Episode 146 - Listen To This If… You’re Preparing for a Radio Interview

Transcript

Jen (00:00:04)

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of Listen to This If from the Let's Talk SciComm team, which is me, Jen Martin and my fabulous friend Michael Wheeler. And in these very short episodes, we challenge ourselves to be succinct and to give you our advice on just one thing that you might be tackling at the moment when it comes to the world of science communication.

And today Michael, we thought we would chat about if you're preparing for a radio interview about your work, what's our advice? What's a good way to prepare?

Michael (00:00:35)

Yeah! Well, congratulations, I think radio interviews are really fun and they're also unique in a number of different ways from other science communication activities that you might have done. I think the difference is you're really dealing with wild listeners when it's a radio interview.

And what I mean by that is these are people who haven't necessarily tuned in to listen to your piece on the radio, your interview. You're likely going to be doing a segment that's surrounded, you know, by other topics on other sides. It's a little bit different to a podcast where someone's kind of tuning in to listen to you.

And also, I feel like people who are listening to the radio are more likely to be doing other things at the same time. You know, maybe they're trying to wrangle toddlers. Maybe they're driving. Wrangling toddlers is, you know, takes almost full mental capacity. So speaking from experience...

Jen (00:01:34)

It's been a while since I had toddlers Michael, but I do definitely recall.

Michael (00:01:39)

Yes, yes. So you know, unless your radio segment is about how to wrangle toddlers, you're likely going to have to really work hard to grab the attention of your audience and really speak in short sound bites. And I think there's probably a few things that you can do to, you know, enhance the communication of a radio interview, so speaking in short sound bites. I also feel like signposting can be helpful as well. So, you know, you might say something like "and this matters for three reasons".

The other thing that I think works quite well in radio interviews is when there's a little bit of repetition. And, you know, normally repetition, you don't want to have too much repetition in something that's say written for example. Or, you know, even a podcast recording where people can go back and kind of reread something or re-listen to something. But I think repetition can be really helpful. So maybe summarising your main points at the end of the radio interview because you're dealing with that distracted audience.

Jen (00:02:54)

Yeah, I completely agree Michael. It's definitely a wild audience and I think you just have to be aware that people are by, almost by definition, going to be doing other things. So you know Michael that I love radio. I think radio is such a fabulous way for us to share science because radio doesn't depend on having great images.

You know, if you want to try and reach really large audiences, if you think television, it really depends on you having great images to go with whatever it is that you're talking about. But on radio, you don't need that. And so I've been talking about science on the radio for 20 years. I invest a lot of time and energy in it because I just love it and I think it's so valuable.

And you've done a great job of talking about content. So I think I'm going to talk about instead, the way you talk. Because I think, you know, of course if you're doing a radio interview, you're going to be nervous. And I agree. Congratulations. If someone wants to talk with you on the radio, that's a fabulous thing.

And you're going to be nervous and you're going to feel like it's really important to get your facts right and that you don't miss anything. Look, yes, but also no. Radio is about people. It's about human connection. It's about warmth. It's about people listening feeling like they're getting to know you a little bit.

So while of course I want you to share accurate information, I really encourage you to bring your full self to the interview. Try and connect with the people you're speaking with. Talk about failures if it's appropriate. Be a real human being. If you stumble, nobody cares, it will make people feel more interested in you as a person.

Smiling while you talk can be a really good way of conveying energy. People can actually hear if you're smiling while you speak. And I just think, you know, this is about warmth rather than any form of perfection. So just come along. Imagine you're having a chat with a good friend over the radio. Be willing to be a bit silly maybe. Be willing to have a laugh if it's appropriate.

But just be willing to be yourself and that is what draws listeners too. While they're wrangling their toddler and doing a million other things, actually listen because they want to know who you as a person are doing your science. That's the main thing. You just, you're having a chat, you're having a conversation.

And I guess the best way to prepare then that means is just to talk aloud about your research and make sure you feel comfortable not having any sort of script or detailed notes, but just having a yarn about what you're doing.

Michael (00:05:19)

Yeah, I think that's great advice. And, you know, really quickly Jen, I feel like I should smile more when I talk and you're excellent at doing it. I find it difficult sometimes. I might be happy on the inside, but I need to work to show that I'm happy on the outside. What are your quick tips for smiling while you talk?

Jen (00:05:37)

I think just connecting with this fabulous opportunity. Like if someone is letting you talk about your work, how amazing! What an incredible privilege. What a delight.

Just channeling your sense of, Oh my gosh, how fortunate am I? How grateful am I to have this chance? And maybe, you know, it's easier for me because I just genuinely am a pretty smiley person. But I think you can cultivate this sense of just feeling delighted at the chance to do this. And usually, that results in a smile.

And I know it's hard with nerves, I'm not suggesting for a second it's easy to do. But like everything in science communication, it's practice. The more you do it, the easier and more natural it will become.

Michael (00:06:17)

Yes. Oh, I think that's excellent advice. Okay, well happy smiling everyone and good luck with your radio interviews.

Michael (00:06:37)

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, we'd love you to tell a friend about the podcast or leave us a review. And you can reach out to us on social media.

And we're very excited to announce that we're launching a new newsletter called the ChitChat. Check out the link in the show notes or our posts on Instagram.

And also a big thank you to our production team, Steven Tang and Madeleine Kelly.