THE ONE QUESTION NEVER TO ASK JOURNALISTS...

You can never do enough prep before a media interview – but there’s one thing you should never say to the reporter.

Here’s part two of how to get your head together before you go on air:

• Get to know your interviewer. If you’re in a studio – you may be ignored right up until the moment of broadcast. It is normal for a reporter or presenter to keep their distance – particularly with controversial subjects.

• If you’re doing the interview on the phone – you may spend ages waiting to be connected to the live presenter – or you may be put through straightaway so be prepared and listen for your cue.

• If you can, small talk beforehand is vital – be chatty and friendly – this will set the tone for the conversation.

• Ask lots of questions about the output – make sure you know what they’re looking for. Is it a 10 second sound bit, is it a longer feature, is it live or as-live, are they using the whole interview, where will it be broadcast, will it be used on social media? The more you know, the more focused you can be about your answers.

• Manage the journalist’s expectations – what won’t you be able to tell them about? What aren’t you prepared to talk about? Make it clear beforehand with the reporter or the producer. Set your own boundaries.

• Try and be as friendly as possible to the person interviewing you – it will help them feel positive about you and they’ll find it much harder to trap you if they think you are being a fair, reasonable and open person.

• Take control of your situation and environment. Don’t be a passive interviewee who says yes and speaks when spoken to. If you know a good location for the interview to take place, suggest it. If you would prefer to stand up or be doing something, then say so.

• And here it is – what NOT to ask a journalist:– what are you going to ask me? They will NEVER tell you and if you ask them, they may tell you something but then deliberately ask you something else. They don’t want you to sound too prepared. And they want to have the element of surprise. It also looks a bit desperate; as though you don’t know your stuff. Ask this question and they will know immediately you’re nervous about the interview and lacking in confidence.

• The best question to ask is:– What are you looking for from me?

Next time: What you can do to calm your nerves before and during the interview.

BEEN BOOKED FOR A TV OR RADIO INTERVIEW? HERE’S HOW TO PREPARE...

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!

HOW TO RAISE YOUR PROFILE WITH TV & RADIO INTERVIEWS

Would you like to get yourself on TV & Radio as an expert but don’t know where to start? Here are some guidelines to help you take the plunge and be booked for an interview!

• Make sure people know you are up for media interviews. Tell your team/boss that you’re prepared to be a spokesperson. Contact your organisation’s press office if you have one. At the same time, you can do a bit of legwork yourself by calling your local radio & TV stations and telling them who you are and your area of expertise.

• Get yourself out doing things that will get you noticed. Give yourself as much publicity as you can online by tweeting, blogging, vlogging, commenting. Speak at events that might get mentioned in newspapers, newsletter or publications. Find your local media association -most large cities have something. Get to their networking events so you meet the media people, programme makers & journalists where you live. They’re far more likely to book you if they’ve met you.

• Make friends with the news correspondents that specialise in your area of expertise. Are you are surgeon? Then find out who the local and national health correspondents are across all media outlets and get in touch.

• Keep an eye on the news – locally and nationally. If you spot a story coming up that touches on your area of expertise – don’t wait for them to come to you. Give the newsroom a ring and offer yourself. Ask to speak to the News Editor or news planner. They’ll be grateful they won’t have to spend half a day tracking someone down!

• Be prepared to say yes whenever someone asks you. Media organisations do expect you to drop everything to be interviewed NOW. You’re much more likely to get on if you can be available and flexible. And even if it’s not quite the gig you were hoping for, it will be good experience.

• Remember journalists want the best out of you. As an expert, you’re rarely there to be challenged or to defend something. Your role is to help the viewers understand something more clearly, put events into context and make a complex subject relatable and engaging.

• And finally – you’re always more likely to know more than the person asking you the questions so don’t worry about needing to know everything. Just be clear about what are you are and are NOT prepared to talk about.

Coming next time –been booked for an interview? I’ll give you a rundown on how to prepare to be your best before you go on-air.

BBC EXPERT WOMEN TRAINING DAYS

Every time a female scientist, historian or economist pops up being interviewed on the news, my husband asks: ‘Is she one of yours ’? And often she is…’one of mine ’.

I was the presenter coach for the BBCs Expert Women training days that took place across the UK. And many of the very talented women who we coached are now regular faces and voices on TV & radio.

So when I see them pop up on-screen, I do feel a sense of almost-parental pride in seeing how well they’ve done. They’ve been on Newsnight, hosted their own Radio 4 programmes, fronted documentaries. So many of them have found their place in the industry.

The idea behind the days was to up the number of women appearing as experts in traditionally male-dominated areas – science, politics, business etc.. Various studies had shown that programmes on all networks were often weighted heavily with male voices. This training was supposed to give women the confidence to redress the balance and put themselves forward to be interviewed rather than pass the journalist over to a male colleague. And confidence was definitely what some of them needed.

It’s seems so strange that someone can be super-qualified with umpteen letters after their name, be a leading expert in some amazing scientific or legal field – and still worry they’re not qualified to be an expert on television.

That was the common theme between many of the women that turned up to be trained. They felt they didn’t have the right to be the expert; they were imposters. The amount of qualifications in the room but the lack of confidence was astonishing.

So what’s happened to them that means they can now happily say yes to TV appearances? Watch the video and find out for yourself.

Click play on the video above for a film about the training days – you can see me in action at the beginning!