How extraordinary to watch the two brothers admonished for going against the Palace’s PR machine at the same time, 50 years apart.

History is littered with examples of public figures raising eyebrows with unexpected grabs, remarks, and even full-length speeches.

Which begs the broader question: when is it OK to go off script?

Train wreck interviews

There is broad consensus that, rather than going on television, Prince Andrew should have said, “I’m willing to take the oath and appear at a deposition.” Instead, he chose to die a slow and painful death on national TV.

The fallout from the Prince’s performance on BBC Newsnight would not have surprised anyone – not the Queen (who has six decades of real-life experience dealing with media fallouts), and certainly not the PR expert who strongly advised against the interview.

So, what went wrong?

Apart from wildly underestimating his interviewer, Prince Andrew thought he knew how his public was going to react.

It wasn’t the mere act of giving the interview that was the problem. It was the fact that Prince Andrew was unprepared and off message. There was no compassion for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims nor was there any of the usual statements of principle that you would expect from someone fronting a string of very serious allegations. In short, there was no accountability.

People are aware that public life is lived on-message – everything from celebrity stunts to a business keynote to a presidential address. When a public figure deviates from this norm and goes off script, the novelty of that action becomes the news itself.

Westpac’s freshly ousted CEO Brian Hartzer felt that this week when his off-hand comments downplaying the company’s AUSTRAC scandal at a closed-door staff meeting ran across the front page of The Australian newspaper the next day. Hartzer’s ‘Enron moment’ could have been avoided had he been more in tune with what the public might have thought of those comments.

When the stakes are high, the risk is that you will come off at best sounding arrogant, casting off responsibility for your actions. At worst – well, that remains to be seen for the Duke of York.

When to go off-script

Of course, sometimes going off-script can work in your favour.

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke was famous for his spontaneous manner.

The former Labor leader’s jubilant advice for employers after Australia won the 1983 America’s Cup is one for the ages: “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum.” Australians basked in the irreverence and authenticity of their leader’s remarks, propping up his record-high approval rating.

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s 2012 misogyny speech in the House of Representatives is another example.

While not entirely unscripted, the theory goes that then-Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s motion to have Peter Slipper removed as Speaker over crude and sexist texts he wrote to a female colleague sparked Ms Gillard’s infuriated opening:

“I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man,” she said, pointing a finger at Abbott. “If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn’t need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech in 2012

The 15-minute invective quickly went viral, gathering hundreds of thousands of views around the world.

While the response to the speech was divided along political lines, consensus was one of empathy and support for Australia’s first female Prime Minister, who was widely mistreated in public office because of her gender.

And of course, there’s the most famous ad-lib of all: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Reportedly, Dr. King stayed up late the night before writing a different speech, but when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted out, “Tell them about the dream”, he dropped his notes and responded with the phrase that would become the most famous words he ever spoke.

Avoiding the perception gap

Why does going off-script work well for some and not for others? 

There are several reasons. Delivery has a lot to do with it. But It could be that something else happened to influence the public’s reaction. Most likely, it’s because the speaker has found themselves out of touch with their audience.

Public opinion has always been fluid but now, thanks to social media, it is changing faster than at any point in history. That means it’s harder – and more important – than ever to be aware of any major gaps between what your audience thinks and how you plan to engage them.

The best leaders know they can’t stick to the script all the time. Doing so can come across as robotic and wooden when what they want to be is authentic.

These leaders regularly measure how their target audiences are pre-disposed towards their business, and how the public will react in the event something goes wrong.

The lesson? Going off script should be a calculated risk – it’s a balance between knowing yourself, knowing your material and knowing your audience.

Find out more

If you would like to add to this conversation, please email Jasmine Hogg at Apollo Communications. Stay up to date with more blog posts by the Apollo Communications team here.