Make 'I Don't Know' Your Best Friend

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 asked you a question and 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 asked a question and the individual doesn’t know the answer they’ll guess if you guess and you guessed incorrectly you’ve misled the reporter you then misled the readers viewers listeners if it gets into the final story and you’ve destroyed your credibility a 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.

The key to all this.

Don’t act embarrassed the reporter ask you a question and you’re right.

I don’t know.

That’s going to be the most memorable emotional moment of the whole interview.

That’s kind of 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 and 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.

Will the persons 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.

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 does it work to just dodge if it’s something you do know the reporter says isn’t your client this evil dictator who is destroying his country and 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.