According to the New York Times, the tech titans scheduled to testify today at a congressional antitrust subcommittee hearing have been preparing with their teams. The newspaper says Mark Zuckerberg’s legal firm has been working with him at his estate in Hawaii while a small team is working with Jeff Bezos to help him prepare for his first congressional hearing.
There’s no doubt that Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook are taking similar preparations.
As a former media-training coach who has worked with tech CEOs and presidential candidates, I can give you a glimpse into the crucial preparations that go on before high stakes interviews.
These steps aren’t reserved for famous CEOs testifying before congress. You can follow them to boost your confidence ahead of any professional conversation where you’re expecting to face tough questions.
Prepare in real-world conditions
Practice sessions for congressional meetings or television interviews should be held in conditions as close to the real thing as possible.
For example, if you’re preparing for a television interview, you should face a video camera with bright, professional lights in your face. Someone off-screen should be asking you the toughest questions you’re expecting to receive and cutting you off in mid-sentence.
If you practice like it’s real, the real thing will feel more comfortable. Comfort is key because you wouldn’t want anything to throw you off your game.
Memorize the answers to the toughest questions
Chief executives who practice for high-stakes interviews don’t take anything for granted. Above all, they don’t want to hesitate answering the toughest questions they can possibly get. This requires that the people who are chosen to help the CEO prepare have the courage—and the status—to ask uncomfortable questions.
Listen for key words
This is a little-known secret of media training. Once the CEO has the answers down cold, the way the question is worded doesn’t matter that much. In congressional hearings, for example, we all know that politicians will spend four minutes grand-standing and thirty seconds asking the question. Well-prepared CEOs will largely ignore the speech and focus on the keywords that trigger the answer they’ve already practiced.
Media-training is a discipline that will help you prepare for many events: jury trials, job interviews, podcast and media interviews, debates, and yes, the occasional grilling at a congressional hearing.