A couple of weeks ago our very own Gail Downey gave her three top tips for radio interviews, and it got us thinking about her final tip ‘be yourself and then some’ so we decided to discuss a little bit further.
Here I’m talking about radio interviews, and in a couple of weeks, our communication and presentation trainer Sue Carruthers will be focusing how to use your voice effectively.
It sounds an obvious thing to say, but when people listen to the radio they can’t see you, they can only hear your voice.
The result of that for those doing radio interviews is that the listener can’t judge you by the way you look, they can’t see your clothing, your body language, your facial expressions.
How do you want to come across?
That first implication of that is the need to decide what kind of impression you want to give.
All the listener has to go on to decide whether you are a person worth listening to is your voice. So that means you have to make your voice fit the image you want to project.
That will of course depend on your position, your personality, as well as the programme you are taking part in.
Do you want to be friendly and approachable, authoritative and commanding, or intelligent and academic?
Whichever of these suits the circumstances of the interview, the most important thing is that it suits you too. You have to be authentic. If you try to be someone you are not, it simply will not work – and you’ll end up losing credibility and making a worse impression than if you had simply tried to be yourself.
So you need to be aware what type of person you are, and how that will work in the context of the interview you are giving.
Making people listen
The second thing to consider is that those listening to the radio are normally only concentrating on what you say with half a brain – they’ll also likely to be getting ready for work, driving the car, cooking dinner or in their office.
To make them sit up and listen, you have to project your personality out of the radio and into their consciousness.
That means while being yourself and being natural, you need to be yourself – only more so! Have the biggest personality you could muster, just for those two or three minutes when you’re on the air.
Preparation
And most important of all, prepare for your interview and think about what you’re going to say in advance. Not only will this give you confidence when you go into the studio, so you can relax and be yourself, but if you have interesting anecdotes, using memorable phrases and make thought-provoking points, then that will really help to make your interview stand out.
Look out for Sue’s article about voice in a couple of week’s time.
If you would like more information about how to give good radio interviews, then contact us at 020 8332 6200 or info@roughhouse.co.uk.
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