Whether you are a small business owner, a manager in a workplace or the chief executive officer of a government organisation – you need to make tough decisions that will not always be popular.
If someone is highly critical of your decision and goes to the media, what can you do?
When dealing with a difficult and sensitive issue, this is my advice – be open, open, open and you will stay in control. Be positive, willing and on the front foot. Remember that people look for leadership in difficult times.
How to respond to public criticism
• Is it genuine criticism?
• Is it criticism by an individual or a group?
• What is the credibility of the person aiming the criticism?
If it is genuine criticism by someone with credibility that can do damage to your organisation/project/group, respond with ‘emotion’.
Speak in ‘real words’ not in terms of projects that are addressing the problem. Speak in the way you speak to the average man on the street – get straight to the point.
If the point of the story is lost in the detail, then you’re not going to get your point across.
Media training
How to respond to public criticism is from Melissa Pouliot’s media training course for business, community, corporate and government organisations. Having worked in newsrooms in outback Queensland and Western Victoria before starting her own business, Melissa developed her media training course as a way of helping her clients better understand:
- What the media wants
- How the media works
- How you can improve your relationships, and hence the way you are represented, in the media