Page 201 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

192 AFTER THE SPEECH AND MANAGING THE MEDIA

Turn any Q&A session to your favor with your own agenda. This
means that regardless of what you may be asked, come prepared to
make several points. You may wish to reinforce what you’ve already
said in your presentation or to add something that you forgot or
didn’t have time for, or to hammer home an overriding message. To
direct the Q&A session the way you want it to go, use what the
media people call “bridging.” This simply means answering any
question the way you want to answer it. For example:

“Consumer activist groups are complaining that your company
is not passing the savings from the recent drop in oil prices along
to consumers at the gas pumps. How do you answer that
charge?”

Reply: “I think the real question is, how do you measure real
savings after we have spent a year keeping our pump prices arti-
ficially low in the face of skyrocketing oil costs?

“When everyone else was high, we were low. Now the market

is fluctuating up and down, but our prices are still relatively
low.

“And keep in mind that one out of every three dollars we take
in goes to oil exploration. That’s an investment in our future that
will make us self-sufficient—and the only way I know of to

guarantee low prices at the gas pump.”

This person is obviously prepared. She bridged by saying, “I
think the real question is . . . ,” which immediately seized control of
the conversation and put the ball in her court. Then she jumped
straight to three points she wanted to make.
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Caution: Bridging, if done consistently, is sometimes viewed
as evasive. So bridge sparingly and wisely, saving the bridge only
for the hardest questions.
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