A Political Communication Skill: Answering While Not Answering

Here’s a foot-in-mouth communication story, one involving Queen Elizabeth’s and Prince Charle’s royal tour of Canada few years ago.

While not all Canadians, perhaps not even a majority, like the idea of having a royal family, almost all of us consider it very necessary to be respectful.

And so there was quite a stir when the Deputy Prime Minister, and a potential Prime Minister at that, mused out loud about replacing the royal family. He blurted out his thoughts during a media scrum, an event in which reporters throw questions at a politician.

. After all, Canadians argue quite frequently about keeping or replacing the monarchy; you just don’t do it when the royals are in the country. It’s considered rude.

The lesson, then, is that if you want to be respected as a communicator, you need to master the art of saying nothing while saying something. It’s one of those interview skills that can be very useful at delicate moments, and it’s something to remember when you’re working on improving your communication skills.

I don’t ever expect, and I don’t imagine you expect to be in such a position where we could cause national offence. But, there are times when we’re asked a question which we would rather not answer, or which we must answer in a circumspect way.

The incident prompted one journalist to ask the professionals about handling delicate situations. And, the experts cited a practice called “Bridge and Deflect.” Essentially, that means replying with an answer that’s unrelated the question.

To “bridge,” you use a statement or question as a stepping-off point to a related subject. For example, if a colleague asks what you think of your boss’s new policy, you might respond by saying, “Speaking of policies, do you know whether or not we’ll hold another planning meeting before the end of the year?” The phrase “speaking of….” often characterizes this technique.

To “deflect,” you simply go on to talk about another subject. For example, in response to that same question, you might respond, “Have you tried that new restaurant, the one where they have 25 different salads during lunch hour?”

Now, you might find such answers repugnant, believing they cynically manipulate communication. But, I would argue that sometimes a non-answer helps us avoid trouble of one kind or another. I would not advocate doing this routinely, but will point out it’s a useful technique for avoiding trouble.

One more idea: To see applications of Bridging and Deflecting in action, watch the now-vintage, British TV comedy series, “Yes, Minister!” It featured a conniving civil servant who rarely gave a straight answer to any question. You can laugh as you learn to improve your communication skills.