Career public relations professionals inevitably consider media interviews with a different ear and eye than regular folks. It’s no secret that we help to prepare spokespersons to help them make the most of an interview. Only a gullible person thinks that they don’t need to prepare for an encounter with a journalist. After all, good preparation is as much about helping the reporter obtain a good story as it is about gaining a good story for a client.

It’s generally a bad idea for a spokesperson to speak negatively, which is easy to do when a negative question is asked. For instance, a reporter may ask something like, “Is it true you don’t wear underwear?”

Western world speaking habits entice us to respond automatically by negating the negative question, e.g., “No, it is not true that I don’t wear underwear.” By doing this a reporter might legitimately isolate this quote, thus introducing the possibility that, yes, you don’t wear underwear. The better answer, obviously, is “Of course I wear underwear!”

But – stay with me here – what happens when a spokesperson actually wants to introduce a negative idea, without even saying it outright? Over the years I have noticed an interesting technique (used most frequently by athletes and politicians) that I call the “interrogative answer.” This is when the person being interviewed willfully introduces a negative concept, usually about the competition, by asking him/herself a negative question. For example:

“Do I think that my opponent is a weasel? No I do not.”

“Do I think that the Chicago Cubs are destined to choke? Of course not!”

Introducing negative verbiage into interviews this way is subtle and insidious – and surprisingly effective. I would never advise any spokesperson to use the interrogative answer, but I find it very entertaining as an unattached audience-member when I hear it.

On the other hand, if you’re not asked the reasonable question you want to answer, why not just ask it and answer it yourself?

“Is ABC Company pleased with our results? Yes, we are pleased with our results.”

“Did I buy underwear last week? Why, yes, I am proud to say that I did.”

The interrogative answer: listen for it the next time you watch the news.