"Who's Imus?" - Tips on Doing a...

This week Barbara Harris Whitfield shares the story of her interview with Don Imus along with tips for authors doing radio interviews.

"...It’s April 1990. My first book, Full Circle: The Near-Death Experience and Beyond has just been released...

...My publicist informs me that we are doing a radio show that will broadcast live during the 5:00 p.m. rush hour: A perfect time to be heard in the tri-state area. She carefully breaks the news to me that this interview is going to be rough. She explains that it’s just his style and he is listened to by most New Yorkers. There is dead silence for awhile, and then she continues, telling me how to roll with the punches...

...My publicist began prepping me for my interview with Don Imus.

“Who’s Imus?” I ask.

“You don’t know who Imus is?” she answers, making me feel like I just landed from Mars....

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s I was interviewed constantly about near-death experiences and the research at the University of Connecticut. I was even in a newsletter that went out to all the radio stations with bios on experts. That lasted a month, and I was on at least two radio shows a day somewhere in the U.S. and in Canada.

Through my experiences on radio, I offer the following advice:

1) Most radio interviews can be done from home over the telephone. If interviewing from home, don’t use a cordless phone; they sound fuzzy compared to a phone with a cord.

2) If another caller can click in to your line turn that feature off of your phone. The click will be heard on air and can be a distraction.

3) Ask for a CD of the interview when the radio host or producer sets up the interview. Its important to have a clear recording of the interview to put on your website.

4) Realize that you won’t like every interview. Every host has his or her own agenda.

5) Talk radio is big now. Take every show you can get, even if its at 3 a.m. Someone’s shift is ending, and there are always commuters listening somewhere.

6) Laugh at your interviewer’s jokes and cracks.

7) Make sure either you or the host gives ordering information for your book. I recommend repeating the website and phone number for your publisher’s ordering department a few times throughout the course of the interview.

8) Add what you want to say even if the interviewer doesn’t ask about it and have what you want to say in front of you in big print. Remember, we’re the ones that are the authority; that’s why we wrote the book.

9) Finally, don’t take yourself too seriously. Radio interviews get easier over time and actually become fun.

You can read the rest of Barbara's story here.

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