As the British general election campaign officially starts this week, the issue of answering questions – and avoiding answering them – is big in the news.
If you’re a British-based reader of this ezine you could be forgiven for thinking that the questions and answers to and from politicians about the May election have already been underway for months – and you’d be right.
This has especially been so with the return to the TV screen of the fearsome master inquisitor, Jeremy Paxman, after his retirement from the BBC’s Newsnight.
But even if you have no intention of ever being a politician or going near Jeremy Paxman when the moon is full, there are things we can all learn from the way Prime Minister David Cameron and Opposition Leader Ed Miliband struggled at times to deal with the interviewer from hell.
There’s only one thing terrifies interviewees more than Paxman’s “go-for-the-jugular-and-if-not-go-for-the-Achilles-Heal” approach.
And that’s having to answer questions from one-time Australian political correspondents who specialise in what we sometimes call Down Under “blowtorch-on-the-belly” questioning.
Modesty forbids me from saying more on this.
But whoever the questions are coming from, what really counts is the way you answer them – even if the questions are not coming from ferocious TV journalists.
ANSWER THE QUESTION UP FRONT
For you and your team in the non-political world, the challenge may be to stand up to difficult questions from your prospects, customers, financiers, stakeholders or your staff.
Or it could be your audience asking questions during or after your next presentation.
For you, David Cameron and Ed Miliband the most important piece of advice is amazingly simple: ANSWER THE QUESTION UP FRONT BEFORE SAYING ANYTHING ELSE.
David Cameron and Ed Miliband both found themselves on the back foot when they failed to do this in their Paxman encounters.
The Prime Minister looked totally lame when faced with a Paxman question about whether he could live on a zero hours contract (a work arrangement where there is no minimum weekly amount of work provided or paid for).
“That’s not the question,” Cameron argued.
“Well it’s the question I’m asking,” snorted Paxman.
Paxman 1, Cameron 0
You can view the exchange here:
Miliband tried re-phrasing questions at times, but Paxman wouldn’t let him get away with that either.
“You’re making up questions yourself,” Paxman rightly complained.
Paxman 1, Miliband 0
Being a politician at election time is a very difficult thing.
I’ve had the dubious privilege of following around candidates on election campaigns in Britain, Australia, Germany and elsewhere and I know the acute pressures they can be under behind the scenes, on stage and on screen.
But politicians frequently add to their own pressures by not answering questions directly.
As soon as they start an answer by saying “The real issue is…” we know they are avoiding the question and we characteristically start yelling at them through the TV screen.
If you answer the question up front, you can then – under the normal rules of conversation – go on and say what you think the real issue is. And it’s perfectly reasonable for you to do this.
But if you go straight to answering a different question then we don’t even need Paxman on screen to tell us that the question is being dodged.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER
The real challenge is what to say when you don’t know the answer.
The thing here is to say you don’t know – BUT THEN TELL US WHY.
There are all kinds of reasons why you or David Cameron or Ed Miliband may not know the answer.
If you tell us why it gets you off the hook.
It could be because you have a team working on trying to find the answer to that question.
Then tell us. It could be that the economic future is so hard to read that no one can work out the answer precisely to how your company will be faring in 2019. Then tell us.
It could be that someone else in your organisation knows the answer and you can get it from them and pass it on. Then tell us (and make sure you do when you get it!). Once you have told us why you can’t answer then you are in a position to go on and say something else.
And in this way you can both deal with the question and make your point as well.
That’s where there is a win-win-win to be had between you, your questioner and the wider audience.
The fact that so many politicians jump straight to the second step without doing the first step is a key reason why they are typically held in such low esteem.
If you answer the question up front or tell us why you can’t and then make helpful point then you can be held in high esteem.
There’s more about the sessions I run to help you “Give Great Answers To Tough Questions” at:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
These can be done one-to-one, in small groups or at conferences.
Either way you come away feeling empowered and knowing how to keep your audience onside.
HOW NOT TO SOUND LIKE A POLITICIAN
I do get amazed when occasionally people ask me: “Can you teach me to avoid answering questions just like those politicians do!”
The short answer is that I could, but I won’t.
That’s because no one in their right mind in business wants to be seen in the same light as politicians – not even used car salesmen.
I once had the privilege of meeting and interviewing the actor, Paul Eddington, who played the archetype question avoider, Jim Hacker, before his premature death from skin cancer.
Paul was a delightful guy, but you wouldn’t want to look or sound like him in Jim Hacker mode.In fact he told me as we walked through Parliament House in Canberra that he was amazed at the number of people who said he should run for parliament.
Paul found this highly amusing…as he knew that no one would really want to vote for someone associated with Jim Hacker.My sessions will show you how to answer the questions so that people will believe your answers – and love you all the more as a result.
And as you’ll be telling the truth – in the most useful way for you and your questioners – you will benefit from the warm inner glow that accompanies this.
One day politicians might try it out.
But until they do, enjoy the British election campaign and enjoy seeing Paxman and his successors come out on top pretty much every time!
Keep smiling,
Michael