A Media Relations Lesson from Sidney Lowe

According to this WRAL.com article, N.C. State men's basketball coach Sidney Lowe met with a small gathering of reporters yesterday.

Before I get to the heart of this post, it is important to point out that one of the most challenging things to handle in an interview is when the reporters are intent on asking questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of the interview.

In this case, the purpose of Coach Sidney Lowe's meeting with reporters was to talk about the upcoming basketball season. However, it was a likely bet that at least one reporter would bring up the recent, highly-publicized legal troubles surrounding Coach Lowe's son.

So how did Coach Lowe handle this situation?

According to this follow-up article, also from WRAL.com, "Lowe, at the start of the news conference, said he would not address any personal questions."

That's it: a pre-emptive strike. In a nutshell, it sounds like the coach sent the following message: "I'm here to talk about basketball. In terms of that other situation that has nothing to do with our basketball team: we're not going there."

Coach Lowe was direct and up front, and he managed the repoters' expectations from the outset.

As an aside, it is important to note that, in this case, Coach Lowe's approach was effective because the press conference truly had nothing to do with his son's situation.