My goal as a media trainer is to equip you with the skills you need to represent your organisation confidently and accurately, no matter what the situation.
Effective media training focuses on developing clear, concise and memorable key messages and shows you how to weave these key points into your answers, even when faced with unexpected, challenging and hostile questions.
Generally speaking, you should answer every question every time, but in ways that keep you out of hot water.
Example Media Scenario
Scenario: Let’s imagine you are a senior executive with a renewable energy company that is building wind farms in Australia, and you’re asked about power prices.
Journalist: “Why should Australians have any confidence that power prices will come down?”
Answer: “There’s actually been a big fall in wholesale prices because of an increase in renewable energy output. The Australian Energy Market Operator found that gas-fired generation has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years…
Transition: …so it’s important to point out that…
Key message: …we’ll see more of this downward pressure on prices because of the growth in green energy sources. Our company is part of that transition, building wind farms in three states that will produce enough green energy to power 2.5 million homes.”
Analysis: Rather than engage in whether people should be confident or otherwise in potential declines in household electricity prices, the question is still answered. The first part of the answer briefly addresses the question by pointing out some of the facts and then a transition or bridge is used to enable you to deliver a key message about your company’s role in building wind farms.
Transitions or bridging phrases allow you to come back to one of your key points after briefly answering the question.
Examples of bridging phrases:
“It’s important to remember that…”
“I simply make the point…”
“What I would say is…”
“But even more importantly…”
“It’s worth remembering that…”
“What our research shows is…”
The key to using this technique is to be seamless so your transitions are natural and smooth and don’t come across like a politician resorting to a bridging phrase!
What if you don’t know the answer to a question?
It can be acceptable to simply say you don’t know but then use your answer to tell the interviewer something you do know:
“I don’t know but what I can say is that our company is confident in the wind energy projects we’re delivering, and we look forward to playing a key role in Australia’s transition to renewable energy.”
Yes or No questions can sometimes be traps
If you think answering with a Yes or a No would make you and your organisation look bad, then don’t do it.
Questions containing a false or negative premise
Never repeat a negative premise when you give your answer.
Here’s an example:
Journalist: “You would have to accept that your staff were incompetent in allowing that to happen?”
Hapless interviewee: “I wouldn’t say our staff were incompetent. They were trying to deal with a very challenging situation and did the best they could.”
Guess how an answer like that gets reported by the media?
The CEO of Not Yet Media Trained has denied her staff were incompetent when dealing with controversial issue X.
She says the staff tried their best.
News grab/quote: “I wouldn’t say our staff were incompetent. They were trying to deal with a very challenging situation and did they best they could.”
A better, safer answer would be something like:
“The staff did their best. They were dealing with a very challenging situation, and they worked hard to do what they could in the circumstances.”
Questions that demand a guarantee
These are asked of politicians all the time to try to trap them.
Best avoid.
Hypothetical questions are also traps which is why politicians avoid engaging in hypotheticals.
As an interviewee, you usually have no control over the questions you’re asked but 100 per cent control over what you say.
You also have control over your demeanour, and it’s essential you maintain your composure, even if the questioner becomes hostile.
Losing your cool can make for great television or social video for the media, but it damages your reputation and exists forever.
So, be prepared and stay calm as you deal with even the most challenging of questions.
By Greg Dyett – Founder/Trainer, Media Success