STEP 1
Know the purpose
More and more business people are being asked to contribute to the media today. A media contributor is someone who is invited to be part of a discussion and contribute their views on a topic.
Alternatively, the media may request an interview with you as part of a personal profile segment on you or your business.
The purpose of this chapter is not to tell you how to get onto media or build a PR strategy. I am afraid that is a whole other book, and you may need to pay for professional support if this is your goal.
This chapter is designed to help you perform on traditional broadcast media, if such an opportunity arises.
I am going to talk specifically about radio and television interviews. However, many of the concepts and ideas explored in this chapter apply to print-media interviews and video interviews for social media.
Should I always say ‘Yes’ to a media interview?
My answer is ‘No’… I will give you a minute to think about that.
The right interview on the right show can be very powerful but the wrong interview on the wrong show could do your personal brand considerable damage.
Take, for example, the difference between tabloid media and business media.
Tabloid media will always take a personal angle on a story so, if you engage in tabloid media, you must be prepared to talk about your personal life. Business media, on the other hand, will not normally ask whom you are dating or how you spend your free time.
But ‘all publicity is good publicity’ – right?
No it’s not. All publicity will give you profile (a level of fame), but what will you be famous for?
Jordan (aka Katie Price) is a famous woman in the media and so is Angela Merkel — but for very different reasons.
Both have public profiles and both appear and are involved in the media regularly, but in a very different way.
If Angela Merkel decided to do a bikini shoot would she get publicity? Yes she would. Would it be the right publicity for her personal brand? I don’t think so.
It’s not easy to get an opportunity to speak on radio and television, so your instinct may be to say ‘Yes’ straight away; but before you say ‘Yes’ you must be sure the interview will add value to your brand.
You can say ‘No’ to the media (in the nicest possible way of course) if it is not right for you.
The media team
Generally, a TV or radio show will have the following team members:
- presenter;
- producer;
- researcher;
- runner.
There can and will be other people on the team, but these are the people you need to be aware of most:
- Presenter: the presenter is the person in front of the microphone or camera. They are the face or the voice of the show. They are the person who will be interviewing you on air.
- Producer: a producer is in charge of actually making the show. They (and there can be a team of producers on a show) decide what content, stories and interviews are happening on the show. The producer fundamentally decides how the show will run and what exactly will happen. Some presenters act as producers as well, but not all.
- Researcher: once the producer decides how the show will run, the researcher gets all the background information for the presenter. They source any clips, write questions and contact contributors and guests for the show.
- Runner: a runner makes endless cups of tea, looks after the guests when they come into studio and generally does anything and everything that needs to be done to support the producer, presenter and researcher.
If you are asked to contribute to a radio/TV show you will be contacted by either a producer or a researcher.
How and where the interview can happen
Interviews can happen in many different ways:
- Pre-recorded interviews: these interviews are recorded in advance either in the studio, your office or another location.
- Live over the phone: your interview will happen live over the phone rather than in the studio.
- Live in a radio studio: you will be asked to travel to the radio show and do the interview there, individually or as part of a panel.
- Live in a TV studio: you will be asked to travel to the TV studio to appear on the show.
Ask questions – as many as you like
I have worked with many producers and researchers and I can tell you without hesitation that it is OK to ask as many questions as you want and need to feel comfortable when going on media. They want you to feel comfortable because they want you to do your best.
Later in this chapter I will give you some tips on how to behave before, during and after a media interview. However, every team is different and every studio is different so I can’t possibly address every situation that may arise in the media for you here.
If in doubt, or if you are just curious, ask.
STEP 2
Understand your listener
The business of media
I began my career in TV. Television is the business of making programmes that people will watch.
Television does not exist without an audience. A TV shows needs people to watch it, so it can get advertising. No audience means no advertising, which means no money.
When a TV show is being planned, perhaps the most important question the producers consider is ‘Who is going to watch this?’.
The producers don’t make any money or get their message across unless they know their audience. Once they know this they can begin to shape their TV show to appeal to this group.
The most important element of any TV show is an understanding of the target audience. This allows the producers to craft a show that will appeal directly to their audience and what is important to them.
