The dos and don't of radio interviews

This is the first guest contribution to the Radiocartoonist blog as part of the Be My Guest blog exchange. 

Emily Cagle is a PR consultant, blogger and copywriter. I thought it appropriate to ask her to blog about presenting yourself on the radio. 

Here are Emily’s dozen Dos and Don’ts. (And I’m glad she omitted number 13: Don’t try and draw cartoons on the radio…)

Getting invited in for a radio interview can give your profile a real boost, but it can also be a nerve-racking experience.  

Generally, the more prepared you are, the better you’ll perform on the day, so here are dozen dos and don’ts to get you started.

1. Do arrive in plenty of time. Whether in the studio or by phone, get ready in plenty of time so you’re not flustered. You’ll probably only be called/called in moments before the interview starts, which is too late to start preparing mentally.

2. Don’t go in blind. It’s not wise to walk into an interview with no idea what to expect. Read up on the programme and if possible, the interviewer to get a better idea of the angle the piece is likely to take and the questions you’re likely to be asked.

3. Do prepare what you want to say. Have some key points in mind — or even on a note card — but don’t expect to be able to recite them word for word. The aim is to sound confident, rather than like you’re reading from a script.

4. Don’t make claims you can’t back up. If you’re asked a question you can’t answer, rather than an evasive “No comment”, it’s far better to give a reason such as, “Unfortunately that information is confidential until X has been completed”.

5. Do speak in short sentences, with brief pauses in between. This will make what you say easier for listeners to digest, and will also improve your chances of sound bites being clipped and used in subsequent news bulletins and the like.

6. Don’t speak too fast. Racing through your words is a sure sign of nerves, so pacing yourself (to just slightly slower than normal ‘conversation speed’) will make you sound less nervous and will reduce the need for ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’.

7. Do remain polite at all times. The interviewer or other guests may disagree with you, but it’s never wise to argue, get angry or be rude. Stay polite, reiterate your view, if necessary and remain calm.

8. Don’t be afraid to ask a clarifying a question. Like a job interview, if you don’t understand something, ask.

9. Do have a drink handy in case you feel your mouth or throat getting dry.

10. Don’t go ‘off the record’. For the purposes of an interview, it’s really best to assume there is no such thing, so if you don’t want something in the public domain, don’t say it.

11. Do turn off phones, PDAs and anything that beeps. If being interviewed live over the phone, it’s even more vital to turn your radio off. Left on, it will only create confusion because the radio feed will be a few moments behind what you’re hearing on the phone.

12. Don’t lean into the microphone. If you’re in the studio, take your lead from the interviewer. In most cases, you shouldn’t need to lean forward in your chair at all.

Being the perfect guest

It comes as a shock to realise that I’ve been blogging now for five years. Off and on. When the mood takes me.

It began when the editor of The Westmorland Gazette, Mike Glover, asked me to blog about the 2005 general election.

“But I know nothing about politics and hate politicians, “ I wailed. 

“Good,” he said, “you’ll be perfect.”

Since then, the blog has wandered about and covered local affairs (though I don’t have too many of those in case of gossip), world politics, Dr Who, space, the universe, God, Dr Who and the boundless joys afforded by the interweb. My online footling around has also broadened out to include Twitter, where I now have 100 followers - many of whom appear to be perfectly normal.

This has led to some interesting projects. One of the latest is something called Be My Guest (or #bemyguest if you want to find it in the Twitterverse). PR consultants Emily Cagle and Adam Vincenzini came up with the idea of making March mutual blogging month. This is not as rude as it sounds. It simply means you offer to contribute to someone else’s blog and vice versa.

Now, the accepted wisdom about blogging seems to be that you blog about your business, about your core um strength thingies and areas of expert erm … stuff. Clearly I don’t do any of that (although you may expect rather a lot of cartoon-related blogging when my new book comes out in May). So when Emily asked on Twitter for a photographer to contribute to her blog, I pointed out that a cartoonist would be much more stylish and trendy. To my surprise she agreed and gave me an immediate brief: 

“Draw a cartoon and write 100 words about how you thought of it.”

