A large number of newspaper headlines were created off the back of just one question from a radio interview last week.
Well, actually the same question was asked three times as the reporter pressed for an answer.
It was the type of question which we find many spokespeople our media training courses struggle to deal with – a hypothetical question which asks them to predict the future.
It came when Theresa May appeared on LBC and was asked by presenter Iain Dale whether she would vote for Brexit if another referendum was to be held.
Although her facial expressions in the above clip suggest she was uncomfortable with the question, Mrs May quite rightly dismissed it as ‘hypothetical’ and refused to be drawn – although it has to be said, that response still resulted in negative media coverage:
Theresa May refuses to say whether she would vote leave if Brexit referendum were held again The Telegraph
Theresa Maybe refuses to confirm whether she would vote for Brexit if there was new referendum The Sun
Theresa May refuses to say how she would vote in second EU referendum Independent
In truth this was a lose / lose situation for the Prime Minister where she risked upsetting both sides of the Brexit debate and headlines about her ‘refusing to say’ and ‘remaining silent’ on the issue were probably the best she could have hoped for.
Of course, for most spokespeople, the hypothetical question is unlikely to be on a subject as divisive as the one Mrs May faced.
But it does still pose very serious risks and it is a type of question journalists love to ask because they are obsessed with the future.
The main problem with hypothetical questions is that they can be as sensational as the journalist wants them to be and are designed to lead spokespeople down a dangerous path to speculation.
This means they can be drawn into making guesses which can obscure their position; completely take the focus away from the story they wanted the interview to centre on; set them up for making statements they can’t support; and even make them a hostage to fortune.
The key for spokespeople when faced by these questions is to avoid the trap. Stick to what you know and don’t make guesses about the future.
So if a journalist asks a questions which leads you to speculate, briefly acknowledge the question and explain why you can’t answer it and then steer the conversation back to your message – something the Prime Minister didn’t try to do.
You could say something like:
‘I don’t want to speculate on that, but what I can tell you is…’
‘Right now, what I think we should focus on is…’
‘You’re referring to a hypothetical situation. What I can say is…’
When I recently put a hypothetical question to a delegate on one of our media training courses, she responded by saying that she didn’t have a ‘crystal ball’, which was an effective way of closing down that particular line of questioning.
And that’s just it; you shouldn’t need a crystal ball in a media interview. Stick to what you know and stay in the present.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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