I just spoke on the phone with Olivia Ward, a foreign affairs writer for the Toronto Star. I don’t usually think of myself as an expert on foreign affairs, but, in Canada, U.S. politics is foreign affairs, so there you have it.
I don’t always express myself coherently over the phone–I’m better in writing, when I have the freedom to rearrange my sentences into something logical, and where I can see what I’m saying. This particular interview went well, because when I started to ramble and get lost, she asked some relevant questions and got be back on track. I’ve also done well on radio interviews, I think, again for the same reason, that the interviewers knew what they are doing. I should remember two key principles:
1. Keep your answers short. This works in live radio and also for phone interviews that will be cut up and used for a newspaper article.
2. When you can’t answer the question they ask, say “I don’t know” but then don’t just give up. Follow up by (briefly) telling something related that you do know. This is what they might be interested in anyway, and they would certainly prefer to hear something that you know about rather than listening to empty speculations.
P.S. Here’s the news article.
Prior to the launch of the Hubble Telescope, NASA sent the scientists on the Science Working Group to "Charm School," meaning a day-long session on how to give an interview for TV, radio, and the press. With regard to interviews by phone for radio, they suggested standing up for the interview. All interviews can be improved by advance preparation…if you have specific things that you want to get across, having them written down (one point per index card) is helpful. This probably wouldn't have helped Andrew much as I gather the interview came out of the blue so he had no opportunity to prepare, but standing up is a trick that does work to focus your thinking.