Cameron survives civil war re-enactment

Do Brits take showers? Is Spotted Dick really the nation’s favourite dessert? And is Cheryl Cole speaking English? Not quite the questions that Dave (Letterman) asked Dave (Cameron) last night but not far off.

There are conflicting reports about whether the Prime Minister’s team had been given advance sighting of the questions he would face but you suspect not, given his failure to translate the latin phrase Magna Carta. But could these have been predicted?

It’s always a game of cat and mouse when speaking to producers about a possible interview for clients. Some are happy to provide almost word for word what the questions will be. Others are rather less helpful.

It’s understandable that broadcasters don’t want to interview people who have rehearsed so heavily for specific questions that it sounds like they are reading the answers from a script. But at the same time, is it fair to put someone up on live TV or radio and open them up to an ambush? Having experienced this in the past I can say the client is never best pleased!

While any good PR operator will have a pretty good idea of the subject areas and likely questions, it’s important to think around those areas to identify the tricky curve balls that may get thrown in. And be prepared for the questions you simply can’t answer too.

One technique to use is the ABC method. Acknowledge a difficult question, Bridge onto a subject you want to talk about, Control with a key message you want to get across. Not always easy in the heat of an interview. 

So how could Dave C have responded to the Magna Carta question?

Acknowledge you have been caught out, Bridge to the subject of British history, and Control with a joke; ‘with our long and glorious past it’s hard to remember it all’.  This leads neatly to what the whole interview was supposed to be about – attracting businesses and visitors to the UK.

What makes a great spokesperson is the ability to take this through under the bright lights. Get in touch if you want to give it a try.     

Tony Cox
Consultant
tony@linstockcommunications.com