Unprepared interviewees.
They seem to be ubiquitous in the news these days. Every election, at almost any level of politics, seems to have at least one candidate who stumbles when asked a question about embarrassing personal or professional conduct.
And it's not only politicians. Business executives, professional athletes, and plain Joes suffer the same fate.
I'm often asked why people, many of them experienced public figures, aren't prepared when the inevitable questions come.
Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was forced to resign after being caught in a sex scandal, provided an answer.
When asked by NBC Today Show's host Matt Lauer whether it had ever occurred to him his actions might be exposed, Spitzer replied,
"It crossed my mind, but like many things in life, you ignore the obvious at certain moments because you simply don't want to confront them."
Contrast that common attitude with the approach used by a sports legend who was part of a team I coached (media coached, that is) a few years ago. To demonstrate to the other team members how a veteran interviewee handles tough questions, I started a training session by interviewing this Olympic gold medalist.
I threw one hardball question after another at him. As I expected, one by one, he deftly answered each.
But I had one final question I thought might trip him up. I asked, "Can you tell us why you've been so successful in your business affairs, so successful in your athletic career, but such a miserable failure in your personal life?" At the time he was involved in a very messy, and very public, divorce.
There was a brief pause.
Then he said, "Well Lou, I wouldn't look at it quite that way. I have three wonderful children, and now I'm spending my time working with [a major non-profit association]." At which point he smoothly transitioned into a discussion of this non-profit's latest public health campaign. His non-profit messages took up the rest of the interview.
When we finished, I asked him, "How many answers do you have for the divorce question?"
"Five," he repied. "I've written our the answers, memorized them, and practiced them aloud. Two are for print; three are for electronic [tv and radio]. The three for electronic are each different lengths. I know to the second how long it takes to give each answer. So I'm confident that by the time I'm finished my answer, most people will still think I'm a nice guy."
Note the four success keys he used - and you can use - to stay positive when preparing for and responding to tough issues.
- Confront the issue.
- Write out, and refine, at least one response.
- Memorize the response.
- Practice the response aloud, until you are fully comfortable giving it.
Do those four things well, and you will come across as in control, credible, and positive.
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