More regularly than we like, we see and hear the evidence of bad advice and group-think in media interviews.
One common danger area for simplistic advice is around the idea of sticking to a message. Any spokesman [male for argument’s sake] who can’t get quickly into, and stay on-message, will shortly be in all kinds of trouble. But that’s not all there is to it. The flip side is that completely ignoring journalist questions sabotages spokesman credibility. Even politicians who are in the media more than most spokespeople and who may to some extent get away with this interview style, cannot always ignore questions.
At first it might seem that a spokesman didn’t hear the question, but if the question is repeated, he must at that point at least acknowledge the question, to show that he is (1) listening and (2) not avoiding the topic. An effective spokesman knows how to demonstrate listening and to pass through the brief necessary verbal steps — whether bridging, dovetailing or elevating, etc. — on his way to making his key points. Even beginners can achieve this with a little coaching. Ignoring a repeated question completely, forces the audience to conclude that the spokesman is either incompetent, ill-mannered or guilty.
Here’s a terrific-terrible case in point (The following information was written by Alan Stevens, and originally appeared in “The MediaCoach”, his free weekly ezine, available at www.mediacoach.co.uk.):
It should have been a great interview. Stephen Bates, managing director of RIM Europe was on BBC Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show to discuss the launch of the Blackberry 10, which his company hopes will rival the Apple iPhone. Nicky Campbell asked a reasonable, and expected question; “What did you learn from the iPhone?” Mr Bates ignored the question and ploughed on with his marketing hype (“we have a really unique proposition”). Nicky Campbell asked again, and again. Mr Bates ignored the questions completely. Clearly, someone had told Mr Bates that this is how to handle a radio interview. But it isn’t.
Sadly for RIM, which I’m guessing has a viable product alternative to iPhone and Android, the company MD lost a terrific opportunity to sell his product.
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