Keep your powder dry, choose your moment, and when the bombshell drops, stand back and enjoy the fireworks.
The Tánaiste walked into the middle of an excitable media throng in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin and calmly announced she was stepping down as leader of the PDs after 13 years.
Mary Harney caught everyone on the hop.
The room was heaving with journalists and photographers, friends, colleagues and hangers on.
Panting and perspiring, they had scrambled into action at very short notice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I've got an important announcement to make about the health . . ."
Health? Health? For the briefest moment, stomachs flipped and panic set in. She's going to talk about the Department of Health? ". . . the health of the PDs." She was enjoying this.
Down through the years, Mary Harney has always been known as a politician who is governed, not just by her head, but also by her heart. Seasoned observers predicted yesterday there would be tears before teatime.
Instead, what they got was a relaxed and upbeat performance from a woman who had come to terms with her decision, and was at ease talking about it. "I'm 100 per cent happy," she said with a smile.
To her left, ranged along the side of the room, were her parliamentary party colleagues. Unlike their former leader, they were the ones who seemed to be wrestling with their emotions.
Mary told them the news only yesterday morning.
Michael McDowell, Liz O'Donnell, Tom Parlon - the probable three names in any leadership contest - looked a bit stunned.
Not Mary, though. She looked great. New hairdo, flawless make-up, smiling eyes.
Her husband, Brian Geoghegan, stood a few feet away. He too was beaming. Both of them relaxed and tanned after their holidays in Italy, when Mary made up her mind to hand over the party leadership.
At the end, there was laughter and applause and lots of good wishes.
Aah, you should have been there, Mr Blair.
