What’s the wildest way you have seen a spokesperson handle media questions they don’t know how to answer?
We’ve previously highlighted spokespeople storming out of media interviews in our media training blogs.
We’ve looked at interviewees who opted to criticise the question.
And we have explored media appearances where the PR or comms advisor has interrupted the interview.
But what about a spokesperson threatening to sack their PR advisor during a media appearance because they were asked questions they felt they had not been briefed to answer?
This bizarre situation just happened.
Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, was giving a press conference as the Winter Games drew to a close.
After a fairly routine start, it began to go downhill quicker than a medial-winning skiier as Ms Coventry struggled to answer questions about FIFA president and IOC member, Gianni Infantino, joining Donald Trump's peace board, saying, “I wasn’t aware we had an IOC member front and centre.”
And as the questions moved on to other tricky areas, Ms Coventry struggled to hide her frustration.
This was first shown when she was asked for her reaction to comments from Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that it would be inappropriate for the country to host the 2036 Olympics because they will be 100 years after the Games were hosted by Nazi Germany.
Ms Coventry said: “Frankly, and I'm looking at my team because I was not aware that Germany had made any comments in and around 2036. So, I don't really have an opinion on it.”
IOC comms chief Mark Adam then intervened, saying: “We can take a look at it and come back to you. We try to monitor most global press, but I haven’t seen that.”
This was followed by a question from a New York Times journalist about a report it had carried that a “known whistleblower” had told the World Anti-Doping Agency that the “current chair of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was directly involved with widespread doping surrounding the Sochi Games” in 2014.
And the response will live long in the memory.
Ms Coventry said: “OK, I’m really looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that either.
“But I would be very interested to find out more about it.”
Then, just as her response looked like it was coming to an end, she added: “If it’s on the New York Times, again I’m looking at my team and be like ‘what happened guys, where are we?’.
“But no, I’m not aware of that”.
I’ve organised and observed many press conferences, and I have never seen anything like that.
The optics are awful.
It was a bizarre and embarrassing end to an otherwise successful Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
And, unsurprisingly, it was the story that emerged from the press conference.
Here are a few examples of how it was reported:
The coverage makes for grim reading.
Let’s start with briefing and preparation, as that’s what angered the Olympic boss.
We don’t know what kind of briefing Ms Coventry received ahead of the press conference.
Maybe the guard was down a little because of the success of the games. Perhaps it was felt there was a lack of time to run through potential questions. It’s also possible that these two stories got lost in all the coverage about the Olympics.
We just don’t know.
But this press conference disaster does highlight the importance of spending time anticipating difficult questions and hot topics your spokesperson might be asked about ahead of a media appearance.
It is something we always stress during our media training courses.
Not all media interviews are hostile, but difficult and uncomfortable questions come with the spokesperson role.
So, you must consider what is being discussed in the media that goes beyond your subject and could present a challenge.
Need some examples?
Well, if your organisation had negative coverage in the past few months ago, that could be brought into the interview.
If the CEO’s pay or bonus has attracted controversy, then that is also likely to become a line of questioning.
Maybe one of your competitors has been embroiled in controversy. You could be asked for your views on that.
You could be probed about potential changes your sector is facing or the impact of a new government policy.
No matter how great your media interview preparation, spokespeople can still get blindsided by a question.
It’s impossible to successfully anticipate every tricky question or wider issue that might be asked.
This is particularly true during a long press conference where journalists all potentially bring different angles they want to explore.
But effective media spokespeople, equipped with the bridging media training technique, are able to handle questions they – and their advisors – didn’t see coming.
They can think on their feet and don’t need to rehearse or script every response.
So, what should a spokesperson do when they are caught out by a question about something in the news?
Be honest. ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m not aware’ are not the damaging phrases some spokespeople believe them to be (if used sparingly). As we often stress during our media skills training, journalists don’t expect you to know the answer to everything.
But you must promise to look into the issue and go on to tell them what you do know.
Let’s go back to the Germany question Ms Coventry faced.
She could have said something like: “I have not seen those comments yet, unfortunately. But I promise you I will look into them. It’s been a really busy couple of weeks, as I’m sure you can imagine. And my focus has been on delivering the best possible winter games.”
Other variations might include “That’s something I will look into, but what I am focused on now is…” or “This is something I will look into, but the crucial thing for me right now is…”
The damaging thing about this press conference is not that Ms Coventry did not know how to answer a couple of questions.
It’s how she reacted to not knowing how to respond.
She instantly panicked, looked for someone to blame and threatened to fire her team.
She publicly threw her comms team under the bus because she felt unprepared and needed a scapegoat.
And that turned her routine press conference into a PR disasterclass.
Had she managed to remain calm and composed under pressure – and discussed any concerns she had about her briefing behind the scenes - no one would be talking about the topics she wasn’t aware of.
Instead, she now faces questions about her leadership style and judgment.
That may prove a particularly slippery slope to navigate.
And she will probably need her comms team to help her rebuild her reputation. If they’ve not been fired.
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