Ok – so you’ve said yes to a media interview. Feeling anxious? Regretting it already? Don’t panic. Your first task is to focus on your content – what you’re going to say. This blog post will give you some ideas of where you start.
Begin with the programme and the audience.
Find out from the person who has booked you:
What kind of programme is it, what time of day is it on and what’s the aim of the programme? Is it a news programme – where you’ll be on for a shorter time or a discussion/phone-in programme where you’ll have longer on–air? This information will help find the right tone and select the most relevant content. Ask yourself – what can I leave out that is not relevant to this programme?
Ask about the audience – who is likely to be watching or listening? Is there a key demographic? What do they need to hear from you? What are their interests? Get a clear idea of who you are talking to – think about how you might for example, talk to a BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat audience and then a BBC R4 Today programme audience. You might select different facts and even use a different vocabulary. We all talk to different groups of people in different ways – so instead of defaulting to your ‘professional’ way of speaking with people ask yourself how you would really speak to those listeners if you met them down the pub?
Next think about how you are being used on this programme. A good question to ask your booker is – what do you need from me? Find out whether you are wanted for one response – a news ‘clip’. Or are you taking part in a longer Q& A? Will anyone else be in the studio with you – or in a remote location/on the phone?
Don’t forget in this age of tweets and texts – the presenter may well be engaging the audience on a social media platform and you might have to respond to viewer questions that come in as you’re going out live.
Next, think about your objective. What do you actually want to get out of this interview and how does it fit in with what your interviewer/programme wants? If there’s already a mismatch, it’s going to be trickier.
So; decide what is the most important message you want the audience to take away. Write it down and identify some key words that make it come alive – make sure you know why it’s important to get this message across i.e. The reason the audience needs to know this is because……..
Don’t memorise a press release – you’ll end up battling with your memory rather than having a conversation. Steer clear of too many facts and figures – they’re too hard to remember. If one figure stands out – then just remember/write down that one.
Finally, remind yourself of how you’d like to come across – i.e. ‘lively’, ‘passionate’ ‘credible’ etc. Then, practice some sentences out loud – not in your head – with some of the conversational language and informal phrases that you’ll need, perhaps some personal anecdotes or stories. In other words – don’t come out with the official language of meetings, boardrooms & press releases.
Next time – more prep work you can do to make what you want to say, even better!
