TJ WALKER - THE HABIT INFLUENCER - Personal Development | LIVE STREAM

The first thing you need to do when a reporter asks you a question and it doesn't take you right to one of your three message points is open with a short answer to that question. Again, I'm not teaching you to dodge questions. This isn't about being a phony politician and saying, well, Jim, I'm glad you asked me that. But what I really want to talk about is. No, no, none of this phoniness. You have to answer questions, but you can answer them strategically. So if someone asks you a question and you know the answer and you have a lot of facts and a lot of background and you care about it, the natural temptation is to give them a five minute answer. Here's the problem. If that issue isn't directly related to the message you care about most on this issue, you've got to fight that instinct. Don't talk for five minutes. Instead, give a short answer to that question. By short, I mean 10 seconds or less. Then bridge from there in a logical way to your message. It takes a discipline. It's not natural, but this is the way you can satisfy the reporter and yourself at the same time. Keep it short. If the question doesn't directly relate to your key message.