Tools and tables
Practice question deck
About sixty practice questions, filterable by kind, format and situation. Pick seven and answer them aloud.
Use the deck with Practice answers to choose your seven questions, and with Your media kit for a full mock interview. The buttons filter one tag at a time; the search box looks for any word in the table. Format and situation tags are this manual’s suggestion of where to practice a question first. Any question can come in any format.
| Question | Kind | Format | Situation | Practice in | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is this project (or issue), and why does it matter? | Likely | Any | My project, Expert, Organization, Business | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| How did this get started? | Likely | Print, Podcast, Radio | My project, Business, Organization | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| Who is it for, and how many people does it reach? | Likely | Print, Radio, TV | My project, Organization, Business | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What is the one thing you want people to know? | Likely | Any | My project, Expert, Organization, Business, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What surprised you most? | Likely | Podcast, Print, Radio | My project, Expert, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What does this mean for people who live here? | Likely | Print, Radio, TV | Expert, Organization, Business, Bad news | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What should people do now? | Likely | Radio, TV, Print, Remote video | Bad news, Organization, Expert, Uncertainty | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What do the numbers show? | Likely | Print, Podcast, Remote video | Expert, Uncertainty | Communicating uncertainty | This manual’s own |
| How did you get involved? | Likely | Podcast, Print | My project, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What would you say to someone who is skeptical? | Likely | Podcast, Radio, TV | Contested, Expert | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What happens next? | Likely | Print, Radio, TV | My project, Organization, Business, Bad news | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| Why now? | Likely | Print, Radio | My project, Expert, Organization | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| How does this compare with last year, or with other places? | Likely | Print, Podcast | Expert, Organization, Uncertainty | Communicating uncertainty | This manual’s own |
| Can you give an example? | Likely | Any | My project, Expert, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What do you need from people in the community? | Likely | Print, Radio | My project, Organization | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| What is happening now? | Likely | Radio, TV, Remote video | Bad news, Organization | Bad news and personal stories | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Who is in charge? | Likely | TV, Radio | Bad news, Organization | Bad news and personal stories | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Is it contained? | Likely | TV, Radio | Bad news, Organization, Uncertainty | Communicating uncertainty | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Are the people who were hurt getting help? | Likely | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Organization, Witness or family | Bad news and personal stories | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| What can we expect to happen next? | Likely | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Uncertainty | Communicating uncertainty | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Why did this happen? | Speculation | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Contested, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Did you have any warning? | Dreaded | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Organization, Business | Hard and unexpected questions | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Why wasn't this prevented? | Dreaded | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Organization, Business | Hard and unexpected questions | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| What aren't you telling us? | Dreaded | TV, Radio, Remote video | Bad news, Organization, Contested | Hard and unexpected questions | Adapted from CDC, Working with the Media |
| Is there anything else you would like to add? | Closing | Any | My project, Expert, Organization, Business, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| Is there anything I didn't ask that I should have? | Closing | Any | My project, Expert, Organization, Business, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| If readers (or listeners) remember one thing, what should it be? | Closing | Any | My project, Expert, Organization, Business, Witness or family | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| Who else should I talk to? | Closing | Print, Podcast | My project, Expert, Organization | Practice answers | This manual’s own |
| Why are you hiding the results? | Loaded premise | TV, Radio, Remote video | Bad news, Contested, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Why do experts keep getting this wrong? | Loaded premise | Radio, Podcast, TV | Expert, Contested | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Isn't it risky to let strangers use what you provide? | Loaded premise | Print, Radio, Podcast | My project, Business | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What do you say to critics who call this a waste of money? | Loaded premise | Radio, TV, Remote video | My project, Organization, Contested | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Your business made people sick, didn't it? | Loaded premise | TV, Radio | Business, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Is it safe or isn't it? | Either-or | TV, Radio, Remote video | Bad news, Uncertainty, Expert | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Are you blaming the city or the contractor? | Either-or | TV, Radio, Print | Organization, Contested, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Will you resign or not? | Either-or | TV, Radio, Remote video | Organization, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Is this a one-time problem or a pattern? | Either-or | Print, TV | Bad news, Business, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What if the test results are bad? | Hypothetical | TV, Radio, Remote video | Uncertainty, Expert, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What would happen if the program lost its funding? | Hypothetical | Print, Radio | My project, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| If this happened to your own family, what would you do? | Hypothetical | TV, Radio, Podcast | Expert, Witness or family | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What is the worst case? | Hypothetical | TV, Radio, Print | Uncertainty, Expert, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| How many people do you think are affected? | Speculation | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Uncertainty | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What caused it? | Speculation | TV, Radio, Print | Bad news, Expert, Uncertainty | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Do you expect good news from the lab? | Speculation | TV, Radio, Remote video | Uncertainty, Expert, Bad news | Communicating uncertainty | This manual’s own |
| What do you think of what the mayor said? | About others | TV, Radio, Print | Contested, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Is your competitor to blame? | About others | Print, TV | Business, Contested | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| How do you feel about the driver? | About others | Podcast, Print | Witness or family, Bad news | Bad news and personal stories | This manual’s own |
| Your former employer says you were let go for cause. Is that true? | About others | Print, Radio | Witness or family, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| How much was the settlement? | Cannot answer | Print, Radio, TV | Organization, Business | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Can you name the people involved? | Cannot answer | Print, Radio, TV | Bad news, Organization, Witness or family | Bad news and personal stories | This manual’s own |
| What does the inspection report say? | Cannot answer | Print, TV | Business, Bad news | Bad news and personal stories | This manual’s own |
| Is anyone being disciplined? | Cannot answer | Print, Radio, TV | Organization, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| What did the investigators tell you? | Cannot answer | Print, Radio, TV, Podcast | Witness or family, Bad news | Bad news and personal stories | This manual’s own |
| A source says the problem is much bigger than you've said. Is that true? | Unverified claim | Print, TV, Radio | Bad news, Contested, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| I've heard people are getting sick. Can you confirm? | Unverified claim | Print, TV, Radio | Bad news, Business, Uncertainty | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Who is responsible, what will it cost and when will it be fixed? | Multi-part | Print, TV, Radio | Organization, Bad news | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| How many members do you have, how are you funded, and what happens if you close? | Multi-part | Print, Podcast | My project, Organization | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
| Can you say that more simply? | Follow-up | Print, Radio, Podcast | Expert, Uncertainty | Your main points | This manual’s own |
| Can you give me a number for that? | Follow-up | Print, Podcast | Expert, Uncertainty | Communicating uncertainty | This manual’s own |
| What do you mean by "likely"? | Follow-up | Print, Radio, TV | Uncertainty, Expert | Communicating uncertainty | This manual’s own |
| Earlier you said one thing; now you're saying another. Which is it? | Follow-up | Print, Radio, TV | Contested, Expert | Hard and unexpected questions | This manual’s own |
How to use a row
- Write the first sentence. It answers the question as asked. Then say your point.
- Say it aloud, with the timer running. Paste the answer into the answer timer to see its length at your pace.
- Move the winners. Add your seven to the practice sheet.
Fictional example
Marcus Bell, a fictional baker whose shop closed for a day after an inspection, filters the deck to Business and Bad news. He picks "Did you have any warning?" as the one he dreads, writes a first sentence that answers it, and adds "Can you name the people involved?" to practice a reason line.
Limits
The deck is a practice list, not a forecast of what a reporter will ask. The ten questions marked as adapted come from the list of common emergency questions in the CDC manual chapter; the rest are this manual’s own. Drawing a question from the deck does not mean an answer is safe to give: whether you may speak about a case, an inspection or an employer is for the organization, the investigator or a lawyer to say.