Snell’s Law
By: davidsnell | Posted: 10th March 2009
Probably you have never heard of "Snell's Law," but I figure if Murphy can have one so can I, and "Snell's Law" about media interviews goes this way: The question you most dread will be asked. If there's one question you're hoping against hope will not be asked, you're wasting your time. You might as well turn your hoping time into positive action and plan a PR; a Prepared Response. Is it true that your company plans to lay off a thousand employees? Will there be a rate increase? What's your reaction to Councilman Smitherman's characterization of you as an incompetent boob? If you've decided how to answer, chances are you will handle the question well. If not, there's a very good chance you'll blow it. What if that dread question isn't asked? That doesn't mean you've wasted your time coming up with an answer you really didn't need. Even if the question isn't asked, the fact that you have your answer at the ready means you won't be going through the interview with your mind divided between the question you are answering and the dread question you hope won't be asked. And here's the other thing: If the question is out there enough so that you're spending time dreading it, there's a pretty good chance it will be worth the time you spend coming up with a prepared response. That's happened to a number of people I've worked with. We've finished working with the questions on their list plus a few that I had come up with, when I ask: "Is there another question that might be asked that you really don't want to deal with?" One time when I posed that question, the executive rolled his eyes. "Boy, is there ever." In fact, he dreaded it so much he was reluctant to even talk about it. When he finally explained it to me, I could see why he didn't want to deal with it but I also thought there was a pretty good chance it would come up. He thought so too, so we spent the next couple of hours working on it. The question never got asked during the interview, but the executive liked the answer we'd worked out so well that he raised it himself, giving the reporter his lead on the story and putting the company's position on a controversial subject in the best possible light. The moral of the story: If you're worried about a Snell's Law question, it's worth spending the time it will take to come up with a Prepared Response. Once you have it, you can use it or not, that's up to you. But, if you have it, you don't have to worry about that once dread question. This article is copyright
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Tags: good chance, dread, spending time, wasting your time, media interviews, rate increase, characterization