Hypothetically Speaking, Is That a Mistake?
What if you could rule the universe for a day, with your every whim coming true? Would you end world poverty? Bring peace to the Middle East? Give yourself a trillion dollars? All that and more?
A fun parlor game, perhaps. But if it’s a question from a reporter, beware. Any time a reporter asks you any question with “what if” or some variation in it an alarm bell should go off in your head.
Reporters use hypothetical questions a lot. Almost always, they do it to get people to say things they wouldn’t — and shouldn’t — say otherwise.
The problem? A reporter can ask a hypothetical question in a way that the only logical answer is the one s/he wants you give: “If the toxic chemicals stored in your building got into that river over there, would that be bad for people living downstream in Podunk?” Well, yes it would. And if you answer the question as asked to say there’s a hypothetical threat you may find yourself being quoted as saying the chemicals stored in your building are a real threat to people living in Podunk – even if you know there’s no way those chemicals can get into that river and there’s no real threat.
Reporters on deadline frequently ask hypothetical questions during the early stages of a breaking story when there are few hard facts available. They need to write a story or go on the air with a live report. That’s hard to do if you don’t have anything to say. So, they look for someone who’ll speculate. If the speculation turns out to be wrong, it’s your mistake — not theirs.
Here’s my recommendation: Don’t answer hypothetical questions. If a reporter asks you a hypothetical question, either tell the reporter you can’t speculate on hypothetical situations or restrict your answer to what you know — even if that’s little or nothing. And stand your ground. It’s almost always a mistake to speculate for the benefit of reporters looking for a story.
That’s my two cents’ worth. What’s yours? Next week: More mistakes people make during interviews.
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