There is nothing quite like seeing good and bad interviews in action.
They are a great way of showing our media training delegates what works well and the things they need to avoid.
It is one of the reasons our next complimentary webinar – on Thursday (5/12) – will look back at the best and worst interviews of the past 12 months and the lessons others can learn from them.
And there could be a late entrant in the 'worst' category.
It was provided by Nigel Farage.
It came after a Reform press conference to announce that former Conservative minister Andrea Jenkyns had joined the party and would be its candidate for mayor of Lincolnshire.
While that move from someone who has previously been involved in a public row with the party may have been a surprise, it was another Reform member journalists were keen to ask about - James McMurdock.
It emerged last week that the new MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock was jailed 18 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend - after The Times applied for information from the courts about his sentencing.
He had not publicly disclosed the conviction before he was elected and had subsequently downplayed the incident as “teenage indiscretion”.
Asked by Serena Barker-Singh from Sky News whether he was concerned whether Mr McMurdock had “lied about what he did”, the Reform party leader said: “Did he? He wasn’t vetted. He wasn’t vetted.
“James McMurdock was one of those many candidates who wasn’t vetted at all by the party.
“I didn’t know any of this until I took back over as leader.”
When pushed on the subject with a question about whether the MP would get through the party’s new vetting system, Mr Farage said: “I’ll tell you what. You can have your fun at Sky News.
“We have 100,000 members. I’ve got a million followers on TikTok. Dame Andrea Jenkyns has just joined us. She’s our candidate for Greater Lincolnshire. You’ve had your fun, I’m off for lunch.”
And with that, he walked off.
"He wasn't vetted."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 28, 2024
Nigel Farage was asked about one of his MPs James McMurdock, who it's emerged was jailed 18 years ago, having not disclosed it during the election.https://t.co/3PxBwJmRbZ
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/TfUsc6V5ZH
How does it look?
Petulant? Evasive? Afraid of scrutiny? Frustrated? Does it look like he cares about the issue?
The second answer seems like a collection of random talking points.
Sure, it was not what Reform wanted to discuss – the party wanted to focus on Dame Andrea and its 100,000 members.
But, as we stress during our media training sessions, other issues are always likely to be brought into interviews.
And the journalist would not have been doing her job if she had failed to ask about Mr McMurdock.
With seemingly no sense of irony, Mr Farage accused the Prime Minister of being “too scared to take spontaneous questions from the media” in a post on X the following day. And added: “This would never happen at a Reform UK press conference.”
Our Prime Minister is too scared to take spontaneous questions from the media.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) November 29, 2024
This would never happen at a Reform UK press conference. https://t.co/HGeLsPX6Vm
He must have forgotten about walking away from scrutiny a day earlier.
So, what can other spokespeople learn from this interview?
Never walk away
No matter how bad an interview feels like it is going - or how many uncomfortable questions are asked - never walk away.
Tantrums are media interview gold, and you can guarantee the footage will be used.
It will be played repeatedly.
And it distracts from everything else that is said.
Nigel Farage storms out of Sky News interview when quizzed over Reform MP’s assault conviction Independent
‘You’ve had your fun, I’m off for lunch’: Nigel Farage walks out of Sky News interview Metro
And it is not just politicians who walk out of interviews. Brad Banducci, the then boss of Woolworth in Australia, was at the centre of damning headlines earlier this year after walking out of an interview. And it was announced a few days later that he would be stepping down.
A few years earlier, Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn walked away from a BBC interview after being asked about his eye-watering £75m bonus. Just like the boss of Woolworths, a few days after he opted for the media interview self-checkout, his time at the top ended.
Anticipate
You can usually anticipate challenging questions.
If one of your MPs has been making headlines for assaulting his girlfriend in the past, that is something journalists will ask about, no matter what you want to discuss.
Anticipating the questions and preparing how to respond is crucial for media interview success.
It will also result in better messages than “I’ve got a million followers on TikTok”.
Think about what else is ‘moving’ in the media you could be asked about.
It could be something else the organisation has recently been in the news for, comments made by a senior leader, bonus payments, or recent financial results.
Don’t dodge
Before the walkout, Mr Farage made little attempt to answer the follow-up question.
When a spokesperson tries to evade a question by delivering a response which does not relate to what they have been asked, they can appear shifty and untrustworthy.
It may also encourage the journalist to pursue that line of questioning, increasing the pressure.
Had the Reform leader not walked away, he would almost certainly have been pressed further on the subject.
Who grabbed the attention of our media training experts for all the wrong reasons this year? And who shone in the media spotlight? All will be revealed in our final webinar of the year - and you are invited. Join us at 11am on Thursday (5/12)
Bridge
Our delegates often tell us they worry about difficult questions and being unable to answer them.
You might get through it without facing tricky questions if you bring a strong story and back it up with examples.
And if uncomfortable questions are asked, use the bridging technique to navigate them.
It is something Elisa Colton, one of the expert tutors, discussed during a recent complimentary webinar.
“It starts with answering or at least acknowledging the question. For example, you could say something like, “I understand why there is a lot of interest in that’. Here, you are answering the question in a way, and giving it some respect. So, it doesn’t look like you don’t care.
“But you don’t want to spend too much time here and need to build a bridge. ‘But’ and ‘However’ are great bridging words. So, after acknowledging or answering the question, you could say, ‘But that’s not what we are seeing here’ or ‘But what people are telling us is…’. These phrases take some time and practice to get right, but they get you away from the tricky area.
“And once that has been done, you need to communicate. Get back to your message and examples.
“Once you are over that bridge, remember it burns behind you. Avoid the temptation to return to it by saying something like, ‘Does that answer your question?’.
Media training
We know you expect us to say this one.
But good media training, carried out by current working journalists, is crucial for helping spokespeople survive media interviews and thrive.
It is much better to discover the questions where your spokespeople struggle to remain composed and collected in the training studios than in a real interview.
Don’t forget to join us on Thursday for our review of the standout interviews of the year. We will be looking at those who struggled. And those who stayed composed - and got their messages across - even when faced with tough questions.
Will it feature Mr Farage? Tune in to find out.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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