The media knows there is no such thing as the ‘general public’. A single, 21-year-old guy will be interested in very different things to a married, 55-year-old woman with three children.
The media ensures, no matter what is talked about, that it is tailored to the appropriate audience. Each TV and radio show has a target audience. Think for a second about your favourite TV show, the websites you visit, the magazines you read – I bet they are aimed at you and your peers.
If you are going on media you need to understand that your goal is to talk to the show’s audience, watching or listening at home.
How do you know who is listening?
It is not all that difficult to examine whom the audience might be for any TV or radio show.
Some questions to ask are: what time of day is the show on; what kind of advertising is done on the show; and what angles do they take on current news stories?
Are people listening in their cars on their way to work, or are they stay-at-home parents or pensioners?
You can also ask the researcher or producer directly whom the show is aimed at and they will be happy to tell you.
The ‘real’ audience
One of the most important lessons I learnt early on in my career is that the presenter is just a telephone through which to talk to the audience.
The presenter of the show is not the audience but the presenter asks the question on behalf of the people at home. You do want to have a rapport with the presenter, but the person at home is whom you want to communicate with and persuade.
STEP 3
Prepare to speak
Please don’t go on any sort of media if you:
- are shy;
- don’t want to talk;
- don’t want to talk about your topic;
- don’t want to answer certain questions;
- are afraid the interviewer will bring a certain topic up and you don’t want to talk about it (they will bring it up, even if they say they won’t);
- don’t want to debate every possible angle around your topic;
- are not prepared for the expected, the unexpected and absolutely everything in between.
A great media interview is like a great tennis match. It consists of two people, dressed in cute outfits, playing offence and defence, using both their forehand and backhand to hit a ball (answer questions) strategically, which is flying at them at a tremendous speed. Each player must have great stamina and give all of themselves for the entire duration of the match.
The media wants a great tennis match. They want energy and excitement. They want what’s new this moment – what is yesterday is old. They want what’s interesting. They want extremes, not normality.
You must be willing and able to do this if you are going on media. You must be able to talk about interesting things and not just go on and advertise yourself. No interviewer or presenter will let you do this.
If you want to go on media and talk about how great you are, you need to buy some advertising. Otherwise you have to bring something of interest and value to the table.
You may have noticed in this book that I do not talk about presentation skills. There is a reason for this: in September 2013 I published my first book, called The Presentation Book, where I covered this topic in great detail.
My interview
As part of the publicity for this book, I did a radio interview, which I feel is a very typical example of a media interview.
I would like to take you through each part of this media interaction, in the hope of showing you how the media works and what you can learn from my interview.
‘I was contacted by the researcher of a radio show by email and asked would I go on an afternoon radio show for 30 minutes to talk about topics of the day, including a little interview on my book. They asked me what day I could do within the next week. They told me to come to the studio 30 minutes early, with five topical news stories to talk about. I had to have the news stories emailed to the researcher by 11am on the day of the interview and she would call me at 11.30 to talk through my stories.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
There are really only two ways to get on media: you contact them via press release, or they contact you having seen or heard about you, possibly from another source of media. In this case they heard I had written a book and they contacted me by email to invite me for the interview.
When the media contacts you the interview will usually happen within a short time-frame – it could be that day for some stories or maybe within the week if it is a more general interview topic. In this case they contacted me on a Wednesday and I agreed to do the interview the following Monday at 1pm in their studio.
They asked me to prepare some topics to talk about and we agreed to talk the morning of the interview. I spent the next few days preparing my stories and we talked as planned at 11.30am on the morning of the interview.
‘I arrived at the studio 30 minutes before I was due to be interviewed. I went to reception, was greeted by the researcher and she asked me to sit in a waiting area. I sat reading the paper. Five minutes before the interview, I was brought into the studio.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
I travelled to the studio myself. I made my way to the reception area. I was seated and waited in the general area till I was called. You need to be there early, around 30 minutes before, but normally you will not be brought into the studio until the very last minute. Do not expect to be minded or given any special treatment.
If you do have questions, ask them before you get to the studio if possible. When you are at the studio the team will be very busy working on the show and they will not be able to give you very much time or attention. There are certain shows (mainly on TV) that have waiting areas called green rooms with food, drink and lots of attention, but this does not happen on radio in my experience.
