WHAT TO SAY IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER

David Cameron has earned himself a series of unflattering headlines after failing to answer a couple of quiz questions on American TV. Mr Cameron - perhaps bravely, perhaps unwisely - agreed to become the first serving British Prime Minister to appear on the largely comedy-focused Late Show during a visit to New York. Now having watched the whole of his appearance, contrary to the headlines, it's fair to say that overall he did pretty well - and certainly avoided the biggest potential trap of taking himself too seriously in front viewers mainly looking for laughs. And as you might expect, on the occasional serious topics David Cameron was able to give some easy-to-follow answers to explain some of the finer points of the United Kingdom to a less than totally clued-up audience across the Atlantic. But the news media - being highly selective as they typically are - focused on those moments when he was completely stumped by host David Letterman's quiz questions.       First up, Cameron didn't know who composed Rule Britannia (understandably not being too familiar with the less-than-famous Thomas Arne). Then he couldn't give the translation of "Magna Carta" - a rather bigger crime for someone who presumably studied Latin at Eton. To his credit, Mr Cameron did make some self-deprecating remarks while admitting he didn't know the answers - the most drastic being "I've ended my career on your show". But he allowed himself to be portrayed looking far sillier than he needed to. There's a useful formula which anyone can use when being asked a question where you don't know the answer. Mr Cameron got the first bit right: admit you don't know. This is far safer than bluffing. But he didn't follow the essential next steps. The second step is to briefly, and without being defensive, explain why you don't know. "Well of course I'm only the prime minister, not the British historian-in-chief," would have been fine for the Magna Carta question. The third step is then to gently move the conversation onwards so that you say something on the same topic that you do know. The full Cameron-Letterman interview is here on Youtube: If you watch it you'll see that the prime minister had earlier in the interview demonstrated he knew quite a bit about the historic document, including the fact that it was signed in 1215. So all Mr Cameron needed to do was to move on and explain a little more about the significance of the Magna Carta for Britain, and the world. This would have made a far more impressive conclusion to his response and would have enabled him to avoid being hit by such Letterman barbs as "it would be good if you knew this" which were fired off during the embarrassing prime ministerial silences. The trick is that once you've dealt with a pesky question by saying you can't answer and explaining why, then you're perfectly within your conversational rights to add something you do know on the subject. If you get this right you'll look far more authoritative and in control than David Cameron managed.

AND YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF Training to utilise this and other techniques is what we work on during my "Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions" sessions. These sessions can be run as keynotes at conferences or as workshops inside your organisation. They deal with tough questions from potential and existing customers, financiers, shareholders, public inquiries and the media. And there's an open session starting on the morning of Friday 30 November in Central London. In the afternoon of same day there's an open session of "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch". This enables your business introductions become more powerful, effective and memorable when talking about what you do in formal and informal circumstances. It boosts your performance in conversations with new prospects, chance encounters in lifts and in those tricky 60-second pitches at networking meetings. And on Wednesday 5 December there's the opportunity to take part in the open master class on "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz". This shows how to grab and hold audience attention - and boost your presentation content, structure and performance. All three sessions allow participants to feel more confident when in the spotlight. Details of the early bird offer and booking arrangements are at: http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presentation_training.php Or you can book your place by emailing enquiries@michaeldoddcommunications.com UNITED NATIONS - THE NEXT MISSION It's been great to work over the past couple of weeks with United Nations officials based across the world - including some of the most troublesome of trouble spots. These dedicated people have to be ready to stand up to tough questions from CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera and others in some of the most difficult circumstances you can imagine. As luck would have it, the training itself was done under rather easier conditions than their normal working environments. We ran sessions beside the Danube in glorious Budapest.   Photo credit: York Smith And training by the shores of Lake Geneva...allowing for a post-training excursion into the Alps. Photo credit: Rick Ives But it's not always so luxurious - for them or for me. Word has come through that my next training UN mission is in Iraq...yes, really. But before you panic and think your next training course with me will be the last, the good news is the sessions we're running there are in what's described as the relative safe zone of Erbil in Northern Iraq. Nonetheless, advice on security matters from any reader who has been there of late would be most welcome. MADAM BECKY FAILS TO SPANK SPEAKERS The story about ex-brothel owner, Madam Becky, in the last issue of this newsletter generated more reaction than any other item this year. (This clearly says something about some of the readers I manage to attract!) You'll recall that Madam Becky was taking on me and my fellow speakers in a bid to become the UK Business Speaker of the Year 2012.    Madam Becky was promising to enthrall us all by showing how the principles she utilised to build up the profitability of her prostitution operations could be applied to other aspects of business. Well to the disappointment of almost all, alas Madam Becky failed to show up when the rest of the two-dozen qualifying speakers gathered in Southampton for the finals. So our fears that Madam Becky would give us all a right spanking because of her more wide-ranging worldly experience failed to materialize. (However I have a suspicion that the sponsors of the contest may have been a touch relieved at her non-appearance.) The judges then had the rather less exciting task of interviewing the rest of us throughout the day. They had to gauge our speaking prowess in X-Factor style auditions to decide who should be selected to give their speeches in front of the live audience. At the end of their interviews, the judges whittled the survivor list down to a final nine. So it was a privilege to be selected amongst this group to convey our inspirational business message to the audience. There was a fascinating collection of speeches, with the winner being Richard Watts for a very polished performance entitled "The Morale Factor". So hearty congratulations to him. Richard argued persuasively that rather than squeezing suppliers, business leaders should concentrate their efforts on rewarding those they worked with...including sometimes giving them a big hug. Meanwhile one can only wait breathlessly to see whether Madam Becky will titillate the judges with an appearance next year. One can imagine that until then, Madam Becky may be acting on Richard's advice and giving all those she interacts with a big hug. DODD COMMUNICATION-BOOSTING SERVICES Meanwhile, if you decide against having Madam Becky at your next conference, and you need a to transform your people into inspirational business communicators click here: www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/international_speaking.php If you need to know how to perform at your peak in media interviews with the local newspaper, the TV news or anywhere in between then click here:  www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media_training.php    And if you need a comprehensive communications-boosting programme for your key people click here:  www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/transform_communication_skills.php  CHRISTMAS 2012 COMES EARLY Ever since I can remember, it's been said that commercial activity for Christmas starts earlier each year. In Manchester in 2012 this is certainly the case. At a training gig near the Manchester United Stadium in Salford, the Beefeater restaurant has already begun the festivities - as I found when I had breakfast there. In case no one believes me, here's a diner holding a 24 September 2012 copy of The Telegraph to prove that it really is up.   Picture Credit: Jonathan Brind The presence of the tree is part of a promotion to get you to book there for Christmas dinner - more than three months before the big day. So in case I forget to say it in December... Happy Christmas, Michael