Okay, it's time to start answering questions from reporters taking their calls, or holding a press conference or both. You have to realize answering questions from a reporter is not like a normal conversation. Because if there is some crisis, and you're in the oil and gas industry, and there's a fire explosion, death pollution to the environment, reporters are gonna take off their gloves. It's about Attack, attack attack. How could you do this aren't shooting monsters? How do you sleep with yourself destroying the environment?
That can be the tone sometimes so you have to be prepared. You can't be surprised. Part of the challenge is you got to learn the discipline of ignoring the tone the reporter has ignore their attitude. You've got to rewrite the questions to make it easier for you. I'm going to give you a whole bunch of steps and lessons and exercises to go through in the subsequent lessons here. But I just want to give you an overview of what you got to think of when there's a crisis in the oil and gas industry and reporters are there.
This is not the time to show people how smart you are. It's not the time to pick apart the premises of reporters. It's not the time to tell them they are stupid. Famously, there was the interview with the CEO of Exxon during the Exxon Valdez and he was lecturing a reporter saying you as a reporter don't know much about responsibilities of a CEO and the reporter asked a very simple straightforward question. You don't get into fights with reporters, you don't get into debates. You don't tell them they're wrong or stupid, you know, question their motives.
You simply listen to questions. And then you figure out how can you answer that question at some level and get your positive messages out? That's your job, answering questions and delivering your messages, not getting into fights not becoming buddy buddy with a reporter not being folksy. For example, when Tony Hayward the former CEO of BP was asked about, you know what he thought of the whole situation, the whole crisis there? His answer was great. You know, I feel horrible for all the people we've harmed.
I feel horrible for the loss lies. I feel horrible for the people of Louisiana, the Gulf Coast who lost their jobs. And we of course, we want to make everyone right of course, we want to compensate anyone who's been harmed on hawkwood messages. But he didn't stop. That's what he said. And hey, you know, everybody wants to get back to the way things were I want my life back.
Well, boom. That was the quote. That was put in every story for weeks and weeks and weeks. making him look as if all he cared about was his life getting back to his yachts in England, not caring about people who died? Well, that's not what he said. If you looked at the whole answer, but its answer was too long.
His answer was too complex. complexity is your enemy. When dealing with the media during a crisis. It's not about how your whole answer stands out. This is not a court of law where your lawyer can say, Oh, no, let read back the entire response. It's not a court of law.
It's the court of public opinion. And if you're not careful, you can lose in the court of public opinion. Your lawyers might be happy keeping you out of jail. But if you lose enough the court of public opinion you lose all your customers, you lose all your investors and you will go bankrupt. So it's never enough to be legally accurate. I'm not suggesting you do anything illegal or give answers that your lawyers don't approve of But you cannot let your lawyers craft your answers because most lawyers do not know anything about dealing with the media.
I say most there are some exceptions. But just because you cannot comment on a subject doesn't mean, you should ever say at a press conference, when a reporter says, Well, does this mean you're going to be legally liable for $50 billion of lost economic activity of the coast of Florida? According to my legal counsel, I cannot comment on that. That's never going to be a good answer. Your lawyer might be happy. It's always an awful answer.
Never say what you can't say. Simply focus on what you can say. The reporter can deduce that you're not going to be talking about it, but talking about something relevant and you'll be okay. All right. I have a whole series of video lectures here. for you on how to create, message, the messages you've created, how to use those in answering questions, you've got to know how to answer questions during a crisis.
It's not like answering questions from investors, customers, clients, colleagues, and it's really not even like answering questions in normal interviews. The stakes are much higher. You have no room for error. So please pay attention closely.