And they call you up. And it sounds so easy. «We will just ask you a few questions, that’s it». And you sit there waiting for the call (wondering if your mobile phone will die, if the line will be bad and if that specific moment will be the one when your operator decides to change from 3G to 4G – leaving you without line). And «it» comes. Anonymous number. You have prepared, or not. But still, you hear the voice, the music, it is you next and it happens – you go blank. Black-out. Blank-out or whatever you want to call it, but it happens. You know nothing and the question comes, faaaar faaar away, you hear your name, you hear the subject, you hear the question and you hear your silence. And then the «hello, are you there»?
Hopefully, you wake up from this nightmare (it was just a dream, the D-day is today) and can enjoy the interview instead – as you will prepare for it, right?
Here are a few tips on how you can kill that nervousness (you never kill it totally, it wouldn’t be human not to feel anything), to be able to enjoy the ride.
5 tips to prepare for your radio interview
- Think like this: «I have been assigned to becomes somebodies 5-minute-teacher in a subject that I know more about than this person»: You are lucky! You will be talking to this person that gets up 5 am, loving his work, and knowing a h-l lot about everything and now – you will teach him some new stuff! What do you want him to remember? Have you checked his profile? Listened to his talks? What do you think he will be interested in?
- Think like this: «Not everybody have the guts to sit here in this situation, people may even admire somebody for doing this, and nobody expect you to be a robot, you are human»: You don’t know the questions at forehand, you just have to live with it and if you don’t know the answer, don’t «make something up». Be human, how would you answer if you sat with this same guy over a cup of coffee? Those that listen are also human. Their first intention is probably not to laugher at you – they listen to that radio channel because they like «what is played there», so chances are that they will have a friendly approach to what you say…
- Think like this: «I don’t have to say everything I had planned for, I’m not a total failure if I miss out on some points, people don’t remember everything anyway, they remember the feeling»: Take it easy. Calm and relax. I tend to «rush away», like if somebody was hunting me. Not so good because it does not leave space to think or follow up questions. Pauses are not bad, they create space (even if stress tends to kill them).
- Think like this: «They are like me». If you doubt, undress them, in your mind of course. And if you think really really hard, you will see – they are like you. Bones and stuff.
- Think like this: «If I can’t see them, they can’t see me». I know, it’s over the phone, you can’t see each other, but if you take off your glasses while you talk, you feel even more hidden (it is the same trick that kids use when they cover their face with their hands). Sometimes, this gives me the feeling that I am more «protected». Cocooned, in some way.
Nerves can be good and they can be bad, but the point is that we should enjoy these moments instead of suffer through them, and killing a bit of the edge of those nerves, will leave space for enjoyment.
On top of this, standard tips such as, speak-up, prepare, be friendly, let people talk etc etc
Ah, by the way an example without having an opinion on it: yesterday-me in Spanish radio talking about tea.
Share your experience!
I would pay special attention to these Google+ related areas now, in time when the term AuthorRank is in the air; algorithm that will value the quality of your content and rank higher those that generate most engagement. Content where the authorship has not been taken into consideration will probably rank lower in the SERP. So it’s a perfect moment to start working on these snippets before Google turns on improved ranking algorithm. Non-profit organizations must keep an eye on upcoming changes and updates as they are impacting on the way your digital content is displayed in the search results and maybe future changes. I have specially focused on the snippets called 
It is as well important that the +1 is available on our websites and clicked on for our posts in the organic search so that they become sharable and commented items in Google+. This will impact their ranking in the SERP. The reason why these are important actions is the fact that the content could show up as a result in our ambassadors’, donors’ and followers’ search result. Imagine what that could mean for your visibility and click-through rates. Leveraging on the sharing possibilities of the Google+ profile to be part of the Google search results of our readers that now integrates the social part of your Google+ circles dialogs and applying the previously mentioned snippets are two actions worth testing as SEO techniques to increase your visibility in the SERP. Support the “viralization” of your message – share via Google+ Don’t you agree that the link with the image and the reference to the amount of circles as well as name drags your attention?
It would probably generate more direct clicks, +1 leading to better ranking. If those that support you, believe in you, are in your Google+ circles, their search will be populated with links to results from people and profiles of organizations they have circled to go along with other standard organic search. You can turn the social-related functionality off, but we are probably moving towards a more social world, so I guess people will not turn it off. What if the result shows other organizations the have circled but not yours? Is that a lost of potential awareness creation and clicks? It takes the first part of the search results and we are more likely to see that first and click, wherefore the content plan for our Google+ voice must be reinforced and viewed from a search point of view, as well. I think it means that we must put more focus on what we share through our Google+ profiles. We must think what it is that our donors, followers and supporters are interested in and solve their need for information, because we may pop up in their search and they may +1 or share with their networks – being our ambassadors. Before they came to us if they thought the answer was with us, now we may “pop up” (or be absent) where they are in the moment they may need us. Creative content, content that engage and solving the information need is more important than ever. Google’s way of supporting us via snippets in certifying our content and the way the organic search results plays with the social content from Google+ just gives us an opportunity to re-think our communication plans, content plans and channel mix. I believe it forces us to become more focused in understanding who our followers are and secure that we are visible online. A perfect way to use online functionality for a good purpose. Have you been able to draw these or other benefits by potentiating your Google+ profile?
Question to you: of those you met at your last event or conference, how many did you remember the day after? Hard to remember names? How sure were you of who-is-who from your business cards? Unless you have a very good memory or note-strategy, this may be the point where you start to loose potential network opportunities and friends. “Facebook me” has started to become the way of saying – get-in-contact-with-me which presents a problem, as it starts to get hard to find the right profile of a person among similar names. As a non-profit organization it’s more important than ever to network – offline and online – and we spend a lot of time at events and conferences to interact with people, talk about our cause or share our successes opening up for future dialog.
El blog de Patricia Pólvora 