diff --git a/app/models/slack_incident_modal.rb b/app/models/slack_incident_modal.rb
index 026d84b..0713258 100644
--- a/app/models/slack_incident_modal.rb
+++ b/app/models/slack_incident_modal.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 class SlackIncidentModal
-  attr_reader :title, :description, :service, :priority, :comms_lead, :tech_lead, :support_lead
+  attr_reader :title, :description, :service, :priority, :comms_lead, :tech_lead, :support_lead, :slack_response
 
   def initialize(slack_response)
+    @slack_response = slack_response
     payload_from_modal = slack_response[:payload][:view][:state][:values]
 
     @title = payload_from_modal[:incident_title_block][:incident_title][:value]
@@ -16,4 +17,8 @@ def initialize(slack_response)
   def leads
     [@comms_lead, @tech_lead, @support_lead]
   end
+
+  def declarer
+    slack_response[:payload][:user][:id]
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/slack_methods.rb b/app/models/slack_methods.rb
index 03fd7cb..364b17e 100644
--- a/app/models/slack_methods.rb
+++ b/app/models/slack_methods.rb
@@ -40,15 +40,21 @@ def self.create_channel!(channel_name)
     )
   end
 
-  def self.invite_users!(channel_id, leads)
+  def self.invite_users!(channel_id, leads, declarer = nil)
+    invitee = leads.compact.blank? ? declarer : leads.join(',')
+
     slack_client.conversations_invite(
       channel: channel_id,
-      users: leads.join(','),
+      users: invitee,
     )
   end
 
   def self.summary_for(incident)
-    "Description: #{incident.description.capitalize}\n Priority: #{incident.priority}\n Comms lead: <@#{incident.comms_lead}>\n Tech lead: <@#{incident.tech_lead}>\n Support lead: <@#{incident.support_lead}>"
+    summary = "Description: #{incident.description.capitalize}\n Priority: #{incident.priority}\n"
+    summary << "Comms lead: <@#{incident.comms_lead}>\n" unless incident.comms_lead.nil?
+    summary << "Tech lead: <@#{incident.tech_lead}>\n" unless incident.tech_lead.nil?
+    summary << "Support lead: <@#{incident.support_lead}>" unless incident.support_lead.nil?
+    summary
   end
 
   def self.set_channel_details!(channel_id, summary)
@@ -70,11 +76,15 @@ def self.notify_channel_of_update!(channel_id)
                                   text: 'Incident has been updated')
   end
 
-  def self.introduce_incident!(channel_id, tech_lead)
+  def self.introduce_incident!(channel_id, tech_lead, declarer)
     message = slack_client.chat_postMessage(channel: channel_id,
                                             text: "Welcome to the incident channel. Please review the following docs:\n> <#{ENV['INCIDENT_PLAYBOOK']}|Incident playbook> \n><#{ENV['INCIDENT_CATEGORIES']}|Incident categorisation>")
     slack_client.pins_add(channel: channel_id, timestamp: message[:ts])
-    slack_client.chat_postMessage(channel: channel_id, text: "<@#{tech_lead}> please make a copy of the <#{ENV['INCIDENT_TEMPLATE']}|incident template>.")
+    if tech_lead.nil?
+      slack_client.chat_postMessage(channel: channel_id, text: "<@#{declarer}> please make a copy of the <#{ENV['INCIDENT_TEMPLATE']}|incident template> and invite the leads.")
+    else
+      slack_client.chat_postMessage(channel: channel_id, text: "<@#{tech_lead}> please make a copy of the <#{ENV['INCIDENT_TEMPLATE']}|incident template>.")
+    end
   end
 
   def self.start_meet!(channel_id, meet_name)
diff --git a/bot/actions/slack_incident_actions.rb b/bot/actions/slack_incident_actions.rb
index b1b1fa3..bb5231b 100644
--- a/bot/actions/slack_incident_actions.rb
+++ b/bot/actions/slack_incident_actions.rb
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ def open_incident(slack_action, channel_calling_incident)
 
     threads = []
 
