Mastering the Art of the Interview - Part One

This is the first of a series of posts about how to prepare for and conduct a successful media interview. 

Opportunity

The key thing to remember when submitting to an interview request is that it has opportunity written all over it. It's an opportunity for you to improve your name recognition, extend your brand, gain exposure in the media and be seen as an expert within your field or specialty. 

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It's Not About You

It's also important to remember that the reporter or talk show host conducting the interview has one major goal in mind: to gain readers, viewers or listeners by offering informative, interesting or entertaining content. In other words, it's not about your cause, product or bottom line. It's about whether you can be compelling, interesting or entertaining.

Media Training

That's why it's essential to get the right media training, to prepare, to be briefed on the likely subjects and questions and to develop the key message points you will want to emphasize during the interview. Don't depend on the interviewer to ask the right questions. Be prepared to state what you feel is important for the audience to grasp.

In short, you want to have a full exchange of ideas, offer valuable insights and be the kind of guest that gets invited back.

Part Two is here.