Tips for Radio

Radio is such a great medium for telling stories. Here are a few tips for making the most of the time that you are on air.

From my experience cringing listening to my own interviews and guiding people through the basics, and some advice from radio journalists, here are some dot points to help you out.

1. Know what you want to say. Have the key points that you want to communicate in your mind or even have them written down in front of you (although not a script- how much do you hate people that read out speeches word for word?). So often we know so much about the subject that we forget which are the key messages we need to convey. If you don’t know what you want to get out of the interview or what messages you want to get out there- reconsider doing the interview.
2. Talk to the interviewer- use their name, engage with them like a normal converstaion- it’s more interesting to listen to. Think of them as your audience and don’t get caught up thinking of how many people could be listening. 
3. Be yourself! An audience can smell insincerity a mile away. Don’t feel like you have to use big words or all of a sudden be a rocket surgeon.
4. Use a landline phone and be in a quiet, uninteruptable place. It sounds obvious, but it makes a big difference. Or ideally go into the studio if you can (it helps with the converstaional feel and the sound quality is much better).
5. You are going to make a mistake. Don’t stress. If it is a pre-recorded interview you can ask to stop and say it again.  
6. If the interview is live just keep going! It’s like any conversation, we are all going to trip over a word- don’t stress about it, just keep going and make sure you are conveying what you want to be saying.
7. Limit your main points to no more than 20 seconds so that they can be used for soundbites. Try to avoid words like “firstly” and “secondly” that would mean your quote couldn’t be used for soundbites.
8. Use concrete examples and case studies- people relate so much more to these than abstract big ideas.
9. Answer the question, well, at least acknowledge the question that was asked, and get those key messages out there. “Jim, that’s a great question, I would say…”
10. Why is the journalist speaking to you? Who else are they speaking to? Chat to them as much as possible before you go on air to figure out how they view you and what they expect from the interview.
11. Know what it is you have to offer- Unless you are an uber celebrity- the press aren’t interested in you but what you have to offer. Make sure you convey this in the interview- whether it is new knowledge, an opportunity to get involved or a specialist opinion. 
12. As painful as it may be (yes, your voice sounds like that) listen to the show- give it even further reach by tweeting, facebooking and spreading that message far and wide.