5 DON'TS FOR TV INTERVIEWS
posted Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by Rebecca Brooks
During any given week, we are working on at least 4 television interviews for our clients. Pending on the type of segment – from cooking, beauty, business or home – it entails countless details about what TO do, as well as reminding them what NOT to do. Here are our top 5:
1. DON’T MEMORIZE YOUR ANSWERS: I’ve seen it time and time again – clients try to memorize their answers and are totally derailed during their segment. Live TV is unpredictable and as long as you know your content you will do a great job.
2. DON’T PLUG YOUR WEBSITE OR PRODUCT: Our job is to work with the producer to ensure your message, site or product is mentioned in an effective and tasteful manner. You will be chyroned (which will mention your product or site), the host will mention the reason you are there and your site/product can even be featured on the show's website. If you plug your company too much, you will likely NOT be asked to come back on the show…let the host do their job.
3. DON’T DISCUSS TOO MANY POINTS: Go into your segment with 2-3 key points that you want to get across. If you have too many, the viewer could lose interest and the segment loses focus.
4. DON’T WEAR STRIPES ON CAMERA-BE STYLISH! If you know you need help putting together a good outfit, get help! Appearance is incredibly important – and don’t forget, the better you look, the better you will feel.
5. DON’T GIVE ONE WORD ANSWERS! One word answers are boring. If the host asks, “How was your holiday?” and you say “Good,” it’s not only lame, but you miss an opportunity to highlight something important. For ex., if you are a cook, you can jump in and talk about an amazing meal you made. If the host asks “What have you been up to lately?” and you say “The usual – I’ve been busy” you miss an opportunity to say something like “I’m about to shoot the 2nd season of my show, which is the top rated on the network…or I’m about to hit the road for my book tour.” I think you get the picture.
We’ve put together a few blogs about television - To learn how to get asked back on a show, check this one out. If you are curious how much time goes into a 4 minute segment, the secret is here.
