Contributed by Eden Gillott, the president of Gillott Communications, a crisis PR and bankruptcy communications firm. Learn more tips from Gillott on crisis communications from this Inc. article.

Flooded with emails from companies you forgot even existed or don’t remember opting-in for? Hearing lots of gossip about what’s happening? You’re not alone.

In the past few weeks, our inboxes have been overwhelmed with crisis communications that are entirely off the mark. They’re often boilerplate and seem cold, overloaded with information that leaves you with more questions than answers, and, sadly, sometimes in bad taste.

During uncertain times, even the most well-intentioned spread speculation as they try to make sense of a situation that is confusing and overwhelming—a black swan that emerges rarely, maybe once in a generation or a century.