‘When it was time to go into the studio I was greeted by the interviewer, who was distracted trying to tee up the show and listen to the producer through his headphones. I said ‘Hello’ and handed him a copy of my book. He made a face and put the book down.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
Every interviewer is different. Every interviewer has a different style. Some will come out of the studio and greet you (if they have time), others will just expect you to be grateful to be there and to get on with it. On that day I was greeted with the latter.
He certainly wasn’t thrilled to see me and if I thought giving him a copy of my book was going to get him on side, I thought wrong.
He was very busy getting ready for the show so I sat down, put my headphones on (you need to do this) and waited for the show to begin and the first question to come.
‘He began the interview with general questions about presentations. At first it seemed to be going well, but then, suddenly, he began asking questions in relation to selling and lying in a sales pitch. He accused me of teaching people to lie and that presenting to sell was about spin. It was the worst possible angle he could have chosen, from my point of view.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
When you are interviewed by a radio or television presenter you must be aware that their knowledge of you and your topic may be limited to:
- a press release;
- a Google search or some other research handed to them by the researcher;
- their own opinions about you and the topic you are discussing.
From this starting point they can go wherever they want with the interview.
In this case the interview started off well until suddenly he started asking me about selling and lying in presentations. What became crystal clear very quickly was that he hadn’t actually read the book and he had taken the name of my business, ‘Presenting To Sell’, put two and two together and got five.
The questions he asked were not relevant to my work or the book. He started talking about teaching people spin and lying. He brought the interview down this path and I had to follow him and then try and bring it back.
Every interviewer approaches an interview with three things in mind:
- What’s new?
- What’s different?
- Why should we care?
A presenter will normally have some sort of format for their questioning:
- The first question will (in one form or another) be what’s the story here?
- The last question will (in one form or another) be where do you go from here?
- In between, the presenter will deal with extremes:
- What’s the best?
- What’s the worst?
- Why is this relevant, important, interesting?
‘I did my best to answer his questions and manage my own emotion until he changed his line of questioning again a few minutes later.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
The first decision I had to make was whether I pointed out the fact that he clearly hadn’t read the book. This was 100 per cent what I wanted to do, but rule number one of media interviews is do not ever make the presenter look bad. You do not want to expose or annoy them.
Next I had to really manage my own emotion. I was getting very rattled and angry with him for going down this route and I had to remind myself it was my job to answer the questions and not respond to the tone or emotion. I was shaking from the adrenaline in my body but I did my best to take deep breaths and not take it personally.
I had no choice but to address his questions as best I could by using examples and stories from my own experience and the book. After a few minutes of head-on questioning he backed off and went back to more straight-line questions.
‘The slot lasted 30 minutes, although I did not talk for all that time. Not once was I asked about the five news stories I had prepared.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
The researcher can’t speak for the presenter. The researcher may tell you that the presenter will or will not do something or say something but you can’t take it as gospel or always believe it, because they simply can’t speak for the person in the chair.
I was told I would talk about my five news stories and then maybe just a few minutes on the book. That was not what happened. I was not asked about my news stories once. The entire time was taken up with the book, which was fantastic, albeit unexpected.
‘The interview finished, I said ‘Thank you’ and left. I went back to my office and I listened back to the show.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
I left the radio studio feeling very shaky. I was very uncertain as to how it had gone. I knew there was a moment I could have lost it. Did I? Did the three-second pause when he asked me whether I was teaching people to lie seem as long in real life as it did in my head? Did I manage my emotion or did I sound out of control on air?
I could not answer any of these questions yet and my feelings at that time would only betray me as my fight-or-flight response had been triggered. I went back to my office and listened back to the interview in full online.
Thankfully, the interview was not as bad as I’d felt it was. It was interesting and lively, and although his questions were very challenging and not what I hoped, they did make for very good radio. This is his job. He did it very well.
‘Finally, I emailed the researcher and said ‘Thank you’.’
LEARNING FOR YOU
Later that day I emailed the researcher to say ‘Thank you’ and she sent me a copy of the show via email for my records. The other reason to email afterwards is the hope of maintaining a relationship of some sort with the researcher for the future.
