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Joanne McCall – How to deliver media interviews that keeps listeners engaged and wanting more

Nonfiction Authors Association Podcast | March 29, 2023

“The beauty of [media interviewing] is this–it’s like learning anything. There was a day when you didn’t know how to ride a bike. There was a day when you didn’t know how to write words, you didn’t know how to read. Later, you didn’t know how to present in front of people. There’s a lot of things we never knew how to do until we learned how to do them. So this is something you can learn how to do–you will get better, I guarantee it.”
-Joanne McCall

Joanne McCall - How to deliver media interviews that keeps listeners engaged and wanting more

About Joanne McCall

Publicist, media insider, trainer and coach Joanne McCall helps nonfiction authors and business leaders become Media Darlings as the media calls them. Her secret sauce is to position, secure, and assist authors in capturing media attention, to deliver compelling interviews, and help you create and develop your own media empire. Joanne is on a first-name basis with hundreds of top-rung producers, editors, writers, and journalists and secures coverage for clients including Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Dave Ramsey, and Dr. Richard Bandler. She is the creator of Media Book Camp and is the author of Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview. 

Nonfiction Authors Podcast: Joanne McCall

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Show Notes

Links

In this episode…

  • The process and timeline for media training for authors.
  • The four buckets of media training.
  • How to use the one sheet template to pitch for media interviews, and why talking points are so important.
  • Effective ways to pitch to podcast hosts.
  • Methods to keep listeners engaged during media interviews.
  • Two reasons why the launch (first 45-60 seconds) of a media interview is so important.
  • Helpful techniques for authors who might feel nervous before media interviews.
  • How to work through an interview with a confrontational host.
  • What to do if you ‘freeze up’ during an interview.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the interview series for the Nonfiction Authors Association. Today’s session is with Joanne McCall and we will be talking about how to deliver media interviews that keep listeners engaged and wanting more. I’m Carla King, your host, and I’m happy to have you with us today. This interview will last only 30 minutes and you can find the replay on our Nonfiction Authors Association website and social media platforms including YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

And now I’d like to introduce our guest.

Publicist, media insider, trainer and coach Joanne McCall helps nonfiction authors and business leaders become Media Darlings, as the media calls them. Her secret sauce is to position, secure, and assist authors in capturing media attention, to deliver compelling interviews, and help you create and develop your own media empire. Joanne is on a first-name basis with hundreds of top-rung producers, editors, writers, and journalists and secures coverage for clients including Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Dave Ramsey, and Dr. Richard Bandler. She is the creator of Media Book Camp and is the author of Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview.  

Welcome to the podcast Joanne!

Joanne McCall  1:40

Oh, Carla, I’m delighted to be here. This is great. We’re gonna have such a good time.

Carla King  1:44

We are. This is not our first rodeo. You were on last year. So it’s great to get an update from you. And last year, you also conducted the Nonfiction Authors Association Publicity Masterclass–that six week course where authors intensively learn how to pitch an interview. And then a Media Training Class, where authors learn how to deliver an interview. I wish I had done that 20 years ago. But you know, we could always use a refresher. And they were really big hits with our nonfiction authors. Today, we’re discussing media training. But let’s start with a quick recap of the process and timeline for when that’s supposed to happen in that whole marketing, publicity, and media book launch, so that authors can make sure to include it.

Joanne McCall  2:36

Sure, yeah. Happy to start there. I think that there’s a template that you can think about in your mind, that helps to figure out really what you should be doing and when you should be doing it. And because I talk to a lot of authors, and many of them feel overwhelmed, or there’s so many different channels, and so many different opportunities, and so many different things that you can do. And where do you start? What do you do? And sometimes people end up not doing a lot, because they get into that procrastination mode–’I don’t know what to do’–that sort of thing. So I think that this will really help. And I’ve heard from other people that it did help them.

