SHORT ANSWERS AREN’T ALWAYS GREAT ANSWERS
But beware: answering tough questions too briefly can sometimes be dangerous.
One of the most alarming examples of damagingly excessive brevity I’ve ever witnessed has been recorded in an interview by the BBC.
It’s worth watching so that you make sure you never fall into the same trap.
The interview is about a scandal in a troubled British mental health trust called “Southern Health” which provides services for large parts of the south of England.
The Chief Executive of the Trust, big personality Katrina Percy, resigned after it was revealed that her organisation failed to investigate hundreds of deaths of patients that occurred on her watch.
This included the death of a young epileptic, Connor Sparrowhawk in Oxford, who died while being left alone to bath himself. Tragically this proved beyond him.
A jury-led inquest decided that Connor’s death was caused through failings by Southern Health.
Normally when a leader resigns in such circumstances you can expect them to leave the organisation.
But in this case a special post was created to allow Katrina Percy to carry on – at the same conveniently massive salary of just under a quarter-of-a-million pounds a year.
You may think this would be hard to defend.
And indeed it proved to be the case when the Chairman of the Trust, Tim Smart, was interviewed – with some well-researched questions – by BBC News.
You can commend Mr Smart for some glimpses of honesty in parts of the interview.
But no one would commend him for actually living up to his name and being smart in his overall approach.
Amongst the errors he commits in question-answering terms are:
# Rather than answer all questions straight up, he sometimes tries getting a message across first in order to justify a decision – before actually giving the reply to the question. This doesn’t usually work. It often looks as though you are evading the question. What you need to do is answer the question first and THEN convey your message to back it up.
# Sometimes when Mr Smart gives an answer up front he then fails to add a message of credible explanation – giving the impression that he can’t defend the contentious decisions.
# As a result of the above, Mr Smart falls into a couple of body language black holes – or “tells” which indicate more than his actual words about what’s really going on inside his head. He licks his lips at one point which is often a sign of feeling the pressure. At another moment his eyes dart upwards which signals being caught out.
Do be aware that body language interpretation is not an exact science, so I advise caution when interpreting signs automatically from physical actions. This is because these tell-tale movements don’t always signify what I’m suggesting here.
But I’m confident you’ll agree when you watch Mr Smart squirm in the face of the challenging questions that the body language assessments with his lips and eyes are fair in this instance.
Judge for yourself at:
PLAN PREPARE AND PRACTICE
FOR THAT BIG MOMENT
In this way you can plan, prepare and practice so you get the content right, the structure right and the delivery style right.
You can anticipate the toughest questions and make sure you give that direct reply up front before moving on to your related message.
Through training sessions you can make sure that the length of your answer is right for the situation.
The ultimate aim is to get as close as you can to a win-win-win between you, your questioner and any wider audience.
There’s more on media interview master classes at:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media-master-classes/
There’s more on keynotes for your conference, workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions on giving great answers to clients, prospects, team members, government officials and others at:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
And there’s guidance within what can now be described as THE AWARD-NOMINATED book “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”
Here’s more on the competition…
DODD vs SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Legend has it that this involves a lot of shouting at close range, laced with certain amount of spitting and an abundance of profanities.
This is a man whose book, “Leading”, has been nominated for the “Management Book of the Year Award”.
His name is Sir Alex Ferguson and he’s the one-time long-serving manager of the Manchester United Football Club which helped him amass his amazing 49 glistening football trophies.
The “Management Book Of The Year” showdown is being organised by the Chartered Management Institute in association with the British Library and sponsored by the prestigious Henley Business School.
More details about the nomination of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” for the award are at:
https://yearbook.managers.org.uk/book/great-answers-to-tough-questions-at-work/
Stand by for reports of hair drying if Sir Alex runs into the author of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” before the award is decided by an eminent panel of judges.
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LET AUNTY FABULOUS HELP YOU
SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS
She’s my professional speaking colleague, Nicci Roscoe, who – in addition to helping her clients and audiences make a Fabulous Impact – is now giving online advice about a range of issues drawing on her qualifications and widespread experience as a lifestyle coach.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxOCBfSHdHg18RyqDaLxNUA
Aunty Fabulous is a fun modern-day agony aunt who advises those who need it how to go about solving their personal problems and helping with their confidence, their relationships and other challenges of life.
A new Aunty Fabulous video goes online every Thursday afternoon London time to answer a viewer’s question.
LET THE THOUGHTS OF GURU, MARK FRITZ, HELP YOU EVERY DAY
These daily thoughts come from the author of “Lead and Influence”, Mark Fritz, who spends an average of an hour a day on inspired self-development and shares his learning with the world.
SHOUTING, SPITTING AND SWEARING
There’s potential for lots of close-range shouting and spitting laced with profanities… to an extent that could even shock hardened Australians.