-    threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.invite_users!(channel_id, incident.leads) }
+    threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.invite_users!(channel_id, incident.leads, incident.declarer) }
     threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.set_channel_details!(channel_id, SlackMethods.summary_for(incident)) }
-    threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.introduce_incident!(channel_id, incident.tech_lead) }
+    threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.introduce_incident!(channel_id, incident.tech_lead, incident.declarer) }
     threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.notify_channel!(channel_calling_incident, channel_id, incident.title, incident.priority) }
     threads << Thread.new { SlackMethods.start_meet!(channel_id, incident.title.parameterize) }
 
diff --git a/lib/view_payloads/incident.json b/lib/view_payloads/incident.json
index 7e69490..3a8e7f7 100644
--- a/lib/view_payloads/incident.json
+++ b/lib/view_payloads/incident.json
@@ -182,7 +182,8 @@
     {
       "type": "input",
       "block_id": "incident_comms_lead_block",
-      "label": {
+      "optional": true,
+     "label": {
         "type": "plain_text",
         "text": "Who is the comms lead?",
         "emoji": true
@@ -200,6 +201,7 @@
     {
       "type": "input",
       "block_id": "incident_tech_lead_block",
+      "optional": true,
       "label": {
         "type": "plain_text",
         "text": "Who is the technical lead?",
@@ -218,6 +220,7 @@
     {
       "type": "input",
       "block_id": "incident_support_lead_block",
+      "optional": true,
       "label": {
         "type": "plain_text",
         "text": "Who is the support lead?",
diff --git a/spec/models/slack_methods_spec.rb b/spec/models/slack_methods_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2999494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/slack_methods_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+describe SlackMethods do
+  describe '.summary_for' do
+    let(:incident) { instance_double('SlackIncidentModal') }
+
+    before do
+      allow(incident).to receive(:description).and_return('test description')
+      allow(incident).to receive(:priority).and_return('test priority')
+    end
+
+    context 'when all leads are provided' do
+      it 'includes the full summary' do
+
+        allow(incident).to receive(:comms_lead).and_return('test_comms')
+        allow(incident).to receive(:tech_lead).and_return('test_tech')
+        allow(incident).to receive(:support_lead).and_return('test_support')
+
+        expect(described_class.summary_for(incident)).to eq "Description: Test description\n Priority: test priority\nComms lead: <@test_comms>\nTech lead: <@test_tech>\nSupport lead: <@test_support>"
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when one lead is provided' do
+      it 'includes description, priority and the provided lead' do
+        allow(incident).to receive(:comms_lead).and_return(nil)
+        allow(incident).to receive(:tech_lead).and_return('test_tech')
+        allow(incident).to receive(:support_lead).and_return(nil)
+
+        expect(described_class.summary_for(incident)).to eq "Description: Test description\n Priority: test priority\nTech lead: <@test_tech>\n"
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when no leads are provied' do
+      it 'only includes the description and priority' do
+        allow(incident).to receive(:comms_lead).and_return(nil)
+        allow(incident).to receive(:tech_lead).and_return(nil)
+        allow(incident).to receive(:support_lead).and_return(nil)
+
+        expect(described_class.summary_for(incident)).to eq "Description: Test description\n Priority: test priority\n"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/requests/slack_incident_actions_spec.rb b/spec/requests/slack_incident_actions_spec.rb
index c5bc982..1fb365e 100644
--- a/spec/requests/slack_incident_actions_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/slack_incident_actions_spec.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
   let(:client) { Slack::Web::Client.new(token: ENV['SLACK_TOKEN']) }
   let(:incident_payload) do
     {
-      'payload' => { 'view' =>
+      'payload' =>
+      { 'user' => { 'id' => 'U01RVKPGZDL' },
+        'view' =>
           { 'state' =>
             { 'values' =>
               { 'incident_title_block' => { 'incident_title' => { 'type' => 'plain_text_input', 'value' => 'hello' } },