{"id":8208,"date":"2011-04-12T10:50:34","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T10:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/blog\/?p=8208"},"modified":"2011-04-12T10:50:34","modified_gmt":"2011-04-12T10:50:34","slug":"beware-of-journalists-trick-questions-during-an-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/publicity\/beware-of-journalists-trick-questions-during-an-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of journalists’ trick questions during an interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Woman<\/a>Let’s see how savvy you are when it comes to interviewing with journalists.<\/p>\n

Which of the following would you consider a trick question:<\/p>\n

A. “What’s your annual revenue?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

B. \u00a0“I know you feel uncomfortable commenting on that topic, but how about telling me off the record?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

C. \u00a0“What’s the worst business mistake you’ve ever made, and what have you learned from it?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take a minute and actually write your answer on a piece of paper. A, B or C, or any combination of the above?<\/p>\n

As a former journalist, I’ve asked those three questions many times. Now, let’s see if you’re right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A. What’s your annual revenue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not a trick question. If your company is publicly held, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t answer it.<\/p>\n

If you’re not publicly held, don’t sweat it. Just give a range (“over $500,000 in sales”) or explain that you’d rather not provide that information for competitive reasons.<\/p>\n

Many business stories, particularly those about small businesses, state that the owner declined to offer sales and revenue figures. Not answering won’t kill the story, even in business journals. (See “How to Use Business Journals to Tell Your Story<\/a>.”)
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

B. “I know you feel uncomfortable commenting on that topic, but how about telling me off the record?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

This can be a trick question. But it’s also a very dangerous question. So pat yourself on the back if you chose B.<\/p>\n

If you spill the beans to a reporter you do not know or trust and it’s “off the record,” it might show up in print.<\/p>\n

A reporter might take something you’ve given him and run it past two other sources. \u00a0If those sources confirm the information on the record, the reporter might use it. \u00a0Policies on using information obtained off the record differ among media outlets. \u00a0But why take chances?<\/p>\n

Also, experienced reporters who pry off-the-record information out of you will sometimes wheel and deal and try to get you to agree to let them use parts of it. \u00a0Before you know it, they’ve talked you into using all the material on the record.<\/p>\n

Sometimes sources find it necessary to talk off the record in cases where they want to flag a favorite reporter to something that will be happening, like a major announcement, and to explain the background so the reporter will be ready to write about it when the story breaks.<\/p>\n

Understand, however, that the 24-hour news cycle makes “exclusives” more of a risk to the source. If it’s a major story and you promise it to a reporter, but the editor doesn’t think the story is very good, she might bury it in the back of the newpaper. That can alienate other reporters who you want to c over it.<\/p>\n

These days, many companies break news by writing about it at their blogs, and then tweeting the headline \u00a0and linking to the blog post so that all media can have the story at the same time.<\/p>\n

If, for whatever reason, you’re inclined to give the story to a reporter you know and trust, do this only if\u00a0you’re experienced dealing with the media.\u00a0I prefer that companies break their own news at their blogs. (See “The Dangerous Hidden Secrets of Print and Broadcast Reporters.”<\/a>)
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

C. \u00a0“What’s the worst business mistake you ever made, and what have you learned from it?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not a trick question, so don’t be embarrassed or get rattled. \u00a0Everyone has a worst business mistake.<\/p>\n

Anticipate this question and prepare your response. \u00a0The media love to help their readers and viewers avoid other people’s mistakes. \u00a0Rather than just identifying the blunder, explain how others can avoid making it.<\/p>\n

If your mind goes blank when the reporter asks this question, don’t blurt out the first thing that pops into your head. Ask, “May I take a minute to think about the answer?” Or you can say, “Can we revisit this question later?”<\/p>\n

Reporters usually don’t mind waiting.<\/p>\n

Learn about more questions, trick and otherwise, in my “Special Report #2: Questions You Can Expect a Reporter to Ask During an Interview (Including Nasty, Hostile Ones).<\/a>”<\/p>\n

What other trick questions have reporters asked you? If you disagree with my advice, challenge me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let’s see how savvy you are when it comes to interviewing with journalists. Which of the following would you consider a trick question: A. “What’s your annual revenue?” B. \u00a0“I know you feel uncomfortable commenting on that topic, but how about telling me off the record?” C. \u00a0“What’s the worst business mistake you’ve ever made,\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":4,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[691],"tags":[620],"class_list":{"0":"post-8208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-publicity","7":"tag-how-to-interview","8":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}