There are vital things to learn about communications – and also about personal and business survival – from the big beasts of the jungle…
 
One lesson comes from a particular hippopotamus in Kenya who decided that I represented a threat.
 
Another lesson comes in Britain from a particularly large figure in the Public Relations world who managed to become a threat to himself and his company.
 
So first to Kenya where I’ve just been on a fascinating media training expedition organised by a heroic media consultancy called Mission Media.
 
In a delightful hotel on the banks of Lake Naivasha, I was helping humans when under pressure to talk to journalists.
 
But humans under pressure are more gracious than the hippos of Lake Naivasha when they think their patch is being violated.
 

 
Hippos – as I have now learned – are highly territorial creatures that can become very aggressive.
 
Hippos are classified among the most dangerous animals in the world.
 
They kill hundreds of people a year – more than lions, tigers and cheetahs.
 
This is what a hippo looks like side-on from the edge of the lake.
 
 

HIPPOS: NOT QUITE AS CUDDLY AS THEY LOOK

 

 

They’re rather cute, almost cuddly, and a touch comical.

But a male hippo can weight almost 10,000 pounds or 4,535 kilograms… (Study this figure closely before deciding if you’re seriously too heavy!).
 
 So you have to take hippos seriously…. especially a gang of them.
 
This is what a gang of hippos – known, technically, as a pod – looks like when spotted by a valiant, but perhaps slightly foolhardy, Australian explorer on the banks of Lake Naivasha.

 

 

 

This is what a sign looks like telling you when to be wary of wild animals on the banks of the lake.

 

 
 
But I can now tell you that hippos either don’t read or can’t tell the time – or choose not to stick to human guidelines on advertised hours.
 
This is what hippos look like – at any time – when they reckon you might be a threat to their patch of water and have decided to swim away from the tourist boats and head straight towards you on the shoreline.

 

 
 
One of these hippos was a faster swimmer than the others.
 
 

“EXCUSE ME SIR, THE HIPPO IS APPROACHING”

 
 
It was immediately after taking this picture that I had a polite tap on the shoulder from a hotel security guard patrolling the banks of Lake Naivasha.
 
This was followed by words I will never forget…
 
“Excuse me, sir, the hippo is approaching.”
 
There was an edge to his voice which suggested this was more than just a passing observation. It wasn’t like “Sir, dinner will soon be served in the lower dining hall.”
 
In case I missed the point he added: “We have to move now.”
 
And move we did.
 
It was a good idea.
 
This is what a hippo looks like when he’s getting closer…
 

 

Apparently a charging hippo can reach speeds of 30 kilometres per hour.
 
Clearly the security guard and I must have moved faster than that.
 
 

TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE – HIPPO-STYLE

 
Whenever you are seeking to communicate a message, the first thing to do is target your audience.
 
This hippo had a message.
 
With hindsight, I interpreted it to be something like “You’re on my patch, buster, and I’m going to do something about it.”
 
This hippo knew how to target his audience and to get his message across.
 
He also knew something about using body language to help make his point.
 
You have to respect that!
 
 

LESSONS FROM A BIG BEAST IN THE PR JUNGLE

 
 
If there’s one thing that’s worse than being charged at by a big beast, it’s being a big beast yourself in the Public Releations jungle and creating a situation where everybody else is charging at you.
 
When you are in PR you are natuarally judged by your own ability to handle your own publicity.
 
Alas this is what has happened in the case of Bell Pottinger – started by Lord Tim Bell, the man known for masterminding the British Conservative Party victories under Margaret Thatcher.
 
Bell Pottinger was expelled by the Public Relations trade body after being involved in a campaign it ran which was seen as stirring up racial tensions in South Africa.
 
After widespread condemnation, an exodus of clients and increasing losses it has been put into administration.
 
But as the co-founder of the company, things could hardly get worse for Lord Bell when he didn’t follow one of the most basic PR steps when appearing live on the BBC’s Newsnight programme to answer tough questions on the issue.
 
This basic step was remembering to turn off the volume on his mobile phone.
 
The video in this story about Bell Pottinger’s troubles shows what happened – though why Lord Bell didn’t immediately switch off his mobile after the first call – and insisted on showing his interviewer who the call was from – is anybody’s guess.

 

 

The standard advice about switching off your phone before a live TV interview is so obvious that it does not appear in “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”.
 
But everything else you need to stand up to blowtorch-on-the-belly questioning on the BBC or in any other professional conversation is in the book.

 

UPDATED COVER ON REPRINTED BOOK

And “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” is now being reprinted by the publisher, Wiley, with an updated cover (pictured).
 
The new-look cover features a quote from the Express newspaper saying “Every briefcase and bookshelf should have a copy”.
 
The updated jacket also features the endorsement emblem of the Chartered Management Institute declaring the book to be “Management Gold”.
 

You can read a free sample chapter here:
https://issuu.com/wiley_publishing/docs/great_answers_esampler

You can see the reviews – and add your own! – on the UK Amazon site here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Answers-Tough-Questions-Work/reviews

Reviews on the international Amazon site are here:
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Answers-Tough-Questions-Work/review
 
 

PERFORMING DURING YOUR GREAT ANSWERS 

 
Meanwhile, whether you are doing a media interview or a job interview, remember when you are in the answering spotlight you are – or should be – performing.
 
Here is a video – with Sticky Marketing interviewer Grant Leboff – which explains why:
 

 

 

SAYING WHAT YOU DO – IN 60 SECONDS

 
 
Meanwhile one of the most challenging questions for many people remains the “What do you do?” question.
 
My master classes, conference keynotes and one-to-one sessions on “Your Message In 60 Seconds” help you answer this question in the time it takes to cook a piece of toast.
 
This is apparently the same time it takes to heat a poppadom in a microwave – according to newspaper columnist Carole Ann Rice.

 

I did a one-to-one session with Carole Ann and she kindly wrote about it in her Happy Mondays column in The Express.
 
You can check out her experience here:
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/carole-ann-rice/846611/Make-good-first-impression-important-work
 
I suppose heating a poppadom or cooking a piece of toast is also about the time it takes to run away from a hippopotamus if you’re given enough of a start.
 
So keep smiling and look out for those tough questions, those hippos and any other big beasts that might be coming after you!
 
Michael