Page 204 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

THE ART OF Q&A 195

teen seconds is a long time, check your watch and count off eighteen
seconds of silence. It’s actually a surprisingly long time.)
If you have thought about questions and answers in advance,
there should be little reason to give long answers. Besides, long, ram-
bling answers often signal a poor preparation, fuzzy thinking, dis-
comfort, and redundancy.

Get right to the point. This is a point I can’t stress enough. A person
thinking clearly won’t build to an elegant conclusion. Rather, the
Q&A master will often jump right to the main point (reversing the
wave) and then explain briefly how he or she came to that
conclusion.
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A good example or two will go a long way to providing credence.
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If you do have good examples, don’t be shy about busting right
through the eighteen-second “sound bite” to go longer than eighteen
seconds.

Stay cool. Don’t get into a spitting match with a skunk because
you’re bound to lose. Stand your ground and be firm if someone is

taking shots at you, but also try to be courteous.

Be sincere. Simple sincerity is a winning grace. Humor can be a
useful weapon in a hostile interview, but try to avoid coming across
as a comedian. Often humor is seen as sarcasm or insensitivity and
can backfi re.

Beware of false premises. You may get a question that is based on
incorrect facts. If so, correct the facts and set the record straight
before you go on to answer that question. However, if the questioner
uses egregious adjectives such as “howling,” “unwise,” “stupid,” or