So just briefly–there are really four buckets to look at. Three are the main ones we’re going to explore here, but there are four. The first one is called ‘you media’–or I call it ‘you media.’ So this is all the content generation that you do. It’s your blog, it’s a podcast–if you have a podcast. It’s anything that you create. It’s putting your own message out there into the world in the way that you want to put it out there. It’s yours, and you’re delivering it.

The second bucket is earned media. And earned media is pretty much what we think of when we think of doing media. It’s when someone else interviews you. There’s someone else involved in the process. That means there’s some hoops to jump here–you got to have the right pitch, you have to pitch the right person, they have to be interested in what you have, you have to kind of sell them through your credentials, and why you are the expert who should be talking about this. So earned media has some hoops to jump. But it’s very, very valuable because it’s a third party endorsement. It’s someone else saying, ‘This person is terrific. We’re doing this interview–they’re really wonderful. You should buy their book.’ That kind of thing. So that’s earned media–the second bucket.

The third bucket is social media. This is really an amplification tool. So whether it’s you media–something you generate–like, you do a blog post, or you do an earned interview with someone. You take that and you amplify it on your social channels. So that’s another big piece of media.

That fourth bucket I briefly mentioned is advertising. And that’s certainly something you consider, but it’s not really something that falls into doing publicity so much. But it’s advertising–Amazon ads, or whatever else you might want to do.

All those things can make up that whole marketing publicity package. You could think of it kind of like a table with four legs. Or even there can be a stool with three legs, you know–and that’s you media, earned media, and then social media. Or borrowed or rented media is another–you might hear those terms as well.

So when you consider those different buckets–with each one, there are things to do. So if you really want to go out and do interviews–podcast interviews, for example–you have to get your you media in place first, right? You have to have your website, you have to have whatever else it is you want to create, so that when you go out there, they’re going to come back and look at what you’re doing. If you have nothing there, it’s really a missed opportunity and wasted time for you.

So you want to start with doing your own platform, putting all that together, then you can do the outreach, then they come back, and then you can amplify it on social media. So I think with those things in mind, it can help you to plan and organize who to go after and when. The other piece is a timeline, for instance. I don’t know if you would like me to share this.

Carla King  6:00

Oh, yes. We all need timelines, because it just makes everything so much easier. So go for it.

Joanne McCall  6:07

It really does. It really does. If you’re thinking about magazines–getting in magazines–that’s probably your longest lead opportunity. Particularly when it’s actual printed magazines, which are hard to get now. And when you do get them, that really says something about you. Getting into those publications is a challenge, because there’s a defined amount of space. There’s 120 pages, or whatever it is. And that’s it–that’s done.

With a website, you get digital media–’let’s just throw up another page. We like this.’ I mean, it’s still a challenge to get it, but space is not the issue, because they can add a page easily. So when it comes to digital media–generally speaking, it’s not as long as the lead time as magazines, or industry trades–they take longer, too. So having an idea of how long these things take is important.

When it comes to podcasts, many of them you can get in a relatively quick amount of time. Although not all. I know of some podcasters–they’re a year out. Which is–I can’t hardly even still believe it. But I’ve run into a number of them now. So podcasts you want to go after early in the process, too. And then you can plan for that kind of thing. And then there are others that are only a month out, or maybe two months out. But still, you want to line these things up, if you can, before your publication date, so they all hit around the same time. That creates a lot of the momentum. And if you do an Amazon campaign, or whatever else you might have built into your launch, you could just generate a lot of interest all at the same time. So does that help?

Carla King  7:44

That does, because yeah–magazines are tough. And editors want stuff. But let’s see–if it’s October, we want to be thinking about Valentine’s Day, right?

Joanne McCall  7:58

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I’ve got a book I’m going to be working on in–when do we launch? I think it’s October. We’re hitting magazines right now.

Carla King  8:09

So once you’ve got them, and you’ve attracted them with your pitch letter and your beautiful platform and website, how do you make them happy on camera? Like we’re doing right now, right? You’ve got all of these techniques, and I’d love for you to share how to make that first impact–to start with.

