This morning I ran a quick and dirty crisis interview training session for a client.
In it, we discussed the kind of questions which are almost always going to crop up, and which, therefore, you should always prepare how to respond.
Here are a few of them – crowdsourced from the Rough House team.
- “Why/how did this happen?”
- “How could you let this happen?”
- “Whose fault is it?”
- “How will you make sure this doesn’t happen again?”
- “Can you guarantee this won’t happen again?” (NB – avoid guaranteeing anything)
- “Will you resign?”
- “What do you say to those affected?”
- “What are you going to do for xyz/are you going to offer compensation?
- What effect will this have on your brand image?
- Why would anybody ever want to work with you again?
Obviously, there are topic-specific questions as well. In this case, we were talking about a cyberattack, in which case you’re likely to be asked:
“Are you going to pay the ransom?”
When you’re preparing your answers to these, remember that if possible, it’s better to answer a direct question. If you avoid it, there is always the chance that the journalist will keep asking until they force a revelation from you. It’s much better to be on the front foot, having thought about it in advance.
When framing your answer, make sure you include an element of empathy or understanding of the impact of what has happened, and a sense that you are pro-actively taking action to deal with the situation, and, if possible, the context around it.
Of course, it’s always better to practise these skills and we can help with this, through our crisis media training courses, where we intensively prepare clients to face the tricky questions and come out smiling.
Ann Wright is a communications and media training specialist at Rough House Media, helping organisations and professionals communicate with confidence, clarity and impact. She writes about media training, communications, PR and effective messaging. Ann is a crisis media training expert.
