Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg got generally high marks from PR pros for his appearance before the U.S. Congress in April. Not so much for his just completed testimony before lawmakers of the European Union.
“Ripped by European Parliament for Dodging Questions,”according to the CNN headline. “It’s Europe – not America Facebook Should be Worried About,” trumpeted Vox.
What happened?
- Observers noted that the American lawmakers by-and-large were ill-informed and “out of touch” about both Facebook’s operations and our country’s privacy laws. Zuckerberg was able to deflect their most difficult questions relatively easily, because U.S. Congress questioned him one-by-one and didn’t ask probing follow-up questions.
- But the European body was a different story. They wouldn’t accept Zuckerberg’s “canned” answers. Part of the problem may have been the format of the session. In Parliament, all of the members asked all their questions first, and Zuckerberg had to respond to them as a collective group. That naturally made it more difficult for him to parse specifics. “I asked six questions, and he didn’t answer any of them,” one Parliament member said into his mic.
The lessons for communications professionals are clear:
- Know your audience and adapt to different settings and session formats. Never assume that what works with one group will automatically work with another, or that the protocol for Q&A will be the same. Do homework on who is going to ask the challenging questions and how — whether it’s for testimony, a road show or a media interview.
- Don’t dodge tough questions. Too often politicians, in particular, don’t answer a question and simply jump to their message. However, when testifying before an informed panel or being grilled by an experienced reporter, you may not get away with evading the question or providing “canned” answers.
- Learn how to bridge effectively after you have acknowledged or answered the question. Use best practice techniques to anticipate tough questions and know what messages to bridge to. A bridge to nowhere won’t get you to where you want to be.
CommCore clients are increasingly communicating in worldwide forums and know that one size doesn’t fit all. A panel at Davos requires different preparation than a fireside chat at TechCrunch. It’s hard to get the extra time to rehearse a senior executive; it’s worth the time and effort to achieve better communications and policy results.