Oh. 

How I think up cartoons can usually be described in one word: “Ping!” 

They just happen. Or not (as is sometimes the case).

So I pondered this for a bit and then came up with an idea, inspired by Emily’s suggestion (which is what she planned all along, of course). It deviates from the initial brief but that’s what being a cartoonist is all about.

You can read my guest blog on Emily’s site.

In return, Emily is guest blogging here.

The Windermere Triangle

You may have heard mention of this on national radio. It is a mystery like no other; deeply disturbing, profound and baffling, which has consumed world-renowned experts for all of five minutes.

Basically, if you parked at a certain spot on Windermere’s main street, your electronic car fob ceased to work. Immediately conspiracy theories erupted. It was aliens, it was ghosts, a disturbance in the Earth’s aura, Geisterwege, a weird geo-electrical fault in the Earth’s crust, Windermere was on a ley line.

My theory was that Windermere was feeling left out of it when someone spotted a log in the lake last year, shouted “Monster!” and dubbed it Bownessie. Time to get a few gul- psychically-minded punters to the Windermere shops.

It turns out that it was … no, you’ll have to read the story. 

Meanwhile, it was one of the subjects for this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon. Along with a cancelled charity run and, rather excitingly, someone being Tasered by the police at a local hotel.

As usual, on Thursday you can see which one got in my visiting my site or heading off to Windermere to buy a copy of the newspaper. Just watch where you park … (cue X-Files music).

Rabbit Proof Fence

A range of more serious stories on the front page of this week’s Westmorland Gazette, but tucked away just inside was a gem to bring delight to the heart of any cartoonist. The World of Beatrix Potter visitor attraction, at The Old Laundry in Bowness-on-Windermere, has decided to develop their own kitchen garden, called - naturally enough - The Peter Rabbit Garden. Produce will appear in their café and they hope it will stimulate children’s interest in eating well. However, they have decided to put up a fence to ensure that pesky wabbit doesn’t get in.

These were my first four rough sketches. You can see the cartoon chosen either in the newspaper or on my site.

This Old House

The mountain rescue service is in the news again, locally. As a charity, they can’t reclaim VAT on the equipment they buy (despite the fact that the Royal National Lifeboat Institute can reclaim VAT on their gear). Gordon Brown, however, has decided that he will waive VAT on the Haiti earthquake charity single, produced by Simon Cowell.

Charity, earthquakes, Haiti … clearly this is awkward territory to be tiptoed across with the most delicate of sensitivities. Oh wait, I just remembered; I’m a cartoonist.

Here are the sketches for this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon. The final version is already up on my site.

The hills are alive

This week’s Westmorland Gazette features two stories which caught my eye (mostly the left one). The old K-Shoes factory is being revamped as a sort-of out-of-town-ish shopping complex called K-Village. This is rather worrying for those businesses in the centre of Kendal that sell actually new things instead of recycling cast-offs for charity.

The other story involved Pamela Anderson. Yes, the one from Baywatch, seminal Saturday tea time television series of the 1990s. She has been appearing in Aladdin in London and is apparently so struck by the UK she wants to buy a home here. Possibly overlooking Morecambe Bay.

I refuse to believe this is anything other than tawdry tabloid speculation but as cartoon fodder, it has an irresistible allure. The question was … could I resist the obvious couple of jokes?

No.

The finished cartoon will, as ever, be on the front page of the Gazette on Thursday or on my site around the same time (in glorious Crayon-o-rama).

Less Grit More Pluck

This week’s Westmorland Gazette front page threw up two stories of interest for the cartoon. In one, Cumbria County Council refuses to apologies for failing to grit enough roads during the recent snow fall. The other is a cracking story about a local farmer’s wife who reared two abandoned chicks in her oven.

Rough sketches below. If you aren’t too busy drooling over Apple’s latest iThingie or going mad filling in last minute tax returns, you can find which one got in the Gazette by buying the paper or visiting my website on Thursday morning.