokespersons during diferent crisis stages. Study 1 investigates how vocal nonverbal cues express power during crises and how this afects perceptions of spokespersons. Te results illustrate that a spokesperson who speaks with a lowered voice pitch, which expresses power, appears more competent than one with a raised voice pitch. Study 2 examines the moderating infuence of crisis stage on the impact of visual nonverbal cues. During a crisis, powerful nonverbal behaviors minimize reputational damage through an increase in perceived competence of the spokesperson. In the afermath of a crisis, powerless nonverbal behaviors positively afect the organizational reputation through an intermediate efect on perceived sincerity of the spokesperson. Keywords: Public Relations, Crisis Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Power, Organizational Reputation, Competence, Sincerity. doi:10.1111/jcom.12122 Research on organizational communication shows an increasing interest in crisis communication (Jones, Watson, Gardner, & Gallois, 2004). A crisis is an unpre- dictable event with an enormous impact on the operation of an organization, leading to negative perceptions among consumers and negative outcomes for the organiza- tion (Coombs, 2012). More specifcally, crises arouse uncertainty among stakeholders (Sandman, 2006; Seeger, 2006; Heath, 2006) and cause reputational damage to the organization in crisis (Coombs, 2007). Crisis communication serves to minimize these negative outcomes and “protect the organization, stakeholders, and industry from harm” (Coombs, 2012, p. 5). Corresponding author: An-Sofe Claeys; e-mail: ansofe.claeys@soc.kuleuven.be 1160 Journal of Communication 64 (2014) 1160–1180 © 2014 International Communication Association