A big part of PR is preparing for "tough questions" - whether they come from the media, customers, or government regulators.

Communications coach and author Carmine Gallo lets us know about his five-step technique called "the bucket method," which he says can be used, "to prepare for presentations, pitches, sales calls, or any other situation where you anticipate difficult questions."

Gallo gives us the following example of the bucket method in action:

...an analyst asked a CEO I work with to respond to some unfavorable comments made by his largest competitor. "Competition" was his trigger word. The CEO smiled and said, "Our view on competition is different than many others. Our view is that you play with class. We compete by giving our customers superior service and sharing our vision for where we see this industry going. As we get more successful, we see more competitors entering the market. It's part of the process of being a leader." With this one response, the CEO deflected his competitor's comments and reframed the issue to focus on his company's leadership.

Read an outline of the complete five step process here.

[image cred]