The Challenge of Press Conferences

Press conferences are a lot like life itself. They can be smooth, friendly, fun, contentious, hostile, awkward, controversial and a whole lot more. Further, much like life itself, they are often unpredictable.  A press secretary steps up to the podium confident he or she has everything under control: they know what they want to say, they have a good understanding of the pertinent facts, and they are in-charge of deciding who gets to ask questions. Given those variables, what professional would feel anything less than confident? Then, almost inevitably, a reporter shatters that confidence with an unexpected question - something that was not anticipated by the press secretary or their client.

The unexpected can take the tone of a press confernce in a completely different direction; one that even undermines whatever control the press secretary may have felt they had at the outset of this time with the press. Additionally, it can even change the mood of the reporters present from being fairly docile to outwardly aggressive. It is this reality that dictates press conferences should not be taken lightly. If the overall tone of such an event goes from postive and respectful to negative and confrontational, then the potential for unwanted coverage becomes a very real possibility. Such a dynamic is not to be taken lightly because of the possible damage it can do to the press secretary's credibility and the reputation of their client.

What's to be done? What steps can and should the press secretary take to ensure this does not happen? To begin, there are no guarantees. Such a turn-of-events can happen at any time and to any one, much like life.  Having said that, the press secretary can help keep the chances of press interactions taking a negative turn to a minimum by maintaing a calm demeanor; respecting the work of reporters; having a deep grasp of their facts; the full support of their client; and a total awareness of the overriding purpose of the press conference itself: to inform and promote. Few times is any of this easy. But at no time is it ever not important.