Take conferences seriously. Take time for your preparation. A press conference is a government test. What you say or don’t say has consequences, sometimes relentless. The successes are hardly recognized, but the mistakes are expensive. Notice or imagine the questions they will ask you. Rehearse your answers and share them with your advisors. Or with your mirror. Please refine your message. Running a government involves handling many issues. Improvise as little as possible and study. Never lecture tired. Not annoyed.
Do not underestimate the journalist. Gone are the days when the politician won by evading the issues or answering half-heartedly. Not today. What does not answer to the satisfaction of public opinion will keep the issue alive. And sometimes it will enhance it. Remember that the journalist brings the pulse of many issues and will ask you difficult questions. He will not be satisfied with any response from you.
Have good reflexes. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be a question you didn’t expect. There only his skill and experience will bring him out. Your common sense and intuition. There are no recipes for this situation, but it is an opportunity to demonstrate the craft of the politician. And what size is he?
Do not give frivolous answers. While you can indulge in clever phrases or responses, be careful. There are sensitive topics that do not allow frivolities or jokes. Keep in mind a list of issues that you should never joke about or treat lightly. Frivolous politicians can be relevant in the networks, but never respect, and a politician without respect is an irrelevant politician. Politics must never lose its seriousness, although voters sometimes think otherwise.
Get the cabinet involved. A press conference is not an isolated act, it is an act of government. You must instruct your cabinet to keep you informed in advance of substantive issues. You always have to go ahead. Tell them. Formalize this mechanics of work. Do not leave him alone, without information ammunition before the questions of the media.
Be clear and precise. Being clear is usually more difficult, because to explain a topic in a simple way, it is because he handles it very well. The government has very complex issues that need a translation into popular expression. Avoid bureaucratic language and the old legal language. Also of the political language that says little, although it speaks a lot. A politician must be a good pedagogue.
Do not get mad. Don’t take things personally. Press conferences are also verbal and intelligence duels. Face them with fortitude and prudence. The oft-quoted saying that he who gets angry loses always applies. Don’t go to the other extreme either and pretend nothing hurts and bothers you. Politics is also passion. measured passion.
Culiacán, Sinaloa, February 09, 2022. Twitter @guadalupe2003
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