DON’T EMBARRASS YOURSELF: Practical Steps on delivering mind blowing interviews and presentations

"The best interviews are conducted in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere. If the 
presenter or anchor feels good about you, then there is a very good chance that 
you’d have a great interview. However, if there is tension between you, the interview 
will be conducted in a hostile atmosphere that could greatly affect how you come across 
to the audience. So, you have one simple job: be likeable”

Over the years, I have watched politicians, activists, policymakers, and marketing professionals bungle their interviews on television or radio. The interviews come out so bad that it badly hurts the credibility of their brand or the brand they represent. Yet, powerfully delivered interviews remain one of the most potent for persuasion, influencing an audience, and shaping narratives.

Having appeared over a thousand times on radio and television and prepared 100s of senior executives for interviews, lectures and debates, I can tell you for free that the easiest way to EMBARRASS yourself or damage your CREDIBILITY is to deliver a poor interview or presentation before an anticipating audience.

Therefore, starting today, I will share ten techniques designed to help individuals navigate the complexities of high-level interviews. These techniques are excerpts from my newly published e-book, “The Perfect Pitch. The ultimate guide to delivering powerful interviews.”

Never take an interview without a strategy.

Strategy, as initially used by generals in the military, is the plan to maneuvering forces to defeat an enemy army. In other words, a set of plans and processes confers an advantage to achieve an identified set of objectives. It is about competing and mobilizing one’s resources or capabilities to gain an advantage over a competitor.

As you know, most interviews are about a competition of ideas. It is about arguing for a better product or service, opposing a policy position, criticizing a view or position, advancing a narrative, or simply challenging a set of beliefs. Whatever the case, the interviewee seeks to convince an audience to adopt his position or persuade them against a previously held one. Therefore, to achieve this aim, the interviewee must develop a strategy to persuade his audience. Hence, the interviewee must start by asking the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of this interview? They must be clear about the purpose and what they seek to achieve from the said interview. Is it about addressing a misconception about a product or ensuring that a particular piece of legislation is defeated in the legislature?

2. Secondly, the interviewee must identify his strengths and the resources available to him to ensure a successful outcome. This could be a reputation, a significant achievement or success in the past, a new study that supports your position, public sentiments, personal charm, and anything else that confers an advantage. Equally, the interviewee must also identify his weaknesses and seek ways of mitigating them.

3. Decide on a cause of action given the purpose of the interview and the resources available at your disposal. Ultimately, this will mean deciding if pursuing an aggressive posture will serve the purpose much better than a calm and gentle demeanour. It means deciding what questions to tackle and evade, what will make the most impression on the audience and what is likely to rattle your competitor.

4. After deciding on a cause of action, the interviewee must develop the discipline to follow through and implement. Once there is a lack of discipline to follow through, your thoughts become distorted and incoherent, and everything falls apart.