Joanne McCall  8:39

Let’s say you’re going after podcasts, because podcasts are wonderful. They’re just very popular now. And we’re doing one right now. if you’re approaching a podcast host or producer–you want to have just an outstanding pitch letter, right? You want your topic and all of that. But you have to include things now. You need to have a link to some other podcast you’ve done, or some other audio that you’ve done, or video–for two reasons.

One is–they want to know that you have enthusiasm. And they want to know how you present yourself. Energy level is critical. Critical. You need to send them material that’s helpful. And a lot of people are using one sheets now. And a one sheet is basically–if you have everything on one sheet, it’s small. It’s your book cover, it’s your photo, it’s a bio. It’s interview questions, it’s maybe some interview topics. It’s your talking points. Some of those terms are used a little bit interchangeably. But talking points are–basically they say what you’re going to talk about in an interview. And each one should be its own captivating little piece of what you’re going to talk about. You don’t want to be boring with this. You need to use active language and make it interesting.

Carla King  9:55

And that’s tough for authors. I just have to say, I get pitched all day long on this podcast. And I’ll tell you, I’ll go through the application form–the pitch. And first of all, they give me a bio that pitches their book, right? So they’re like, ‘Oh, I can talk about my new book that just came out about…’ I’m like, ;Well, wait, this is all about how to teach nonfiction authors how to do stuff to advance their career.’ So wow, what a huge mistake. That is gone in 10 seconds.

Joanne McCall  10:31

It’s an excellent point, Carla. Unless the podcast you’re pitching is all about books–it’s a podcast on books specifically, and there are some out there–then they’re going to be more interested in what the actual book is. But by and large, most of them, it’s the topic. Or it’s how it’s going to help the audience of that particular podcast host. They are delivering to a certain group of people. You want to make sure you’re matching what you do to what they’re doing. It’s easy to think it’s about us, but it’s not. When we’re pitching others, it’s about them. It’s about them and their particular audience. And we have to put our own ego aside and look at what they’re doing. And then as you’re pitching your various points–you’re making your points–you want them aimed at their audience. That’s going to make all the difference in the world. All the difference. You’re the source–would you agree?

Carla King  11:24

Oh my gosh, yes. And it’s just such a pain, because I’m looking for podcast guests all the time. We have to fill 52 weeks, right? And there are a lot of experts out there.

Joanne McCall  11:38

Well here’s another tip. I don’t mean to interrupt you, but I just want to get this out so people hear it. Listen to the podcast. Listen to the podcast, because you’re gonna learn so much just from what they talk about, and what the subject is, and how they interact. Listen to the podcast so that you’re not pitching something way off subject and off topic.

Carla King  12:00

And getting those talking points are hard for me. I’m just like, ‘Okay, what are the talking points? Give me four or five things that we’re going to talk about.’ I actually had one podcast guest that I really wanted, who said, ‘Well, I leave it up to the podcast host to research me. And I was like, ‘Goodbye!’

Joanne McCall  12:22

They said that?

Carla King  12:25

Yeah, I wanted her really badly. But she was making it so difficult.

Joanne McCall  12:31

I help produce a podcast for someone, so I get a lot of these kinds of things. So I can feel your pain with that. We had someone really quite famous, and he blew it in a very similar way. This guy should know better. It’s one thing if you’re just learning. I mean, if you’re here, and you’re just learning this stuff, that’s fine–you’re learning. But this guy should know better. He’s been around, he’s done this. And he just has an arrogance. And they kept switching the date, and switching then rescheduling. And after four times, I’m like, ‘You know what–life’s too short, I’m not doing this.’ So you want to make it easy for the other person. But that’s an excellent point.

