Spokespeople avoiding questions can be entertaining, annoying, infuriating. There are moments in any presentation, however, when the spokesperson knows more than he or she can, or should reveal in public. The key is communicate with transparency and truth – incorporating legitimate self-editing. This can be difficult to do well under pressure, even with experience. Here are three guiding points:
1. Before the event, and specific to your context, clarify what you ought to reasonably and sensibly leave out and why. Time, forum, confidentiality and relevance are common reasons. Tighten your list.
2. In your interview or presentation, if asked a question that goes into one of your no-go zones, be ready to accurately, briefly and clearly say why you won’t go into detail. For example, “It’s our policy to reveal our global numbers, but our local ones are commercially confidential.” A valid reason (and sometimes an invalid one) given in a positive, confident and measured tone may be enough for the questioner to let go and move on.
3. Step to your message, after briefly acknowledging the original question. Don’t ignore the question, but neither spend all your time responding to the alternate agenda. It’s your job as the communicator to focus attention where you believe it needs to be. Do that by listening, acknowledging the question in a reasonable way, and then bridging, elevating or refocusing to your topic of choice, without waiting to be guided. If you stop and do nothing further than acknowledge the question, the next question will most likely return to your weaker, defensive position, and you may never reach your intended message.
A key part of preparing for any Q&A session is practicing. In that context you can catch the nuances in questions and refine your answers to create the right content, tone and impression.
Call or email us to find out how we can help your spokespeople and presenters.
Comments on this entry are closed.