How can I make my interview more engaging for the audience? 63% of people remember stories. Only 5% remember statistics. (Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath) To be more engaging you must illustrate your points with brief anecdotes and real-life visual examples. Because of time constraints with broadcast media, these must be concise.
Tip! Marvellous Media Training offers tools and techniques to support better storytelling.
Delegates are taught our FACE ™ technique to bring stories and anecdotes to life.
How can I use stories or anecdotes effectively in a TV interview?
Facts and figures have their place but all journalists will want to drill down to specific examples that illustrate a story and bring it to life.
So in an interview, if you said, "We frequently meet business people who struggle to find investment." The journalist will almost certainly ask, "For example?"
Your examples should be brief, pithy and to-the-point anecdotes which illustrate and bring a story to life. Experts who share this sort of insight are much more likely to be asked back on air.
How do I tailor my message for different types of TV shows?
Don't overthink this, just prepare some compelling facts, opinions, comments and examples to share. It's the media outlet's job to deliver the story appropriately. However, feel free to suggest locations, interviewees or ways to illustrate your story.
Where possible put forward women or people from diverse backgrounds as spokespeople. All broadcasters struggle with representing diversity.