Carla King  13:10

Because as a podcast host, you want to know what’s coming next, right? And we know each other pretty well, so it’s not very hard with us. But for a lot of people that I don’t know, I need to know what they want to end with–the impact, how the flow of the conversation is gonna go. And oftentimes, we divert. We oftentimes don’t talk about everything, but it’s a natural conversation. And I think that’s the best outcome–when we’re both interested in what each other has to give. And the energy is really flowing, and they’re making me think. And I think that makes for a lively interview.

Joanne McCall  13:50

Absolutely. Yes. That sounds wonderful. Do you like it when people send you audio clips or video clips, so you can see them and hear them?

Carla King  13:58

You know, that never happens anymore. But they give me links. It’s very rare, though, that people give me links. I usually have to Google them on YouTube or something. And I wish they would have given that to me.

Joanne McCall  14:12

Yeah, I’d like to just say that to anyone listening–include links, and make it your best stuff. And if you haven’t done any interviews yet–which is certainly possible, if you’re just getting going on this, then that’s a good use of mock interviews. A mock interview is when you can have someone off camera asking you questions–you can sit there and just answer. Or you can even ask yourself. You could say, ‘You know, the biggest question that I get is this. And I like to respond to that by saying this.’ And then tighten it up. Make sure it’s a decent presentation. And that’s a link you can send. I mean, if you don’t have a lot of interviews yet, that’s okay. But you want to send them something that they can look at. And don’t make them look for it.

Carla King  14:51

And it’s totally okay if people haven’t been interviewed a lot, because it’s the expertise that I’m looking for. I had an author who–we talked about cryptocurrency. He wrote one of the early Bitcoin books. And he was on so many podcasts when his book launched. And they just introduced him as an author, and they talked about his book in one line at the end of the interview, and he sold more books with those little podcast interviews. He was in Forbes, and The Economist and everything, too, and he didn’t sell squat from those big media outlets. Because it’s a target audience, right? They have a target audience, and he was delivering the good information, and up to date newsworthy information.

Joanne McCall  15:42

And that’s not to say that it isn’t helpful to be in The Economist or those kinds of publications. Because if you have that on your website, a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, wow, we should have this guy.’ So I mean, there’s uses for these things. But you’re right–sometimes the smaller podcasts are the things that actually sell books. So that’s definitely something to keep in mind in why you’re doing what you’re doing. And make sure your goals match up to what’s actually possible.

Carla King  16:06

Yes. So now, I want to move on, because this is about how to deliver interviews that keep listeners engaged and wanting more. So I know you coach authors on this all the time. What’s the starting point? How do you open? What are the important steps from minute one to minute thirty?

Joanne McCall  16:32

Yes, okay. There are many important tips to be a great guest, and to delivering a great interview. And I’ll go through them. But I would say the first thing is to watch other interviews, or listen to other interviews, and notice the ones that capture your attention. Not just because of the topic–because it may be a particular topic. But  interviews where you really want to listen to what the person has to say. And you can begin to dissect that. Why is that so compelling? What is it that they’re doing that’s making that so interesting? This can give you valuable feedback.

So another main point that I love to share with people is–we all talk about launching our books, and the importance of having a launch–a publication date. Well, there’s such a thing as launching an interview as well. And launching an interview is the first 45-60 seconds of that interview. It’s critical. And you know why? There’s probably a bunch of reasons–but two really big ones. Number one–it tells the listener if they’re going to hang around for question number two. And the second reason is–it gives the host various entry points as to where they want to go next in the interview.

You’ve given them a roundabout–in 45 to 60 seconds–what that interview is going to be about. It’s usually–’Here’s the problem. Here’s how bad it got. Then I hit a point where I had to make a change. Then I did this, and this and this. And now life is just wonderful.’ That’s one example. There are a number of them. But that’s one example where you’re encapsulating a story. It’s a story of some sort, and you give it an entry point–it got bad, it got better, now it’s great. Just quickly.

Carla King  18:16

Sounds like the plot of a book. We should be used to that.

