Giving radio interviews

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In common with other traditional media, radio is embracing the digital revolution and listening habits are changing. This provides you with opportunities to reach your target audiences in different ways and attract new supporters or people to use your services.

The most common way for not-for-profit organisations to raise their profile on radio is through giving interviews. A lot of people get nervous at the thought of speaking on the radio. They worry they’ll be grilled Jeremy-Paxman style or that they won’t get the chance to say what they want. By and large these fears are unnecessary. Preparation and thinking about what you want to say in advance is more than half the battle.

This section will give you some practical tips on how to make the most of your radio interview, how to get your point of view across and what to avoid! 

Why is this radio station interested in you?

Generally speaking the media will call to speak to you for three reasons:

1. Your organisation is promoting something and the media want to talk to you to get more information.
2. Something is in the news and you or your organisation is expected to have a view on it.
3. Your organisation has been criticised for something and the media want you to explain or defend your position.

Before you undertake a media interview you should ask yourself how giving an interview will benefit your organisation. If there is little benefit you may decide not to be interviewed at all. Once you’ve decided to do the interview you need to start preparing.

Preparing for the interview

If a radio station calls, it is helpful to have a checklist of questions to ask them.

Where and when will you be interviewed?

Will you be in the studio or down-the-line (on the telephone)? What is the address of the studio? How long will it take you to get there? Will the radio station send a car to pick you up? Does the timining make a difference to what your audience will expect you to say?

Is the interview live or recorded?

If the interview is pre-recorded it means that you can fluff your lines and ask to repeat what you’ve said. This reassures a lot of people but remember that pre-records can be edited later so your carefully considered comments may be shortened or even cut.

How long is the interview?

Most interviews are two or three minutes long at maximum. This is why it is vital to think about what you want to say in advance. In the pressure of the interview and with limited time it is easy to overlook a key message.

Who will be conducting the interview?

What do you know about the interviewer? Do they know your organisation? What is their attitude to you likely to be? If the journalists at the radio station have never heard of your organisation or know little about the issue you are being asked to talk about you may want to think about how you will give some context in a succinct and non-jargon way.

Who is listening?

What age are the people listening to the radio show? What are their interests? What are they likely to know or think about the issue you are talking about? What information will they expect from you?

Who else is participating in the show?

Is it someone who will criticise you or disagree with your views? What is their line likely to be? Have you thought about what your response will be?

What will the line of questioning be?

What questions are you likely to be asked? Do you have all the information you need at your fingertips eg facts and figures. Is there a press release you should be familiar with?

Style: how you come across in the interview?

You may find it strange that I’m suggesting that you think about style before content. But the reality is people remember how you say something more than they remember what you say.

Some dos and don’ts for coming across well:

• be open and friendly: don’t ever lose your temper!
• use informal, everyday language
• don't use jargon especially acronyms. Think about an intelligent 14-year old - would they know what you were talking about?
• radio is an intimate medium: talk as though you are talking to one person. Don’t speak as though you are in a meeting talking to an assembled group.
• use anecdotes/stories to make your point: it helps the listener empathise with your point of view

Content: what points do you want to make in the interview?

As most interviews are three minutes long at the most you need to think carefully about what you want to say. Most people focus on the three most important things. The reality is that you won’t have time to say more than this.

To avoid being caught out with questions you're not prepared for, have a stock answer such as, "I'm sorry, I'm not in a position to answer that at the moment but what I can say is..."

Be clear about what you don’t want to say! For example, you may not want to comment on what another organisation is doing. Be prepared. A stock answer might be: “I’m not prepared to comment on that. You’ll have to ask them.”

Don’t be afraid of repeating your point. A lot of people are doing something else when they’re listening to the radio, for example, driving or doing the ironing. They will probably not be giving you their full attention. This makes it all the more important to be clear about what you want to say.

Changes in listening habits

Some recent research from Ofcom shows how radio is changing in the UK:

• 2.5 million DAB digital radio sets were sold in the year to June 2008, taking total cumulative sales to 8.3 million
• around 27 per cent of adults now have access to a DAB set in the home
• according to RAJAR research 9.4 million listen to radio online every week – mainly people under 45
• 15 per cent of listeners to podcasts said they listened to more live radio since they began downloading podcasts
• the availability of local DAB digital radio services in the UK will increase following the award of a further 11 licences in 2007/08. The new services will carry local commercial stations as well as the local/national BBC service for each area. 

A final tip before your interview

Many people I train to do interviews get really nervous beforehand. In all likelihood you know much more about the issue in hand than a journalist who is hopping from one topic to the next with little time to research the background thoroughly. So, remember that you are the expert and enjoy yourself!

Have your say

Have you ever given a radio interview? What would be your advice to others?

Share your experience on the Communications and the media forum.