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Fielding Difficult Questions Workshop
April 11, 2014
Friday’s workshop on Fielding Difficult Questions tackles the nightmare scenario of the gotcha moment: live before an audience, faced with a reasonable-sounding question and no good answer. Matt and John will start by explaining how and why to keep things conversational rather than resorting to argument, then present practical strategies for answering all the trickiest types of questions that come up in media interviews like the yes-or-no, the have-you-no-decency, the Gish Gallop, and nearly a dozen other “gotcha” challenges. (Yes, including the classic Why? question.) If you’ve ever wondered how to tackle the tough ones and come out looking good, do not miss this session.
Future workshops in the series will focus on other practical skills including prepping the boss and best practices for creating and executing effective messaging.
What: Fielding Difficult Questions Workshop
When: Friday, April 11, at Noon
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We had a great field trip to New York on March 28! At Bloomberg’s new “Las Vegas-style” headquarters, we sat down with talent and producers and toured the building (more glass than the Louvre and more Bloomberg terminals than, well, most anywhere on earth). We then split up into three groups to visit the New York Times, AP and Reuters. We met with reporters and bureau chiefs to discuss the best ways to get our bosses covered. After that, we reconvened at 30 Rock to meet MSNBC talent, producers and bookers, including hosts Krystal Ball, Ari Melber, Karen Finney and Joy-Ann Reid. We ended the day at UPSTAIRS, the rooftop bar at the Kimberly Hotel in Midtown, for a hacks and flacks happy hour with New York reporters. Between the trip up, cabbing around town and finishing the night on the rooftop, we got to know each other (very) well and, more importantly, learned some tips and tricks for getting these outlets to cover our bosses. All in all, it was a successful outing! –Alex Barriger