Joanne McCall  18:20

Yes, it’s just a very condensed amount of time. So every word is important–and how you say it. And you want to use active language, and that kind of thing. And you need to be enthusiastic. I mean, even if you have a serious subject, it doesn’t mean that you’re smiling. But it doesn’t mean you have enthusiasm about this subject that you talk about. Something to pay attention to is your own energy level.

I remember I used to be in radio broadcasting. That was my first career. And I remember when I started, I thought, ‘Man, I am over the top. My energy is over the top.’ Because that’s how it felt to me. But I would listen back, and I’d think, ‘That’s just about right.’ So if you feel like you’re over the top with enthusiasm, or how you’re presenting yourself, you’re probably just about right. This is not the place to be cool. ‘I’m really cool.’ I mean, who cares?

Carla King  19:11

So caffeinate.

Joanne McCall  19:13

Not crazy caffeinate, but interesting caffeinate? So having some enthusiasm–that’s important. Being able to get to the point. And remember the audience–really remember the audience. Because so often I hear from people, ‘I get nervous.’ For example, I had a client–we were in the greenroom of a television station. It was a national show, and he was nervous. He said to me, ‘I’m nervous.’ I said, ‘Okay, who are you here to help?’ I had him think about the person that he was there to serve– the person he was there to talk to. He was a personal finance expert, so he was talking to people in trouble with money.

And most of us–at some point in our lives–have some issues. Like, ‘Oh my god, I have a bigger tax bill than I was expecting this year.’ I mean, it happens. So he had tips on how to help people get through that. I said, ‘Focus on the person.’ So what that did was–it allowed him to think about who he was there to help. And it got him off his own nerves. It got him out of himself and thinking about this. So when you’re doing your interviews, think about the other person that you’re there to serve and you’re there to help. It takes it off of you. So those are a couple of examples. There are many. If you get a confrontational host–sometimes surprises happen. You want to talk about confrontational hosts?

Carla King  20:30

Yes, I do. Because surprises happen. And they throw you a question that maybe isn’t even in your range. Like, where did that come from? Right?

Joanne McCall  20:41

Yeah, yes, that can happen.

Carla King  20:43

What do you do?

Joanne McCall  20:44

Alright, so these are great topics. So first of all, if you’re asked a question that’s out of–you’re not even there for this. And that happens a lot. What you want to do is do something called ‘bridging back.’ So you have to start to answer the question. I mean, you don’t want to be like a politician–completely ignore the question and just answer with what you want to answer. It’s just kind of rude. It’s not good interviewing. So you start to answer the question. And in your mind, you’d be thinking about, ‘How can I bridge this back to one of my key messages?’ Which is why you want to burn your key messages into your brain so you know what they are. And then you find a way to bridge it back. I remember once I was booking Wayne Dyer. Do you know who Wayne is?

Carla King  21:29

That sounds familiar.

Joanne McCall  21:30

He was pretty big in certain circles. He was into New Thought, New Age–that sort of thing. Actually, his first book was Your Erroneous Zones, which was the number one book in the entire decade of the 1970s. Can you believe it? But he evolved beyond that. And he passed away maybe five years ago or so. But he’s had a ton of books.

So it was lining up interviews for him. I lined up one in a city–I think it was in Texas. And there had been this huge news story–someone blew up a building. There was a big story. And they brought him on, and they introduced him–not about his book, which was why he was there, or the topic of his book. But they said, ‘Oh, there was this big bombing here. And we have this PhD, Dr. Wayne Dyer here. Dr. Dyer, can you tell us–do you think having weapons is a good idea?’

Carla King  22:26

Wow.

Joanne McCall  22:27

Right? And I’m listening, going, ‘This is not why he’s there. Oh, my God.’ And there was a pause. And to his credit, he said, ‘Well…’ And he just went into this thing. This sort of situation calls for–and I can’t remember the exact details now–but he answered the hosts question to a certain degree, and then brought it back to the subject in his book–which is about meditation, and anxiety, and being able to handle things yourself. or when news stories break that scare you, here’s how you can help. It was a beautiful answer. And it brought it back to the subject at hand.

