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How to Talk Tech in a Heated Political Environment

Jul 22, 2024 Anne Baker

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin 

It’s become trite to call our current moment “unprecedented,” but it would be hard to argue there has been a more tumultuous presidential election in the 21st century. To start, it was slated to be the first rematch of two candidates since 1956. But over the last four weeks, the American public has witnessed a catastrophic debate performance by President Joe Biden, the subsequent steady (and ultimately effective) campaign to remove him from the ticket, the Apprentice-style selection by former President Donald Trump of J.D. Vance as his running mate, and – oh yeah – an assassination attempt. As of this week, there is no confirmed Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

Welcome, rather unbelievably, to politics in America in the summer of 2024.

Inkhouse is the PR agency for innovators. Our clients fall broadly within the private sectors of enterprise and consumer tech, healthcare, clean energy and real estate. Like all Americans, our clients are affected by public policy decisions and sometimes choose to participate in conversations about them, but most don’t regularly engage in public political discourse — and, in fact, actively avoid doing so.

What, then, to do with a moment where the only thing anyone, especially reporters, wants to talk about is presidential politics – and that conversation is so divisive and fraught? As a business, you can’t simply disappear for the next four months. So what do you do?

1. Be prepared

From now until November, every executive could be asked about any aspect of the presidential race at any time. It doesn’t matter if the interview is with TechCrunch about a latest fundraise or Axios about a new data report on healthcare staffing trends. It’s not a question of whether a reporter might ask about the latest development; their editor is likely telling them they have to ask. Be prepared to answer questions ranging from the general (“what do you think about what happened last night?”) to the highly specific (“how will this candidate’s proposed trade policies affect your product’s pricing?”).

It’s important to remember two things about reporters: they have a job to do, and they’re also human beings who are as susceptible to the winds of public interest as the rest of us. Talk to your communications team about places it benefits you to dive into the arena, practice answering hard questions, and stick to your plan. Which brings us to…

2. Be creative

So you don’t want to pick a candidate in the presidential race (at least on the record). Does that mean you have to bow out of public conversation until November? Absolutely not. But you do have to be responsive to the media cycle and meet the public where its interests are. So what do you do? Find the adjacencies and talk about what you know. For example, cybersecurity executives can talk about lessons learned from past elections when it comes to preventing foreign interference and breaches. Financial service providers could speak to the unpredictable nature of election years and how consumers can prepare. Enterprise technology companies can look at their own data for insights into how companies are behaving in the months before the election. Think strategically about the intersections of topics strategic to your business that are also relevant to the current political environment. There could be an opportunity to build awareness about public policy that is not just important to your business, but essential. 

3. Be flexible 

If we’ve learned anything of late, it’s that nothing in this race will remain status quo. That requires significant flexibility from anyone looking to engage in the news cycle, related to presidential politics or not. A major news event might mean that your long-planned interview with MSNBC will need to be re-booked. It might necessitate revisiting the timing of a big announcement or quickly reviewing any external-facing messaging that might unintentionally have new political salience (of note, this is a good time to put any gun-related metaphors to bed once and for all). All communications have to move at the pace of the current news cycle, which is to say very, very quickly.

4. Be disciplined

Now is definitely not the time to faff about and find out. Hot takes no longer happen in a vacuum. Social media is particularly adept at amplifying opinions, to potentially ruinous results. Revisit your social media strategy with your marketing teams to ensure everyone is clear on the line between “culturally relevant and playful” and “offensive to a large segment of the American public” — when in doubt, be wary of the former and stay far away from the latter. Talk to your employees about your social media policy and expectations for responsible social media usage in a politically divisive time. Remind your employees about your team’s media procedures and not to talk to a reporter on your organization’s behalf without the advice and consent of your communications team. 

5. Be resourceful

Your PR team is here to help. Sit down with your communications team now and map out your business priorities for the rest of the year. Any good communications strategist will be able to take those goals and create a PR program to support them, even in trying times. Lean on your team to guide your interactions with journalists in ways that are productive. The good news is there are many ways to participate in the news cycle without necessarily centering yourself in it.

There’s so much focus on how these times are  “unusual,” implying that there are “usual” times. There’s no such thing: there’s just time. Every day, week, month and year carries with it its own unique set of circumstances we must contend with, and there are a lot of news cycles between now and Election Day. As professional communicators, our job remains the same: to determine the best message for our clients and help them carry it to the people they need to reach. For executives, now is a time to keep your cool and focus on the work ahead.

 If you do end up in a heated political conversation you’d rather avoid, all is not lost. For more on how to think about crisis communications, read Inkhouse CEO Beth Monaghan‘s thoughts on thinking through tough public moments.

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