TJ Walker says the best answer when reporters ask something you can't answer is to say "I don't know" plainly, then bridge to what you do know or offer to follow up. Never guess, which damages credibility. But don't use "I don't know" to dodge questions about facts you actually know.
Chapters
What is the best answer you could possibly give in many situations when dealing with the news media? I don't know. Yes, that's it. I mean, literally say, I don't know. If a reporter asks you a question, you don't know the answer. Quite often the best response is to say, I don't know. But don't just stop there. Then bridge to what you do know that's relevant and that takes you closer to your message. Big problem a lot of people have is they want to be extra helpful to the reporter. They want the reporter to think they're smart, nice and friendly and resourceful. So when the reporter asks a question and the individual doesn't know the answer, they'll guess. If you guess and you guess incorrectly, you've misled the reporter. You've then misled the readers, viewers, listeners. If it gets into the final story and. And you've destroyed your credibility. If the reporter finds out, it turns out not to be true. So my recommendation, do not guess. Don't be afraid to say, I don't know. Here's the catch, though, or the key to all this. Don't act embarrassed. If the reporter asks you a question, you're like, I don't know. That's going to be the most memorable emotional moment of the whole interview. That's going to be, if it's television, what the reporter will want to put in. So the key is don't act embarrassed. Just act matter of fact. Now, sometimes a reporter may ask you something and you know somebody in another office, another division in your organization will know. Just politely say, I don't know. Smithers, in our accounting office does. I'd be happy to find out. And I can call you back. Certainly for any kind of telephone interview, that works fine. If it's a live TV show, you can always say that you're happy to have your office send the information within the hour. The key is don't act embarrassed. And don't just stop with I don't know, awkward silence. Bridge to something relevant that you do know. By the way, this is the perfect answer. If someone wants to throw a hypothetical situation to you about how awful things are, if you are in fact indicted, doesn't this mean your company is going to go through bankruptcy and your business career will be destroyed? Well, the person's asking about the future. Reporters asking me about the future. How many of us really know the future? So in this case, I am completely honest. Ethical response say I don't know, because I don't really know the future. So you can start off by saying I don't know about that. What I do know is every day I come to work I behave in a thoroughly honest ethical manner helping clients and that's what builds my business. So I've answered the question. I said I don't know. The reporter cannot accuse me of dodging the question if I said I don't know caveat. This doesn't work to just dodge. If it's something you do know. The reporter says isn't your client this evil dictator who's destroying his country and it is your client. You can't just lie and say I don't know. You know your clients are so you can't use it as a get out of jail free card with questions you don't like. It needs to be restricted to questions you don't know the answer to. But in those situations it works perfectly. Don't be afraid to say I don't know.
