8 Ways To Deal With Difficult Questions...

Print it off and then sit and watch a politician being interviewed. In almost any interview at least one of these ploys will be used and most often several of them will be used.


Eight Ways to Deal With Difficult Questions

1. Attack the Question. - That’s a very silly question, how can you justify the use of the words “Above the Law"?

2. Attack the Questioner. - "How many years have you spent in government?"

3. Compliment the question. - "That’s a very good question. I’d like to thank you for asking me it. Let me reply by asking you one."

4. Unloading the question. - Most questions are loaded. They are full of assumptions such as "A lot of people have said that you consider yourself above the law." There are two possible replies to such loaded questions:

a) Name Ten
b) Surely in a nation of 60 million people you can find a few people who will say anything no matter how irrelevant, misguided, or ill-informed.

5. Make it all appear an act. - This approach only works for live TV interviews: "you know, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t agree with what you suggested I should answer when you asked me that question downstairs before the program began. The real answer is…"

6. Use the time factor. - Most interviews are short of time, especially live ‘on air’ interviews. Reply: "That’s a very interesting question, and there are nine points I should like to make in answer to it." The Interviewer will say: "perhaps you could just make two of them, briefly." You say: "No its far too important a question to answer superficially, and if I can’t answer it properly I’d rather not trivialize it."

7. Invoke Secrecy. - "There’s a very full answer to that question, but it involves matters that are being discussed in confidence. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to break a confidence. So I’m afraid I can’t answer for another week or two."

8. Take refuge in a long pointless narrative. - If you can ramble on long enough no one will remember the question and therefore no one can tell if you have answered it or not.

All of these are good ways to deal with difficult questions. If you have nothing to say then say nothing. However, better yet is to have something to say and say it, no matter what they ask you. Pay no attention to the question, make your own statement. If they ask you the same question again, you just say "that’s not the question" or "I think the more important question is this"...then make another statement of your own.

Found at Michael Greenwell

Comments

[Monica]

Hi, stopping in by way of Vickie to say Happy Birthday. :)

Take care and have a great day.

[Thorne]

Very excellent. I've clipped this to both Clipmarks and my blog. I'll have this in hand while watching the debate, tonight.

[sumo]

I thought people might enjoy this with the debate. I came by this via a blogger in Scotland...they are trying to get their independence and it is near and dear to his heart.

[The CultureGhost]

Ball peen hammers. During interviews and debates, produce a ball peen hammer. When a candidate engages in one of the above listed techniques, smash one of their knuckles with the ball peen hammer.

After a few instances of this, we might actually get honest responses from the parasites.

[oldwhitelady]

As I read the list, I remembered instances where these have been used. Interesting list. THank you for posting!

[glenda]

Excellent list...did one of my kids write this?

[passerby]

Verbatim reproduction from Yes Prime Minister, Wot?

[The Fat Lady Sings]

Tonight I watched almost all of the 'debate' participants engage in one or all of those diversionary tactics; especially Senators Dodd and Clinton. Obama deflected more than I would have liked - but that retired Senator from Alaska - Mike Gravel - he just tickled me pink! The man stood there and lobbed bomb after bomb into the middle of the debate. Cheers for Senator Gravel! He had the balls to suggest what we all have been saying - that the Democrats should get up off their collective asses and actually do something (including lock Bush in prison and throw away the key!).