TAKE CONTROL

The reporter asks:

How can we reverse the damage that 80 years of uncontrolled clearcutting have caused in these forests?

Wrong answer: Clearcutting isn't "uncontrolled," and it hasn't damaged these forests.

Right answer: Forest management has brought back the bald eagle and pine marten in our state, and we draw more vacationers now than in 1990.

Rather than reacting to the bias in the question and defending forest management, assert your position positively.

The reporter asks:

Shouldn't these pristine forests be preserved as they are for future generations?

Wrong answer: These forests were cottonfields forty years ago. Although they are beautiful and healthy, I wouldn't call them "pristine."

Right answer: Forest management has brought back the bald eagle and pine marten in our state, and we draw more vacationers now than in 1990.

The "wrong answer" here, although it has a dramatic element of surprise, reacts to the interviewer's faulty concept of "pristine" rather than putting forth a message in positive terms. In an interview, assert your position. Don't validate an adversarial position by responding to it.

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