LEARN THE SECRETS OF RADIO INTERVIEWING

Dear Friends,

Thanks to all of you who wrote in last month. As I formulate themes I'll keep you in mind and feature your ideas as often as is possible. At the moment I'm writing the online chapter of my book. That got me thinking about how we connect whether it's on the phone, over the Internet, or in person.

I'm not much of a networker. I don't like to go to formal events where I'm expected to thrust my persona into the hands of others. (Although I will be giving you advice on how to do it with ease in my book.) But I do like the natural wildness of a chance encounter. And I have a lot of those. On my daily walks when I get cozy with all the neighborhood dogs and a few of their owners, I meet people with whom I have a lot in common (besides loving dogs). In the past few weeks I've met two women who I'm going to interview for my book. Spot's mom, Maria, was the crisis communications manager for The Gap. And Toby's person is a marketing consultant for dot coms. Although I haven't met you at the corner with your dog, I'd very much like to hear from you what's working for you online. Take a look at the end of this newsletter for some specific requests.

In the meantime I've just finished the chapter on radio interviewing for my book and wanted to share some "hot off the press" information. Here are a few pointers to help you connect with all those people you can't see during your radio interview.

Warmly,

Susan

Create vivid word pictures.
"The most impressive migrator is a little tiny bird called the Black Pole Warbler. It weights less than one-half an ounce. You can mail two of these things anywhere in the U.S. for a 33-cent stamp. It's about four inches and of course most of that is feathers," explained nature expert Scott Wiedensaul. Isn't that a great description? Both simple and concrete you get a real visceral sense of the size of this bird.

On a more serious note, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley and Chinese scholar Orville Schell told this resonant story on the radio. "In 1926 when a protest against Japan reached the gate of Heavenly Peace the war lord then in power fired in the crowd killing 50 people, wounding 100 and the square was bathed in blood. China's most famous writer Lu Hsun said a striking line: 'Lies written in ink will never disguise truth written in blood.'" In less than 25 seconds Schell has given you a picture of a political climate visually, auditorally and emotionally.

Tell stories, stories, stories.
People remember stories. If there's one thing and one thing only you learn from being on radio it is to tell stories. Radio is an ideal medium for storytelling. Your listeners are tuned into the purity of your voice. They don't have any other distraction so they actually focus in on your words, tone, expression. While they hang on every word they can get hung up on every "uh," so work to eliminate any non-words from your conversation.

Quote from your book, business, product or cause.
Tag the pages in your book or materials and rank them in priority. Give the audience a tasty bite of what it would be like indulge in the banquet of your services, buy your book or product. Think of it an auditory sample that your audience can take home with them.

Personal Coach Rebecca Everett, who has been interviewed several times at her local PBS radio station, wrote in with this advice:

1. Prepare and rehearse 10-30 second responses that include the crucial information you want to impart about the topic of the interview.
   
   MY NOTE: You want to make sure your 10, 20, and 30 second sound bites are not only fascinating but relate to the product or service you're there to sell. A great story for it's own sake is just that. I love great stories, and I encourage you to keep your focus in mind when you choose which one's you're planning to tell.
    
2. If you can't "see" the interviewer (doing it over the phone) or can't visualize the audience or callers, take along some photos of people you know or clip pictures from magazines and put them where you can "talk" to them. I learned this from James Alburger at http://www.voiceacting.com.
   
   MY NOTE: Fantastic advice. What a great way to give a warm feeling over the air-waves. Remember, you're just having a friendly chat with another person, a few million other people just happen to be listening.
    
3. Be friendly with everyone you come in contact with during your preparation and appearance. The production assistant on one show will probably become the producer of another and looking for people who are easy to work with.

MY NOTE: I believe you can apply this counsel to everyone you meet, not only people you want to book you on a show. Treat everyone as if he were a guest in your home and you will be welcomed everywhere.

Thanks for the tips, Rebecca!

Rebecca offers a free, introductory personal coaching session to see if you're a match. I took a teleclass on perfectionism (yup, it's a quality that keeps a lot of us from moving toward what we really want) from her about a year ago. I learned a lot and enjoyed it.