There’s always something more
Preparing for a live television interview is tough. Even if you’ve had a lot of experience on TV, every situation is different enough - even down to the way you’re seated - that you need to be well prepared to handle what comes at you. Even then, there’s always something more…
The other day a client of mine faced the following:
1. As they were counting down to going live he was told that the 6 minute interview had been cut to 3 minutes.
2. The opening question was about his product when he’d been told minutes before that they didn’t want to “do a commercial” and the focus would be on the social issues surrounding the product.
3. The host began nudging him below the desk trying to get him to look at the desk monitor after telling him earlier not to be distracted by what’s on the desk monitor - someone in the control room had decided to play some clips from the product they didn’t want him to talk much about…
Lesson learned: Live interviews - TV in particular - are highly unpredictable and no matter how well prepared you are, you also need to be prepared for the “unpreparable”. There, you’ve had your daily dose of the paradoxical.
Posted: January 30th, 2007 under Audio Studio Interviews, Guest Experiences, Media Interview Preparation, TV Interview Case Studies, TV Interviews.