The exploding series of sexual harassment scandals in British politics is raising endless tough questions for elected representatives:
“Did you touch the knee of X?”
“Did you grope Y?”
“Did you hug Z a bit too vigorously?”
These are becoming routine questions at Westminster and beyond – alas more so than “What’s your policy on…?”
The answers have frequently been less than impressive – giving observers of politics much from which to learn.
Take for instance the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, who – as a politician generally seen as having higher principles than most – has not been accused of any personal misbehavior (at least not so far).
Neither has the Prime Minister, Theresa May.
But I highlighted flaws in some of Mrs May’s robotic and avoidance-style answering tendencies earlier this year, so in the spirit of even-handedness I thought it fair to focus on Mr Corbyn’s latest responses.
Jeremy Corbyn had the spotlight put on him when a Sky News reporter sought to engage him in a surprise so-called “doorstep” interview in the street outside his home in London.
Alas Mr Corbyn didn’t cover himself or his Labour Party in glory.
The reporter persistently asked Mr Corbyn to explain why he had promoted 76-year-old Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins despite him having been reprimanded by the Opposition whips over sexual harassment claims.
This followed complaints by a young party activist, Ava Etemadzadeh.
You can see in this video clip that Mr Corbyn chose to ignore the reporter’s barrage of questions – and in doing so looked like a man with something serious to hide.
Avoid Looking Dodgy During A Tax Scandal
There was a similar story with the latest revelations about alleged tax avoidance of the rich and famous revealed in the so-called “Paradise Papers” aired on the BBC’s Panorama programme.
This programme featured a more bizarre doorstep “non-interview” in relation to allegations that the Conservative Party donor and peer, Lord Ashcroft, is avoiding tax by keeping tens of millions of pounds in the offshore trust known as Punta Gorda.
In an unusual variation of the media ambush, the BBC’s Richard Bilton and his camera team showed footage of how they traipsed around after Lord Ashcroft at the Conservative Party conference.
Lord Ashcroft eventually ended the encounter by disappearing into the gentlemen’s toilets.
But by refusing to engage at all with the reporter, he too conveyed an impression he had something to hide.
You can watch it here.
Simple Guidelines For Dealing With Doorsteppers
Dealing with a media ambush like this isn’t easy, and it’s unlikely to happen to most readers of this e-zine.
But if you are ever the subject of a doorstep interview my advice is to engage with the media representatives, not ignore them.
This does not mean doing an unprepared on-the-spot interview – something I strongly urge you to avoid when guiding clients in media training sessions.
But you will come across far better to the media – and to the wider public – if you pull out a pen and paper and politely ask the reporters what it is they’d like to know and write down their questions.
My suggestion is that you also ask for the business cards or mobile phone numbers of all the journalists who are interested – and promise to get back to them as soon as you are in a position to respond (and of course make sure that you keep this promise).
It also helps to tell them why you can’t give an interview there and then – whether it be because of an important appointment you are late for, the need to do more research in the areas they have identified or whatever.
Giving the reason you can’t do an interview immediately helps take the pressure off, and allows you to be – and be seen as – more reasonable and responsible than those who run and hide.
Following these procedures enables you to come across as being interested and helpful – and allows you time to liaise with anyone you need to, seek advice if required and time decide whether you wish to do an interview or choose not to.
This will enable you to look far more gracious and comfortable on camera than Mr Corbyn or Lord Ashcroft did.
And in fact the more politely you come across the less likely the media will be inclined to run the footage of the encounter.
Tackling That “What Do You Do?” Question
While tough questions to you about sex and taxes will hopefully be pretty rare, there is one question which many people find surprisingly tough.
It’s the “What do you do?” question you can get while at networking meetings, conferences or in a lift.
Here’s some tips to enhance your “elevator pitch” reply in the latest video series from Sticky Marketing’s Grant Leboff.
Sessions on telling people what you do in a succinct, captivating and memorable manner can be run in a master class at your company away day or as an interactive conference keynote.
There’s more at:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/get-your-message-across-in-60-seconds/
Great Answers To Hot Scary Questions
With Help From A Movie Star
It’s hot, it’s scary and it’s about to hit the screen.
It’s the feature film “The Redeeming”.
There’s two reasons I’m writing about this extraordinary new movie…
The first reason is that the star of “The Redeeming” – Tracey Ann Wood – appears in a new Michael Dodd Communications video to demonstrate how to give great answers to tough questions at work.
The second reason is that to celebrate Tracey Ann Wood’s appearance in the video, there’s a sneak preview of the newly-released trailer for “The Redeeming” at the end of it.
If you’re brave enough, you can pre-order the opportunity to watch on-line version of “The Redeeming” from late December and view the movie where “bad memories will always haunt you”.
And bad memories will certainly haunt you if you ever give bad answers to tough questions in the workplace!
You will be able to see The Redeeming on the big screen in London and beyond early next year.
To see Tracey Ann Wood in action on screen in the trailer for “The Redeeming” click on the link below.
Before you get to the trailer, you will have the opportunity to see Tracey Ann Wood demonstrating how to give bad answers to tough questions – and how to give great answers to tough questions as well.
In this endeavour, Tracey Ann Wood is questioned by and advised by the author of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”, Michael Dodd – known for asking “blowtorch-on-the-belly” questions as only a recovering Australian political journalist and foreign correspondent can ask them.
Now that’s even hotter and scarier than “The Redeeming” itself!
And the video to help you give great answers – and show you the trailer of the movie – will hit your small screen now if you click on:
How To Mentor Yourself With The Help Of Fritz
Meanwhile, for those seeking to become a better version of yourself, there’s a remarkable new free App that can help you.
It’s called the Reflection Questions App and it’s provided by my speaking colleague Mark Fritz who is a whizz at mentoring in the business world to help people and teams grow faster.
The App enables you to give yourself advice, though it’s based on the wisdom that Mark has built up while advising leaders in 50 countries.
You can find out more about it – with the help of a snappy little animated character called “Fritz” – and how to get it at: http://www.reflectionquestions.com/
It’s been splendid to work with Mark Fritz and his team in Spain to help one of his corporate clients implement a Transformational Leadership Programme – and to guide them in giving great answers to tough questions about it along the way.
And it was great to stay at Madrid’s Hotel Abba – yes, the Hotel Abba!
However I couldn’t find anyone in Spain who was able to give a great answer to the really tough question: Was the hotel named after a one-time massive Swedish pop group?
Like the members of Abba, keep smiling.
Michael