Top tips for radio interviews

Account manager Lisa Hale gives her tips on how to approach radio interviews.

What is an interview?

An interview is a controlled professional conversation between a questioner and an expert on an interesting topic for the benefit of a third party.

Audiences vary! Each of the following has a different audience who will be interested in hearing different information:

BBC Radio Wales/Cymru

Real Radio Wales

Red Dragon

But all have audiences that listen alone while doing something else.

Types of interviews

Recorded or Live, Studio, Location, ‘Down-the-line’ (inc ISDN), Phone, ‘Doorstep’, Discussion programme, Phone-in.

When asked to take part in an interview, ask yourself the following question:

Why do they want me?

What is in it for us?

Am I the right person?

How to prepare

It is essential to prepare for an interview, even if you are confident in the subject. The preparation should take no longer than about 10-15 minutes- if it does you are probably the wrong person for the job, or you have over-complicated the issue.

Decide what you want to say. Remember air time and page space are limited. Your audience is distracted and busy, so define THREE KEY POINTS at most.

Ask yourself - is this what the audience need to hear? Why should they care? Revise if necessary.

What’s the worst they could ask me? You may never need to answer the question, but being prepared helps you figure out what to say if the question comes.

Prepare examples, case studies or anecdotes that will illustrate your key points. They bring your points to life and make them more memorable.

If there is time, work on making your points memorable or create soundbites- turn them into ‘quotable quotes’. Practice them out loud, at least three or four times so that they are familiar and easy to recall.

Do not prepare detailed notes, it will only take away the sense of spontaneity because you will be tempted to try and use them during the interview.

Predict awkward questions, and move from general to specific or specific to general, thus: “ I cant speak for the industry, what I can tell you is that my own company...” or “This is one client, what we need to remember is that we deal successfully with thousands of ....”.

How to deliver

How to take control: The ABC Rule

During the interview, you need to employ active listening skills. You are listening to the question to see what there is in it that provides a cue or a link to whatever, you want to say. The process goes like this:

Acknowledge

You can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, you can describe the problem or you can analyse the issue. Which ever you decide, keep this part of your response as brief as possible.

Bridge

If you can identify a good link, use it. Select a word phrase from the question to highlight. Otherwise, use a phrase such as “That’s a real concern...which is why...” or “I understand people may think that, but...”

Content

Use the bridge to reach your own prepared agenda. This will give you the control of the interview and will change the direction of the questioning itself.

Keep It Simple

Treat your listeners as averagely intelligent 16 year olds, even when talking to trade press, do not assume they are all experts. Use everyday language, be clear, keep figures and facts to a minimum and do not use jargon.