So when you’re doing an interview, and you’re asked a question that seems totally out there, you don’t want to say, ‘What a stupid question!’ That’s just a bad idea. You don’t want to say that. Begin to answer it, and bring it back to one of the key messages as to why you’re there.

Confrontational hosts are a little bit different. And sometimes, they can be sneaky. Of course, you’ll do your research ahead of time about shows. And if it’s a confrontational host, you may not pitch the show. But sometimes, again, they can surprise you. And so the main thing with a confrontational host is that you don’t want to take the bait. The last thing you want to do is get into any kind of argument. That would just take you both down–take you down, anyway–maybe not the host. So you don’t want to get into any big confrontation. Learn how to breathe. And you have to find a way.

And this is why mock interviews and training is so important–because it helps you to learn to stay calm when crazy things are going on outside. Or if your mind is going, ‘Oh!,’ and it’s all scared–it’s, how do you keep your calm enough to come up with a good answer?

So I have an example of a woman who had created a whole line of workout spas. And she was on this national show, and it was in person. So when she went into the studio, the host was really nice. I mean, they had this wonderful conversation and all that. The moment the mic went live, this guy goes, ‘Why would anyone get a membership to your spa? You are fat.’ Can you imagine? And there’s this pause, and she says–she spoke through the host, right to the audience. And she said, ‘Ladies, this is exactly why I created my spas–for people just like this. So you can go somewhere and not be judged from the moment you walk in the door. And you can get a good workout in, and feel good about yourself.’ Well, the interview ended right after that. But she did get her phone number and your website address out. It was only a three minute interview. But that’s an example of speaking through the host directly to the audience, which is what she did. And she was very successful with what she did.

Carla King  25:15

Wow. So should you practice with a friend–to get aggressive and play the aggressive host? Is that something to do–role playing?

Joanne McCall  25:26

Yes, absolutely. Yes. In fact, when you do a formal media training, that’s part of it. You don’t have to necessarily do formal media training for that. You can have a friend do that–or someone. But you have to set it up so it really creates some fear inside. If it’s just your best friend, and you guys laugh your butts off, it’s probably not going to get you where you want to go. But mock interviews can be very, very helpful. So you do want to practice and try to set up those kinds of situations and see how you do.

The beauty of it is this–it’s like learning anything. There was a day when you didn’t know how to ride a bike. There was a day when you didn’t know how to write words, you didn’t know how to read. Later, you didn’t know how to present in front of people. There’s a lot of things we never knew how to do until we learned how to do them. So this is something you can learn how to do–you will get better, I guarantee it. And in fact, you can get to a point where when you are surprised, or asked a confrontational question, or something happens you weren’t expecting, you can actually look forward to it, because you can see how much better you are, and how elegantly you can get through it and get on the other side of it. And that’s the beauty of it. Rather than being afraid of it, you actually look forward to it.

Carla King  26:40

And just know that most hosts want a good interview–they’re not going to do that.

Joanne McCall  26:45

Right.

Carla King  26:47

So don’t be so afraid. And again, I just forgot what I was going to say–what if that happens?

Joanne McCall  26:57

Well, that’s okay. It does happen.

Carla King  27:01

Yeah. And I wanted to talk about that. It’s a deer in the headlights thing. That used to happen to me quite a lot when I was first being published and being interviewed, and I was very shy. Everything would just go right out of my head. What do you do?

Joanne McCall  27:16

There’s a couple of different ways you can handle that. One is I–you could actually cop to it. You can be speaking and then just say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I just forgot what I was going to say!’ And if you laugh about it, oftentimes, the host will laugh too. ‘Yeah, I have those senior moments too.’ And then you move on to something else, or they ask another question. So that’s something that you can do.

Carla King  27:35

Just be yourself. And I have to say, I kind of do like quirky personalities. Because people write books–they write nonfiction books about all kinds of things. And they’re quirky–people have strange perspectives on the world. And it’s fun. So I don’t mind that at all.

