If you don’t have anything thought-provoking to ask an athlete at a press conference, don’t ask anything at all.
Sunday afternoon at The Open Championship, Zach Johnson fielded the notorious “talk about” question from a reporter shortly after completing his fourth round of the tournament. And his response was perfect.
My @Cronkite_ASU students all know my greatest #journalism #interviewing pet peeve – the TALK ABOUT question. Zach Johnson’s response to the TALK ABOUT question he was asked yesterday at The Open Championship, about eventual champ Brian Harman, was perfect. H/T @alan_bastable pic.twitter.com/JpHwf1ApfJ
— Brett Kurland (@brettkurland) July 24, 2023
“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen this afternoon, but could you talk about Brian?” Johnson was asked.
“Sure,” Johnson answered, before quickly throwing it back to the reporter. “Can you ask me some questions about Brian?”
“Brian” was in reference to Brian Harman, who would go on to win The Open Championship, but had not completed his fourth round at the time of the above question. Johnson serves as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team and by dominating at The Open, Harman all but guaranteed himself a spot on the 12-man roster.
Surely, Johnson didn’t have an issue fielding a question about Harman, he had an issue fielding a question that was more of a directive. Johnson’s perfect response, which made for an awkward exchange, morphed into a sort of journalism lesson.
Athletes are used to being asked the “talk about” question. Similarly, reporters are used to hearing the “talk about” question take up space in a press conference. But no one likes the question. Reporters don’t like hearing the question because the answers are rarely noteworthy, and athletes don’t like the question because it relies on them doing the reporter’s work.
The lazy command almost always elicits an equally lazy response filled with more cliché than insight. In a press conference setting, where time is of the essence and a room full of reporters are waiting in hopes of getting to ask a question, the “talk about” prompt is wasteful.
Johnson probably wasn’t intending to make a lesson out of the reporter who asked a question that has been asked millions of times by thousands of reporters. But the awkward exchange and Johnson’s blunt response reinforced the importance of asking a good question. Especially when you might only get one question to ask.
