We had a guest on my news/talk radio show this week who was the face of a non-profit organization that trained dogs to be service animals for combat veterans.
She came in with an adorable puppy to gin up more volunteers to be puppy raisers as there is now a two-year waitlist for vets to get a dog.
Great cause. Cute dog. Easy, slam dunk conversation.
To make a long story short, she is a former journalist, and we got to talking before and after the interview, which was fun and went well.
In passing, she gave me a light-hearted compliment on my questions, and I basically responded that it wasn’t that difficult.
She countered with an anecdote about an anchor in another city who recently started their interview with something to the effect of “So, we need to find this little guy a new home.”
Nope. The dog, with the vest and all, was not up for adoption. Not even close. The guy had no idea about the purpose of the interview. None. Nada. Zippo.
This is not a knock on local TV anchors. There are plenty of people out there in both radio and television who don’t care – and don’t prepare.
I get it to a certain degree, especially for television. Interviews are so basic – 3-4 questions, a thank you, and a toss-to-break. In the daily grind of news, a lot of anchors – even good ones – sometimes punt on prep.
Ultimately, though, it is embarrassing for the people involved – even the person getting interviews who has to toe the line between being respectful and also correcting the anchor.
It’s also kind of ridiculous when you ponder it a bit.
Why? Because it is so easy to be prepared. Way easier than 10 years ago and way easier than 20 and more years ago.
In 2024, not being prepared for an interview is the equivalent of failing second-grade reading.
Preparation these days is that easy.
In two clicks, you can have a guest’s work history. One click, and you know about the non-profit that works with the dogs. Two clicks for other stories done on the organization. A quick search on Instagram, and you have a sense of the dog’s popularity (a column on the magic of animals and food on social media is coming soon).
You know this. So, why don’t you do it all the time?
Literally, it takes five minutes to know what you are doing. That’s the minimum for competency, and yet, there are people who still don’t do it.
Maybe you do it, but in real-time or during the break right before the segment. I would say, one thing I’ve learned from past experience is that even doing it before the show, or God forbid, the day before, makes you even better prepared.
I realized this all the way back in college. My only “C” was in an art history class. It was an 8:30 AM class, and I always missed it. I should have known better than to enroll in an 8:30 class. When the final exam came around, I was studying dozens of images I had never seen. And I bombed.
Flash forward to my second art history course – a much more manageable 10:30 AM kickoff. I cruised to the ubiquitous “B+” not by studying more, but rather, just by showing up. No, not that attendance alone got me an 88. Showing up and watching the slides got me the grade because studying material you’ve seen before is markedly easier than if it’s being seen for the first time.
The same goes for preparing for an interview.
Do it well before, and let it sit. When you pick it back up, it all will seem so easy. And if you end up riffing on a line of questions or even lose your train of thought during the interview, you have this body of work to fall back on.
All of this reminds me of how our resources of 2024 compare to the past. Take a minute and think about where you were research-wise when you began your radio career.
I remember (although it’s starting to get a little hazy) when I started at ESPN in 1998. I would go to the morning SportsCenter meeting, and there would be a pile of packets. Inside, there were key sports articles from all across the country. It was about the thickness of that bible next to your bed at the Red Roof Inn. Remember, this was early browsing days, and things weren’t quite as fast and easy to find as they are today.
Then, if there was a game that ESPN was broadcasting live – which was hundreds a year – there would be hard-copy research packets that were almost as thick and ridiculous in terms of information. If you wanted to know the Boston Bruins’ record on Wednesdays in March, that stat was in the packet.
ESPN Radio had its own research material, too.
In fact, an untold story at ESPN back then was how much freakin’ paper they wasted.
It was all overwhelming, but if you could not work through the massive piles of paper, you struggled to find the factoids needed to sound smart, separate yourself, and do your job well.
In 2024, all the information from those fat packets is available on your phone for crying out loud. So, even if you are a seasoned radio veteran and about to talk to the guy who comes on every week, do a little homework.
No one should be a “C” student.
Brian Shactman is a weekly columnist for Barrett News Radio. In addition to writing for BNM, Brian can be heard weekday mornings in Hartford, CT on 1080 WTIC hosting the popular morning program ‘Brian & Company’. During his career, Brian has worked for ESPN, CNBC, MSNBC, and local TV channels in Connecticut and Massachusetts. You can find him on Twitter @bshactman.