Joanne McCall  27:55

That’s great. That’s wonderful. And by the way, I’m not saying any of this to scare anyone. Probably 999 times out of 1000 would you run into something like that. It’s probably higher than that–the possibility–or less. Not as high. Okay. So there’s my big mistake. It happens, it happens. So anyway, I don’t want to scare anybody. This should be fun. It should be fun. That’s the whole idea.

And at the point when you do run into something quirky or strange, you just roll with it. And if you’re outside of yourself, and you’re thinking about the person you’re serving, it makes it much easier. And they’re very, very definite tips to help you to do that. And we’ve talked about quite a few of them.

Carla King  28:45

We have. And do you have any single takeaway before we have to leave this podcast?

Joanne McCall  28:52

Is it over already?

Carla King 28:53

It’s over already. Can you believe it?

Joanne McCall  28:55

The main thing is–I’ve touched on it, but I think it’s important to touch on again. And that kind of training–or that kind of experience–gives you a level of confidence, where you trust yourself, and you know you’re going to be fine. And whatever life might throw at you, you’re going to handle it just fine. And when you can come into a situation with that, people feel it–they can tell. And so that’s the main takeaway that I would like to give–is you can get there. It’s just a learned thing. It’s a skill. It’s not something you’re born with. It’s simply a skill that can be learned. So that’s it.

Carla King  29:32

Well, thank you for that. And nonfiction authors are experts in their field. And so when you have a deep knowledge about something, there’s not much that can be thrown at you that’s going to surprise you–I don’t think like. When I’m interviewed about self publishing, it’s very rare when I can’t answer a question.

Joanne McCall  29:51

Right. We’re just speaking of the surprises–the host, the technology, the host falls off the platform, and you have to continue keeping things moving forward until they log back in. You know, that kind of thing.

Carla King  30:07

We’re all human. Thank you so much, Joanne. It’s a pleasure to have you on. And congratulations on your book, ‘Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview.‘ Yay. So we can get some of your tips–a lot of your tips–there and in your media training.

Joanne McCall  30:26

Thank you, Carla. What a pleasure to be here. I appreciate it so much.

Carla King  30:30

And thank you to our listeners for joining us today and every week. For a list of guests and topics just check our schedule on the site, use your favorite search engine, or better yet, sign up for our mailing list at NonfictionAuthorsAssociation.com.

Quotes from our guest

“It’s easy to think it’s about us, but it’s not. When we’re pitching others, it’s about them. It’s about them and their particular audience. And we have to put our own ego aside and look at what they’re doing. And then as you’re pitching your various points–you’re making your points–you want them aimed at their audience. That’s going to make all the difference in the world.”

“And you need to be enthusiastic. I mean, even if you have a serious subject, it doesn’t mean that you’re smiling. But it doesn’t mean you have enthusiasm about this subject that you talk about. Something to pay attention to is your own energy level. I remember I used to be in radio broadcasting. That was my first career. And I remember when I started, I thought, ‘Man, I am over the top. My energy is over the top.’ Because that’s how it felt to me. But I would listen back, and I’d think, ‘That’s just about right.’ So if you feel like you’re over the top with enthusiasm, or how you’re presenting yourself, you’re probably just about right.”

“The beauty of [media interviewing] is this–it’s like learning anything. There was a day when you didn’t know how to ride a bike. There was a day when you didn’t know how to write words, you didn’t know how to read. Later, you didn’t know how to present in front of people. There’s a lot of things we never knew how to do until we learned how to do them. So this is something you can learn how to do–you will get better, I guarantee it. And in fact, you can get to a point where when you are surprised, or asked a confrontational question, or something happens you weren’t expecting, you can actually look forward to it, because you can see how much better you are, and how elegantly you can get through it and get on the other side of it. And that’s the beauty of it. Rather than being afraid of it, you actually look forward to it.”

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