Media Inteviews

 

Preparing for the interview - The Interview Packet

 

The following items should be prepared for sending to an interviewer in order to get an interview or in response to an interviewer's request for information. If you have written a book about which you wish to be interviewed you must include that in the packet. The book must be mailed but the other items could be emailed if the interviewer prefers.

 

♦ A "one-sheet" to send to your interviewer or potential interviewer.  A one-sheet is simply one page (printed on quality - perhaps glossy - paper) that it contains:

 

1. Your name (provide pronunciation)and contact information (phone #, email address, etc.)

2. Your Power Statement (see Ministry Focus Division)

3. A brief bio on who you are

4. A description of the talks you give with titles

5. A brief testimony or two from someone who has hired and/or heard you

6. Your picture (Make it a good one that characterizes you.)

7. Your contact nformation

 

♦ Questions for the interviewer to ask you during the interview. (Prepare 5 to 10 questions.)

 

• Keep them short, simple and very clear.

• Don’t sound obviousy self-serving.

• Think WOW effect.”

• Think “your message.” (Power Statement)

• Think variety

• Write a couple of questions that you can nswer with a story.

• Avoid double questions.

• Write provocative questions that beg provocative answers.

• Avoid predictable questions and answers.

• Provide interviewer with fascinating statistics or quotes.

• Don’t use jargon unfamiliar to a common audience.

• Indicate that the list is a suggested list of questions and feel free to use any or all.

• Indicate that you have several stories available (short and well presented).

• How many questions? Provide 5 to 10 that are well written and mutually exclusive.

 

Be prepared to respond to each question with a great answer but also be

prepared for the interviewer to ask only a few or none of your questions.

What if the interviewer asks only one of your questions? Are you prepared

to say what you want the audience to hear from any question chosen? If

you'd say "no" regarding any one of the questions, then don't use that one.

 

Sample questions based on the sample topic "Bible illiteracy":

 

1.     What do most people say when asked, “How often do you

        read the Bible?”

 

2.     Does the research agree with that or do people lie on surveys?

 

        (I generally have a stack of actual promo packets on hand.

        You may contact me to receive a sample of two.)

 

3.     Which Bible book is the most read? The least read?

 

       (The above are fun questions that set up the message of

       your interview.) Don't start questions with, “In your book,

       you talk about …” This is obviously self-serving. But you can

       answer a question that way. “In my book I cover that… etc.”

 

4.    What key principle is at the center of your approach to getting

       people to read and enjoy the Bible?

 

5.    Try your approach on me right now. Let’s see how it works.