Preparing for your media interview
The first step to preparing for a media interview is to ask a few questions:
- Who is the audience for this show?
- What is the topic I am talking about?
- What is the angle I want to give/what angle might they go with?
- Why am I being asked to speak?
- Will anyone else be on the show with me talking about this topic?
- Is it live or pre-recorded?
- Is it a phone interview or in a studio?
- What do I need to prepare for the interview?
A media interview is exactly the same as a one-to-one conversation in that you are trying to move your listener from where they are to where you want them to be.
Once you are clear on the programme’s audience, ask yourself what do they know about my topic and how do they feel about it before the interview?
Then, what do you want them to know and what do you want them to feel after your interview?
If you are unsure, try and speak to someone you know who might represent the target listener and ask them their thoughts or what they might find interesting.
You must prepare three things for a media interview:
- The key points you want the listener to remember.
- How to make those points interesting and understandable for the listener.
- The kind of questions you are likely to be asked and how best to answer them.
Have a bottomless bag of great things to say
To succeed at a media interview, you must become Mary Poppins. The popular musical Mary Poppins is about a magical nanny who comes to look after two children. Mary Poppins has with her a bottomless carpet bag and, whatever situation arises, Mary is able to pull something from that bag to match the circumstances. She pulls out everything, from medicine to magical umbrellas.
It is impossible to know what questions you will be asked during a media interview. You can ask the interviewer or producer in advance to send you a list of questions. However, I will be very surprised (a) if they send you a list and (b) if they send you a list and stick to the questions.
What you need to succeed on media is your very own magic bottomless carpet bag of great things to say, no matter what question you are asked.
With that in mind, you must be clear on your key messages and then you must prepare your bottomless bag of great things to say around those messages. These include:
- relevant personal stories and examples;
- interesting facts or new information;
- case studies.
When you are asked a question during a TV or radio interview, you must pull the relevant story/fact/case study out of your magic bottomless bag of great things to say and deliver it to the audience at home in a way they can relate to and understand.
Studio protocols
Earlier in the chapter I talked about different ways you can be interviewed – over the phone, on radio or on television. Once you are clear on what you want to say during the interview, there are some other studio and interview protocols you need to be aware of and manage.
Telephone interviews
- Put a sign on your door saying ‘Do not enter’ and make sure there will be no other calls coming through to you during the interview.
- A landline is much better than a mobile.
- Stand up – it will allow you to breathe properly and it will make you feel ‘I am on’.
Radio and television interviews
- Arrive at the studio 30 minutes before your interview time, unless told otherwise.
- In a TV studio do not move things around. The studio and the chair you are sitting in will be lit a certain way. (This takes hours!) You don’t want to mess with the lighting guys – trust me.
- Whenever you are in the vicinity of a television camera or microphone you are always ‘on’ (i.e. people can see and hear you). Don’t say anything you don’t want a lot of people to hear.
- In some situations you may be given a radio microphone (portable microphone); be careful… don’t go the toilet with the microphone on and don’t go off and make a private phone call, as the sound guys can hear everything. You don’t want to mess with them either, by the way.
- Always have a glass of water with you.
- Do not have a click pen, rustling paper or anything noisy in a studio.
- Live media works to very strict timings. Be aware of these timings and don’t take it personally if you get cut off by the interviewer. If you are doing a pre-recorded interview, timing is not as big an issue – however, you may want to give yourself a time deadline. Tell them you have only 20 minutes. The more you say, the more they can edit it to look however they want.
- ‘Off the record’: this is a term that means you say something to a interviewer but they won’t broadcast it, or at least they won’t attribute it to you if they do say it. I do not advise you to work ‘off the record’ unless you are sure you can trust the interviewer or presenter.
- In a radio studio, make sure you are not too close or too far away from the microphone; aim for the length of your middle finger as the perfect distance.
- Do not bring your mobile phone into a TV or radio studio.
- At the end of an interview, hold still till you are given the all-clear by the presenter or another member of the team.
- Do not look at the camera at any time when you are on television or are being interviewed – you are not the presenter.
- An interviewer is not your friend. Presenters can be very good at making you feel comfortable to the point where you forget where you are and you may say something you will regret.
