Speak to Lead

Persuasion: Preparing Spokespersons to Handle Sensitive Questions

In the previous post, Interview Prep: Was spokesman being honest or just nervous?, you saw what can happen when the spokesperson is not properly prepared to handle sensitive questions.

Mr. Hallor appears to me to be a likeable and competent guy with a genuine concern for the public's safety who wants to be helpful to the reporter. This should have been an interesting interview that aired once and then was forgotten.

But the interview goes viral because Hallor acknowledges that WMDs have been found in the U.S., only to have the onsite public affairs person, followed by a written statement, and a phone call to the station (20+ days after the interview-how's that for timely response?!) clarify Hallor's "misstatement."

So how could (and should) this have been prevented? Here are 5 steps for handling sensitive questions:

Persuasive Messages: Story Power, Greek Tragedies & Post Traumatic Stress Treatment

As those of you who read this regularly know, I'm a strong advocate of the power of stories, the use of narrative, to engage audiences and open them to your messages. 

Today's edition of USA Today contains an interesting article on the use of dramatic narrative, in this case ancient Greek tragedies, to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It's a creative use of narrative to get troops to recognize the issue and be willing to talk about it.

Read it at "Stressed troops  take cues from ancient plays." 

Leadership Under Fire: Answering Tough Personal Questions Positively

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,

Media Training: John Edwards on Nightline - 8 Lessons for Responding to Scandal

Last week, after John Edwards admitted he had had an affair with Rielle Hunter, he gave Robert Woodruff of ABC's Nightline an exclusive interview.

Edwards started strong and ended the first half well ahead. But in the second half, many of his answers cut into the credibility he had gained in the first.

So, what can we learn from this? Here are 8 lessons, the first 5 from what Edwards did well, the last 3 from when he slipped.

Lesson 1: Limit your time with the reporter. In his intro to the interview, ABC's reporter Robert Woodruff tells us that Edwards placed no restrictions on the questions, but "gave us only a limited amount of time." To confess and explain, 30 minutes is more than enough.

Lesson 2: Take control at the beginning of the interview. Regardless of the first question, step back, thank the reporter for the opportunity, and open with your explanation or framing of the situation. This may not always seem like the smoothest way to start, but it gives you initial control and confidence.

Lesson 3: In cases of adultery, appear without the wife. Using the wife as a sympathy prop

Imus Advertiser's Self Delusion: We Can Say One Thing & Do the Opposite

Lesson: What you say as a leader will have a lot more impact if it represents what you do. Which brings us to the news this morning that two advertisers have pulled their sponsorship of Don Imus' radio show.

While I applaud Staples and Bigelow Tea Company for doing so, I was amused and dismayed by the statement issued by Bigelow, which earns the tea company the BS of the Day Award.

"While Bigelow Tea has been an advertiser on the 'Imus in the Morning show,' the company does not condone or support in any way the unacceptable comments made by Imus with regard to the Rutgers University women's basketball team," Cindi Bigelow, the company's co-president, said in a statement. "Bigelow Tea is a family company that prides itself on honoring and respecting all individuals." [emphasis added]

Really? Let me get this right, Ms Bigelow. You pride yourself on "honoring and respecting all individuals," yet you've been advertising on a show whose host's shtick is cynicism, insult, mockery, and ridicule. Didn't you ever notice the disconnect between what you were supporting and what you claim are your company values?

You would have done better to limit your statement to the first sentence. It's specific and believable. The "prideful" tag line is belied by Bigelow's actions and comes across for what it is, BS.

Off the Record? Yeah Right!

I've long believed that "off the record" is a game you should play only if you are an experienced news source and know the reporter interviewing you. Even then, you're better off not saying anything you wouldn't mind seeing made public.

But if you are tempted to go off the record or on deep background, take a look at the media's playbook. In a recent post on his blog, PR/PA Ideas to Use, my friend Ernie Landante provides a link to the "Standards and Practices" Associated Press reporters are to follow, as well as his own approach when going off the record. (Ernie is an experienced news source, but notice how careful he is.)

Defuse Hostility, Bond with the Audience: An Example from President Gerald Ford

In March 1975, President Ford headed to the University of Notre Dame to deliver a speech on world hunger. With his pardoning of Richard Nixon still highly unpopular, especially on college campuses, aides were concerned students might demonstrate or otherwise disrupt his speech.

To defuse any potential hostility, Ford’s director of speechwriters, Bob Orben, set out to find some Notre Dame insider joke he could use to let the students see Ford as a down-to-earth guy, someone who could understand and connect to the students.

To succeed Orben knew he needed to find out

Apologizing: Lessons for Leaders

Last night I watched one of those rare media moments--a sincere apology.

Apologies, especially from leaders, typically fall into one of the following categories:

• The Sequential: Step One--I sinned a little. Step Two--Okay, so I actually sinned bigger than I said before. Step Three--All right, so I sinned big time and you caught me. I’ll resign.
• The Narcissistic: I want to apologize because I can see that what I did (even though I think what I did is perfectly fine for me to do) is making you not like me as much, and for that I'm truly sorry.
• The Justification: Yes, I did wrong, but let me explain why I am actually the victim and didn't have any choice.
• The Mountain Out of a Molehill: I can't believe this has been blown so out of proportion that I have to apologize. (An objective observer might agree. But from the leader's perspective, he or she needs to defuse the issue quickly in order to get back to priorities.)

Michael Richards (Kramer on Seinfeld) apologized last night in a satellite interview with

Warning: There Is No Context

The following is a post I originally made to my first (and now dormant) blog on June 23, 2005. Although the situation is no longer a national news story, the principle it illustrates is extremely relevant. It is a mindset everyone dealing with the news media needs to understand, and internalize. So here is the transplanted post:

It was only a matter of time. Tuesday, seven days after comparing prison conditions at Gitmo to those under Hitler and Stalin, Senator Richard Durbin bowed to the inevitable and apologized for his analogy. In an article yesterday in the Washington Post Style Section, Mark Leibovich suggested, “Someone should post a sign in the Senate cloakroom…. The sign would warn politicians against comparing anything to the Nazis or Hitler or the Holocaust. These comparisons are not a good idea.” I agree with Mr Leibovich.

But there should also be another sign: WARNING: The only context is the final context.

.