Before and During the Interview

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The world of media is about telling clear, precise stories with facts to back these up. Try to speak with short, sharp sentences – and think in sound bites.

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Before the interview

  • Know your purpose. Prepare two or three essential points that you want to get across during the interview.
  • Support your points with facts or anecdotes from your experience.
  • Consider your interview an “enlarged conversation” and speak as naturally as you would to another person.

During the Interview

  • Before you begin to speak, smile at the interviewer to establish a rapport.
  • Check that you are comfortable – take time to sit comfortably.
  • Use gestures that complement the expression of your ideas. Avoid distracting hand gestures. Do not swat flies – your hands should not gesture in front of your face.
  • Maintain eye contact with the journalist throughout the interview. Do not talk into the camera unless you are doing a down-the-line interview.
  • Active listening – we show people that we are listening by tilting our head and slightly point our ear to them. This is all non-verbal communication. We nod to show that we are listening. In broadcast interviews be careful not to nod – you might be agreeing with a negative statement.
  • Don’t feel rushed by the journalist, cameras lighting. If you need to pause or stop tell them (unless it is live interview).

Tell stories and talk in sound bites

We need to give journalists and editors plenty of good material that they can clip or cut and paste into their copy, video or broadcast. Think in terms of short clear sentences with the big idea and key messages that you have planned.

Try to avoid going into too much detail. If you are speaking uninterrupted for over a minute it is probably too long. Try to think in sound bites – the more of these you have the more likely that the journalist will take your key messages and use your ideas in the story.

During the Interview – Continued

Be assertive – in a pleasant way – so that the conversation centres on subjects you want to talk about.

  • One way to do this is to respond to a narrow question with a very broad answer that encompasses the facts or opinions you need to get across. This is zooming in or zooming out.
  • Listen carefully to the question. If you consider it difficult, pause before you answer to give yourself time to formulate a response. If you don’t understand a question, ask that it be repeated.
  • Be careful not to repeat an interviewer’s words, unless they reinforce what you wish to say. If an interviewer poses false premises in asking a question, correct him/her firmly but politely.
  • Use your time to set the record straight or present facts. You might say, “This is a common misperception. Here’s why…”
  • Acknowledge the question, and bridge and then conclude with your message. This is called ABC of media interviews.
  • Pivot away from questions you do not wish to answer by introducing something else of interest. In this way, you may redirect the interview to the subject you wish to convey.
  • Don’t try to answer hypothetical questions; they tend to obscure your true position. Turn the tables by clearly stating your general position and then offering your own example.
  • If you don’t know the answer to a question simply say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out the answer and get back to you.” If you have a legitimate reason for withholding certain information then politely say it’s confidential or proprietary.

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