Picture the scene.
Your organisation has made a decision many are deriding as being ‘PC’ or ‘woke’ and it is making headlines around the country.
And then you get a call from Good Morning Britain stating that Piers Morgan – a man who gets hysterical at the introduction of vegan sausage rolls – wants to interview the person responsible.
This was the scenario facing Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue service after it decided to axe Fireman Sam as its mascot over fears he could put women off joining.
It must have been tempting to decline the interview request, knowing that chief officer Les Britzman would in be in for a fiery encounter.
But it accepted and took the opportunity to try and shape the debate.
So how did he get on?
Well, what stood out for me was how calm he sounded despite facing an increasingly agitated presenter who seemed determined to add fuel to the fire. Mr Morgan repeatedly asked the fire boss when he would resign, and at one point said the ‘whole premise of your argument is nonsense’.
Here is a flavour of the type of questioning he faced:
Mr Morgan: "But you're the head of the Lincolnshire Fire Service and you're a man, right?
"Why are you not a woman if you feel so furious that the front person for the fire service should be male?
"Will you be resigning then, given that you feel so strongly about this?”
Despite the heated exchange, the fire boss sounded assured and composed. The only time he showed the slightest hint of annoyance was when he said to Mr Morgan: “Piers you rang me to interview me, so if I could have a word.”
And, as we stress on our media training courses, this is crucial when spokespeople finding themselves in a hostile interview or when they are facing questions they don’t like.
They simply cannot afford to show anger or frustration at the questioning or walk-out of the interview as several spokespeople have done recently during challenging interviews.
Related link: Two more spokespeople show how not to handle tough questions
The audience is more likely to be sympathetic to a spokesperson if you remain composed.
Getting into an argument with the journalist will not help you fight your corner.
The other impressive part of the interview was that despite the clear provocation, Mr Britzman still managed to get his message across about the service struggling to recruit women.
He said: “Lincolnshire is a very modern and progressive brigade, we have two-thirds of our firefighters ‘on-call’, that means they come from their local community.
"We struggle massively to recruit on-call firefighters, and women are not wanting to join, they’re not applying. So, in terms of keeping the public safe, we’re struggling because women aren’t wanting to join the fire service.
“The image women get about joining the fire service starts very, very young, probably when they are three, four five, so, if we are sending the wrong message at that age, we are making a problem for ourselves further down the line in terms of recruiting.”
Perhaps tellingly as the interview went along, Mr Morgan’s co-host Susannah Reid appeared to be increasingly sympathetic to the fire boss’s argument.
And some viewers also took to social media to show their support.
@susannareid100 absolutely disgusting 'interview' with Les Britzman. Treated as an enemy by moany Morgan, not the hero that Firefighters are. The trauma they go through to save our lives was totally disregarded for a pointless conversation.
— SunSeekerGirlie (@SunSeekerGirlie) September 11, 2019
#GMB nice fail at trying to trap les Britzman into a corner bear baiting tv at it's best
— #suffolkJay76 (@suffolkjay76) September 11, 2019
#GMB @goodmorning allowing Piers Morgan to bully and talk over Les Britzman is not journalism - it is not ok
— Corinne Lamoureux (@CorinneLamoureu) September 11, 2019
#GMB @goodmorning allowing Piers Morgan to bully and talk over Les Britzman is not journalism - it is not ok
— Corinne Lamoureux (@CorinneLamoureu) September 11, 2019
Amazed that @lesbritzman didnt slam the phone down on @piersmorgan #GMB.
— Sandra Clemens (@sandyclem) September 11, 2019
Here are some other tips to help spokespeople survive hostile interviews:
Preparation
This is vital for any media interview and that prep work should involve making sure you know what to expect from the journalist you are going to be interviewed by and the outlet they work for. Some journalists – like Mr Morgan - have reputations for being much more hard-hitting (or outspoken) than others while some outlets are known to look for certain angles in stories.
Don’t just answer the question
Of course, you can’t ignore the questions put to you, but simply answering each one without trying to take any control of the conversation will lead spokespeople on to some very uncomfortable ground. On our media training courses, we teach techniques, such as bridging, which enable spokespeople to take control of interviews.
Avoid short answers
Not only does responding to questions in an interview with short answers sound defensive, but it also invites the reporter to ask more questions and cover more ground, which only increases the pressure. But the warning here is that long, rambling answers could lead to your message being misconstrued or misunderstood.
Negative words and phrases
Don’t repeat the journalist’s negative words, phrases and accusations in your responses to their questions. For example, you might be asked: “This is very disappointing, isn’t it? Aren’t you disappointed?” You answer: “I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing…” But you just have. The journalist’s negative language can now be attributed to you. Whether it’s broadcast or press, they have a neat sound bite with you using their negative phrase.
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.
Click here to find out more about our bespoke journalist-led media training courses.
