WHENEVER POSSIBLE, ANSWER THE QUESTION. British TV watchers have just witnessed one of the most excruciating examples of a "car crash" interview. The victim was Treasury Minister, Chloe Smith, who floundered throughout an eight-minute cross-examination with one of the world's greatest interviewers, BBC rottweiler Jeremy Paxman. Some might say Jeremy's a bit soft by Australian standards, but he's ruthless nonetheless and has a well-practised line in disbelieving looks in order to put his interviewees under extra pressure - as you can see.   Ms Smith by contrast is a telegenic thirty-year-old Conservative politician who was enjoying political success at a remarkably early age. And to her credit she by-and-large maintained her physical composure throughout her Paxmanisation - though a couple of little coughing bursts signalled some internal stress. But the actual content of Ms Smith's answers - relating to a deferral of a petrol tax rise - were universally regarded as completely hopeless and unconvincing. You can watch here - if you're tough enough to withstand something which really should have a health warning. The vital learning point is that the crash was entirely avoidable...especially as the minister was effectively being interviewed about what was good news for British motorists (albeit arguably not so good for the fume-choked environment). Lesson One is that Ms Smith was the wrong person for the government to put forward to be interviewed. As became gruesomely clear, Ms Smith was too junior to be seriously involved in making the decision, so she was sent out as something of a lamb to face the beast. The real decision-makers - the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister - were far better placed to answer the obvious questions... had they been courageous enough to have faced the Paxman experience themselves. Lesson Two is that Ms Smith could have made life a lot better for herself if she had obeyed one devastatingly simple lesson: Just tell the truth. The first of the questions she was unwilling to give a straight answer to was remarkably easy. When was she told of the decision? Sure, it may have been a touch embarrassing to have to admit that she was so low in the hierarchy that she was only told on the day of the announcement. But still, far better for her to get this out of the way in one go and take the sting out of it, rather than come up with a pack of pathetic obfuscations. Best practice media advice is to answer the question - or give a powerful reason why you can't. Once you've done this you then effectively have a license - under the normal rules of conversation - to go on and make a positive point related to the question. It will be fascinating to see whether Ms Smith takes this advice next time - if her political masters ever let her near Mr Paxman again.

GIVING GREAT ANSWERS TO TOUGH QUESTIONS     If you'd like to discover how you can best answer your nightmare questions - from Jeremy Paxman, your clients, your prospects or your staff - then there is a solution. I'm running an open session in Central London on Friday 7 September. You, your colleagues and Ms Smith are entitled to book and come along. And on the same day you can also have the option to take part in a session on "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" A bad elevator pitch might be something like "I'm Chloe and I get chopped up on TV when my bosses aren't brave enough to appear themselves". A really good elevator pitch can help you stand out from the crowd and win new clients by highlighting what you can do for people better than anyone else. A well-crafted, well-delivered pitch helps you come across impressively during those sometimes nerve-wracking introductions at networking events. It also helps you shine in less formal situations. After one of these sessions, business leader Gary Jeffries emailed to say "I've already putyesterday's learning on pitching over the telephone to good use, by making successful calls to two key prospects and securing the meetings I wanted to." Details of both open sessions are at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php HOW NOT TO DO IT - THE AUSTRALIAN WAY If you're one of those people who thinks any publicity is good publicity, then here's reason to think again. This is the latest news on Australian Trade Minister, Craig Emerson, who I knew when I was working as a political correspondent in Canberra in the 1980s. At that stage Craig was an environmental activist who went on to become an economic advisor to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. But it's only now that he's really made his indelible mark on the world. In what looked at the start like a bog-standard political interview, Craig Emerson suddenly started to dance and then to sing. The song was Craig's response to a claim by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that the government's new carbon tax would wipe Whyalla - a South Australian steel-making town - off the map. His song was a parody version of the 1970s hit "Horror Movie" by the Skyhooks.   (OK you can be forgiven if you don't remember Skyhooks.) Now you might think that Craig Emerson's karaoke-style performance was merely a moment of madness. But if it was, it was a planned moment of madness. Craig had got his staff to set up a beatbox to provide the backing music - and had even gone to the trouble of seeking permission from one of the old Skyhooks members to utilise the song. And he'd written some fresh lyrics with the line "No Whyalla wipe-out there on my TV." The result is a glimpse of political theatre like you've never seen before. The video has now gone viral...but Craig Emerson has received no shortage of political flak. The most severe has come from the Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, who says he's appalled by the behaviour. "This guy is meant to be our representative on the international scene," Mr Hockey declared. "And he is treating as a joke the concerns of everyday Australians about something he has done. I can't believe he is still on the front bench." In fairness I should point out this is the same Joe Hockey who when serving as the government's Workplace Relations Minister a few years ago went on TV dressed as a wand-waving Shrek and dancing with a pink tutu to Abba's Dancing Queen.   At the time, Joe Hockey explained that one away by saying "People will suggest if you're going to be taken seriously you shouldn't be doing these things. But that is the nature of life, really. I am who I am." It all makes my years in Canberra - where the high point was Bob Hawke bursting into tears at a press conference - seem rather lacking in colour. PRESENTING WITH PIZZAZZ Meanwhile there's no excuse for a lack of colour in your future presentations - despite the fact that my July open session on presentation skills is now full. A new open session of "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz" is now scheduled for Central London on Thursday 4 October. Bookings can be made at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php By the end of the day it's expected that your speech-making will sparkle. But in the light of recent Australian political experience, all singing, dancing and the parading with pink tutus will be banned. Keep smiling, Michael