Once you have a clear point of view, the next question is:
Can you say it clearly when it counts? (I wrote about developing a clear point of view last week right here.)
This is where many very smart authors and experts get into trouble.
They know their material and they definitely care about their message. In fact, they can talk about the subject for hours.
But an interview is not hours and that is the problem.
An interview may be twenty minutes, or five minutes. Sometimes it is one question, one quote, or one brief opportunity to help the audience understand why your message is important.
And this is exactly why preparation is so important.
Now, I know the words media training can make some people nervous.
Every so often, I meet an author or expert who resists this because they are afraid it will make them sound rehearsed, slick, or packaged. They do not want to perform. They do not want to sound like a robot reciting talking points. Most of all, they do not want to lose the natural quality that makes them who they are.
And I totally get this. No one wants to sound stiff or overly polished.
But the truth is, good media training does exactly the opposite. It does not flatten your personality or make you slick. It frees you.
The goal is not to memorize a script. The goal is to become fluent in your own message no matter what question you are asked.
When you are fluent, you know where you are going, even when the conversation takes an unexpected turn. You can answer the question that was asked without losing your main point. You can be generous without rambling. You can be warm without wandering, and you can be spontaneous without handing the entire direction of the interview over to the host.
This is critical because the host does not know your work as deeply as you do.
Many hosts will not have read your book. In fact, some will only skim your press materials shortly before the interview and that’s fine. That does not mean they are bad hosts. It means they are busy media people with another interview, segment, or deadline coming right behind yours. They are skilled at keeping conversations moving because that is their job.
Your job is not to sit back and hope they ask the perfect questions. Your job is to help shape the conversation. It’s a bit like a dance between you and the host. You both have a part to play and you want to play yours well.
That does not mean dodging questions or forcing an agenda. It means knowing your key messages well enough that you can respond naturally and still guide the audience toward the most important parts of your message.
Think about a musician.
She practices scales not so she can sound mechanical, but so she can improvise.
A great speaker prepares not so he can sound stiff, but so he can be fully present.
The same is true in an interview. You practice not to become someone else, but so you can become more fully yourself when the moment arrives.
Preparation creates freedom where winging it often creates clutter.
When authors decide to “just show up and be themselves,” they may be wonderful. Or they may spend the first ten minutes warming up, explaining too much backstory, answering a different question than the one asked, or burying their best point six sentences too late.
And then the interview is over, and that is the heartbreaking part.
The message, the book, and the author may be excellent, but if they can’t express it fully and quickly, it will not come across that way.
Excellence still needs expression.
This is why I love helping authors identify their key messages, stories, sound bites, and interview launch answers. This is not so they sound polished in some artificial way. It’s so their real message comes out easily and naturally.
So prepare, practice, and say your answers out loud. Better yet, record them so you can listen back.
Notice where you ramble and where your energy drops. Pay attention to where you hesitate and where the strongest line is buried under too much explanation.
Then bring that line forward. The thing to remember is that the audience and the host are busy. You don’t want to make them try to figure you out because they won’t.
Rather than making them dig for the gold, hand them the nugget.
Media Darling Moment: The goal is not to memorize your message. The goal is to become fluent in it.
To your success!
Joanne
P.S. The Way You Do the Things You Do!
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