3 Keys to Perfecting Your Pivots

If you watch any recent White House press briefing, the concept of “controlling the narrative” is on full display.

Fair-minded people can debate how well that’s going – or not -- for the Biden Administration. Yet one thing that is clear: Press Secretary Jen Psaki often delivers a master class in one of the most effective tools in narrative control – the pivot.

The pivot is a technique you can use to acknowledge a specific question, but then shift quickly to what you really want to talk about.

Psaki has a quiver full of pivot arrows that she can let fly depending on the question, topic and circumstance. However, for most PR pros who don’t live under the daily media glare, mastering some fundamentals of the pivot can help you navigate when tough questions come your way. Here are three ways to start perfecting your pivot:

Anticipate potential tough questions: When you suspect that there is controversy or unanswered questions swirling around an issue, it’s helpful to brainstorm likely questions. From there, develop some short and succinct responses. The goal is to provide enough information to hopefully satisfy the media, while also giving you the opportunity to pivot to your message in ways that provide more context or relevant information.

Know your talking points: It’s tough to pivot when you are unsure where you are going. That’s why it’s critical to develop solid talking points of your key messages before going into a press conference or interview -- and making sure that you can convey them in ways that are relevant and meaningful to the questions being asked. While the specifics of your talking points will vary, you want to make sure they are all aligned to support the main takeaways you want the journalist to walk away with.

Practice to perfect your pivots: The last thing you want to do is to pivot and then robotically start reading off prepared talking points. A good journalist will sense when you aren’t fully confident in your answer -- or worse yet have something to hide. Prior to an interview, ask a member of your communications team to ask you some potential questions and then rehearse your responses until you can answer in a way that is both authentic and informative.

In reality, there is often only so much you can do when it comes to controlling the narrative. But perfecting your pivots gives you a fighting chance to shift the focus away from the problems and toward solutions.