After my first Practicum Day, I was exhilarated by Professor Rein’s Lecture and instruction regarding Crisis Management. First, we learned the various stages of a Crisis and how Management responds to the Crisis. Then, everyone in the lecture was split into groups and during a working lunch, we had to prepare to defend an individual who had done something scandalous. Examples included Charlie Sheen for keeping his HIV status secret, Carly Fiorina’s terrible job as CEO of HP, and R. Bowen Loftin’s job as Chancellor at the University of Missouri. After the brief planning session, each group role-played their individual to the rest of the class as the interrogating media at a press conference.
My group was responsible for defending Dan Synder and his decision to keep the Mascot name of the Washington Redskins football team. Even though the mascot name is insensitive and offensive to Native Americans, Dan Synder refuses to change the name. I ended up playing the role of Dan Synder during the press conference role-play and had to make a statement to the press.
I was feeling pretty confident after reviewing the statement my group had prepared and thought answering questions from the media (my classmates) would be challenging, but manageable. I severely underestimated the experience I was about to go through.
As soon as I reached the front of the room and turned towards the media (my classmates) and saw a video camera recording the class session that I previously hadn’t noticed, I froze up like a deer in headlights. Nevertheless, I sputtered through the minute-long statement my group had prepared for Dan Synder (me) to say. Then, the media barrage began.
The professor started by asking some questions trying to poke holes in the statement I had just spoken. My classmates started questioning whether I was racially insensitive to the African American football players on the Washington football team or if I used slurs in my personal life.
After what seemed like an eternity of answering questions, (in reality, about a minute,) I was petrified and lost my ability to think clearly or process the questions – let alone answer them. During these press conferences, it is imperative that the person speaking answer questions quickly, clearly, and decisively so the audience, (television viewers,) believe what the person is saying and saves their credibility.
Thankfully, after my brain had pretty much shut down from the interrogating questions, members of my group who were serving as representatives for Dan Synder stepped in to answer the additional questions, even if they were still directed at me. My group members did an outstanding job defending Dan Synder and bailing me out.
I never realized how challenging it is for someone to answer media questions in a press conference. The media are purposefully trying to trip you up and make you look like a fool. The next time I see someone answering questions during a press conference-whether it’s after a sports game or a political scandal-I will have empathy for them. I may disagree with the decision(s) they made to put them in such a position, but now I know how tough it is to answer those questions.