- Going into a radio or TV studio is very exciting and a little daunting if it is your first time. It is important to try and be as normal as possible and try not to get overwhelmed with the studio, the team or the mechanics.
- And finally: when I worked in radio this sign was sitting in the studio: ‘Smile – everyone can hear it’.
Being part of a panel interview
There is a chance you will be on media discussing a topic with other people in a more heated way as part of a panel discussion. As well as everything we have looked at so far, there are some other things to be aware of in this situation.
- If you can’t properly answer a question, then tell the interviewer you will find out and get back to them by the end of the show (make sure you always do).
- If an interviewer or another person on the panel is pursuing or harassing you, stay at the same emotional level throughout. No matter how much they interrupt you, don’t get angry. Keep your voice at the same level no matter who else raises theirs. Don’t get into a vocal competition – especially men with women.
- Remember to answer the data part of the question, not the emotional part.
- If you are on TV or radio and the discussion is getting abusive in any way then say ‘I have a lot to offer but if you don’t give me the chance I will leave’.
- If you are on a panel discussion and you wish to interrupt, an interruption starts physically, not verbally: sit up straight, lean forward, raise your hand and try to get the interviewer’s attention first.
- You need to know the names of everyone on the panel and any callers or audience members who ask a question. When you do interrupt verbally you need to use the person’s name whom you are interrupting.
- If you are sitting at a table as part of a panel, sit up straight and really claim the space. Don’t make yourself small or put your hands under the desk.
- A floor manager is in charge in a TV studio. Watch them at all times and you will get a good sense of what is going on.
What do I wear on television?
This is the number one question I get asked when people come to me for media training. It is a very important question and, indeed, a very important outfit. Here are 20 tips on how to dress for television:
- The camera does add 10 pounds, so you will look bigger on television than you are in real life.
- Man or woman, you must wear make up on television otherwise you look washed out.
- If you are going on TV there will be a make-up artist who will powder you (if you are a man) and make you up (if you are a woman).
- Choose a hairstyle that emphasises your face and doesn’t hide it.
- You should dress for television in a way that isn’t going to take away from your messages.
- Wear clothes that are comfortable and that you won’t be pulling at in any way.
- If you are a woman wearing a shirt, make sure that when you sit down the shirt does not gape. Use double-sided sticky tape to secure it if necessary.
- White reflects light and black absorbs it so they are not the best colours to wear on television. Good colours are navy, chocolate and charcoal for suits, and bright colours look great on TV (not pastels).
- Some studios have what is called a ‘green/blue screen’. If that is the case, if you wear anything green or blue you will blend into the set. Check with the show if they use one of these, or, if in doubt, bring a second clothing option. In fact, I suggest you always bring a second option of clothing with you.
- Do not choose jewellery that will make a noise and be too distracting. Also, don’t wear any badges, ribbons or anything that will allow someone to make a judgement about you – unless that is your goal.
- When dressing for television you are best to choose spring/autumn clothes rather than winter/summer clothes.
- If you want to look like a professional, wear a tailored jacket.
- Be careful with polka dots or any kind of check pattern as they dance on camera.
- Men can make a statement with the tie they choose to wear – make sure it is the right statement though.
- Wearing glasses is not a problem as long as the rim is not too thick; the audience must be able to see your eyes as they are essential for communication.
- Be very careful of having something written on your clothes – the audience at home will spend the entire time trying to read it.
- If you are someone who perspires a lot, buy a deodorant product like Mitchum (any good chemist will have it), or buy sweat protector pads and sew them into your shirts.
- Women, be careful of how much leg or cleavage you show.
- If you are a woman who blushes, make sure you are wearing a high-neck top or scarf.
- Be wary of wearing the latest trends, as in two months’ time you may look dated.
| Before the interview |  |
| Find out the duration/time/location of the interview | |
| Confirm the topic/content/background to the interview | |
| Research the style of the programme and the presenter | |
| Have a bag of great things to say | |
| Prepare likely questions and answers | |
| Prepare your notes | |
| Plan your wardrobe |
| After the interview | |
| Contact the producer/researcher to thank them | |
| Request a copy of the interview for review | |
| Listen back to the interview in full |
