 Presenter advice Jenni MurrayA doyenne of radio broadcasting, Jenni Murray is a regular presenter on Radio 4's Woman's Hour and is no stranger to interviewing and challenging people on their points of view.
Whether it's evasive politicians or impenetrable academics, Jenni has tackled them all and here she offers her way through the obfuscation.
Best way to get your point of view across? If you're going to get a view across you need to have prepared and be completely across the topic so that you can discuss it without reference to notes. Try to be anecdotal - human stories are what audiences latch on to - and avoid jargon and statistics. Any interviewing tips? Listen to the questions and what other people say and engage with the point in hand. Humour will get you past most difficulties as will warmth and charm. Never say, 'well, there are three things I have to say about that' as it's likely you'll be interrupted before you get to point three. Have you ever encountered any difficult interviewees? The most difficult people to interview are academics who fall back on jargon which is incomprehensible to others and politicians who answer anything but the question. For the former ask again and again what they mean until they tell it as if to a child. For a politician, be well informed, persistent and look for the weak points - then go for the jugular. How would you approach a sensitive subject? If the subject is sensitive use warmth, empathy and simple, straightforward questioning. Make sure you know everything about the story before beginning so as not to put your foot in it. Some final words of advice? Questions are there to elicit information on behalf of the audience. Think about what you would want to know if you were sitting at home listening or watching and then summon up the courage to ask those questions even if you feel unbelievably cheeky whilst doing it. top of page |
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