Novak Djokovic interview: Analysing his BBC Q&A

I was fascinated watching the Novak Djokovic interview with the BBC last week.

It was his first proper sitdown since the controversy at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The whole story is an intriguing case study for the crisis management training courses we run.

A saga in which everyone involved came off badly.

And the reputational damage will be hard to shake.

So here was Djokovic taking his first steps towards recovering the lost ground.

Let’s analyse how his BBC interview went.

Did he come across well?

Verdict: yes, he did.

First of all, he’s being proactive with the media here.

He’s on the front foot.

And when he sat down and started to be interviewed, you could see the body language was positive.

The pace and tone were excellent.

What did Djokovic actually say, though?

Well, he said that he really understood the upset that had been caused in Australia.

He was very careful, he said, about what substances he put into his body.

He shared that he’d revolutionised his game when he went gluten-free about ten years ago.

And he added that while he was being portrayed as being anti-vax, that was inaccurate.

The Serb emphasised that he respected the views of other people.

He empathised with the frustration of Australians who had been in lockdown.

And then he got onto the detail that people wanted to know some answers to.

Did he say sorry?

Verdict: yes, he did.

He explained first of all that he was unaware that he was testing positive.

The test had been taken, but he’d yet to see the result when he mixed with school kids at a Belgrade tennis clinic.

Djokovic admitted he was aware that he tested positive when he did a photoshoot for French sporting magazine L’Equipe.

He said he was sorry, and this had been a misjudgment.

This ticks our box of regret, reason, remedy.

Did he answer questions directly?

Verdict: yes, he did.

He was asked if he’d give up Wimbledon if the rules prevented him from traveling to the tournament.

A straight answer, yes.

Would he give up being the greatest of all time?

He’s currently sitting on one behind Rafa Nadal in the rankings of Grand Slam victories.

His answer, yes.

Novak was very impressive in his ability to give direct answers to direct questions.

The Novak Djokovic interview

I found the interview utterly compelling.

A demonstration of excellent interview technique in the face of an unconvinced audience.

And here’s what’s fascinating.

I’d taken a stance that Djokovic was a bit of a rule-breaker, and that he’d been in the wrong to a degree.

And the Australian authorities had also mucked things up.

I came to the conclusion at the end of it that he does have strong convictions about what he puts into his body.

And interestingly, when I spoke to an Australian client after the interview, she said:

“I was annoyed.

“I watched the interview wanting to disagree with them, but I found him compelling as well.”

A classic example of good interview technique being able to turn people’s minds.

Bill McFarlan is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Pink Elephant Communications.

You can read more about him here.

Photos in Novak Djokovic interview analysis courtesy of BBC News and Pink Elephant Communications.
Novak Djokovic interview analysis blog edited by Colin Stone.