I survived a mock press conference! Still not ready for the real thing.

I know I was supposed to post about my Crisis Comm. class yesterday but after class I went to the Philadelphia Car Show with 'B'. Who knew looking at cars could take 4 hours. I fell in love with a Mercedes Benz though and I saw a $487,000 Rolls Royce...no seriously.LOL.
But the class was very cool yesterday. For the first part of class we formed mock agencies and came up with our own crisis plans for a fake beverage company. Then after lunch we had to develop a statement in response to a crisis and conduct a mock press conference. Well developing the statement was ok but the press conference was a different story altogether.
I really felt like I was in front of a firing squad. The rest of the class fired off questions at us about everything under the sun and our team had to remain calm and hold our own while defending the integrity of our client. Answering questions under pressure can be very intimidating especially in this 24 hour news cycle world we live in. And this mock conference was no different.
In a book by Timothy Coombs on planning, managing and responding to crisis he talks about how to handle tough questions. Difficult questions include long and complicated questions, multiple choice with unacceptable choice options, questions based on erroneous info and tricky questions and one long question with many parts. Coombs suggests some responses to these types of questions:

• For long, complicated questions, ask for them to be repeated and explained. In this way you get more time to formulate a response while the reporter clarifies.
• For multiple questions in one question, you can either select which part of the question you'd like to respond to and it should be the part of the question which fits best with providing your company's key message. Or you can number your responses to all parts of the question.
• For tricky questions, be tactful. It's no problem, to explain that the question is tough and requires a longer than usual answer.
• Don't be afraid to challenge and correct questions based on erroneous information. After all it's your job to make sure misinformation is not transmitted.
• For multiple choice questions with no right answer, explain that the answer choice are unfair and develop your own option.

I guess the key is really practicing before, at home in the mirror. Develop questions on your own and decide how you would best answer the questions while focusing on composure and body language. Being in front of journalists and answering questions impromptu, in a way that doesn't jeopardize the client is something that gets my adrenaline pumping (am I a nerd?lol) but it is undeniably something that requires practice.