I believe that the phrase "Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families" to be over used and meaningless. 

It must be replaced with phrases that are relevant to the receivers during a crisis.  I recommend you channel your inner Aristotle in order to build a confident credibility bridge with your audiences during a crisis.

There are three Aristotle concepts to embrace.  First, ETHOS - your character/reputation is critical for the audience to answer the following questions:  Who are you?  What are your values and beliefs?  Why should I trust you?  What qualifies you to speak on this subject?  What's your experiences?  Will you share your pain?  What added value do you bring to the platform?  Answer these questions in a Super manner that is sensitive to their needs, understanding of their concerns, with eagerness to help them, responsive to their demands.

Second, LOGOS - Reasoning that's logical, rational, persuasive and defensible to the argument for what happened and what will be done to fix the problem.  For this you must become a HERO:

Helpful to your audiences

Enthusiastic about being accessible to the media and your audiences

Resourceful in helping to solve the problems

Oblivious to your social media critics.

Pathos - Passion and emotion for an organization or person.  Show me empathy and sympathy.  You cannot fake it; it must be genuine!  You must become a true spokesperson who is open, candid, involved in policy making, ethical, responsible and approachable.

I believe your crisis message strategy should embody the following: 

You must make your audiences believe that you are attached to them and that your message is their message.  Your actions must prove that you are committed to your audiences.  A recommended message would be:  "I have just met with the families of our employees who were killed and would urge all of you to pray for them and their loved ones." In this way you can truly attach yourself with your audiences because you have seen them and they have seen you. You also now are a true witness to their pain and grief in their heart-breaking experience. Therefore, your words and actions become one with the  victims' families when you express their grief with true substance and content.

Finally, by attaching yourself to your audiences and channeling your inner Aristotle of Ethos, Logos, Pathos, you will be on the pathway to becoming a certified Super Hero Spokesperson(SHS).  One who can be trusted to say what they mean and mean what they say in every crisis situation. I challenge you now to become a Super Hero Spokesperson(SHS) by following these steps: