You can’t do this in front of the American public. Average people do not understand this. You must answer the question.
SIMPLE YES OR NO: Can men get pregnant? Say “Next question” if you’re not going to answer it.
ANSWER THE QUESTION: PUGNACITY UNLEASHED
“A Disastrous Testimony” was how NPR (the good guys) labeled it in December, 2023 when three university presidents testified to Congress. Two of the three presidents resigned by the end of the next month.
Now the same sort of academic dodgeball has taken place with obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Nisha Verma. She was testifying to the Senate and was fiercely grilled on Friday by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (whom I am no fan of).
The university presidents had refused to answer a simple YES/NO question (basically is antisemitic activism okay). She refused to answer a simple YES/NO question (can men get pregnant).
You have to answer the question.
IT MAY BE SCIENCE, BUT IT ISN’T COMMUNICATION
Communication in a public forum like the U.S. Senate is not the same as communication at a scientific conference. “Controlling the narrative” is completely different.
If you aren’t aware of this, and if you don’t have advisors helping to prep you for this, you will end up in a debacle, as happened on Friday. One member of Congress has already called for Dr. Verma to be punished (irrational or not, it’s not the result you want).
There may be academics who will give her the same thumbs up that the three university presidents received after their debacle, but the damage to public trust is real and immeasurable. The public asks, “Why won’t these experts answer the questions?” Non-academics don’t understand this.
ABT IS THE SOLUTION
Yes, I know it always ends with the ABT as the answer for everything, but it is. Narrative is everything, and narrative is leadership. Here’s a recent post that lays out the ABT Framework nicely.
Academics need to be trained with the ABT. It’s fundamental communication strategy. Here’s how you do it:
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EXPECTATION: Here are the questions we expect.
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PREPARATION: Here are your ABT-structured answers, simple and firm.
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REHEARSAL: Here’s an hour to rehearse these answers again and again.
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PERFORMANCE: Here’s your public testimony for which you are at least equipped with a weapon — the ABT. You’re no longer “bringing a power point to a gun fight,” as one colleague is fond of saying.
And of course, it all leads to what we recommend, sorry, but the feedback is just so great (take a look at our video with the Emory med school folks) — and check out our new TRAINING OPTIONS MENU of the 4 types of training we now offer.