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These hints may not make you instantly comfortable on radio or even guarantee a successful radio interview, but they will help. Think of them as a little insider knowledge from somebody who has sat on both sides of the interviewing microphone and made their fair share of radio bloopers.

In The Days Before The Interview

• Decide on two specific details you want the reader to remember after you leave the studio. It might be the name of your book, your website address, the book launch details, why your book is better than the other billion on the shelf or anything else you want to promote. I follow this one because if I only have 2 details to focus on there’s less chance of I’ll walking out the studio swearing that I missed mentioning vital details and of the discussion going off track, but there is also more chance of me feeling comfortable, getting your message across and having fun.

• Send/email in written details to the attention of the producer or the person you have been dealing with. You could even include a selection of sample questions – tailored to the two details you’ve decided to focus on. This will help the interviewer feel confident of the details, give them time to promote you earlier in the show, give you the professional edge and hopefully make the interview smoother.

• Remember that radio stations usually run to a very tight schedule. This means not only that you need to get there on time but that if you ramble on you could get cut off mid-sentence for an ad break, that the interviewer might appear distracted and uninterested in you outside of the interview, or that as soon as your interview is over you will be shown the door. Don’t take it personally, this is the way things are. It’s usually the producer who will tell you what’s going on, offer you a glass of water and walk you to the door.

Other Tips

• When you walk into the studio hand the interviewer a printed copy of the important . Don’t include everything just the things you want repeated often, things like book title, cost, website, phone number, etc.

• Don’t fidget, tap your nails on the table, or bang your feet on the floor whilst the microphone is on. The listener will hear all of it.

• If you are going to read on air, keep it to three minutes or less, unless you are told otherwise. More than this and listener’s attention can start to wander or the ad breaks can close in. Don’t guess how long a story takes to read, time yourself reading before you arrive at the studio.

• Also, if you’re reading, before you start the interview put on your reading glasses and find a place to hold your work so that it doesn’t get between you and the microphone or force you to move further from the mic.

• Don’t take any recording device into the studio. If you want a copy of the interview most radio stations will give you a CD copy if you ask before hand.

• Turn off your phone - obvious I know, but still overlooked.

• If you’re nervous, try keeping eye contact with the interviewer while you talk it can make the whole thing seem more personal. If you are lucky you might even forget that two billion people are eavesdropping.

• Be aware that there may be moments during the interview when it appears that something awry is happening in the studio, it might be frantic hand signals through a window to the producer or even the interviewer dropping all his/her papers on the floor. When this happens ignore it and keep going. I don’t think I have ever been interviewed in a studio when there hasn’t been some hiccup, and in some cases I have even found it necessary to close my eyes simply to concentrate on making sense when I talk.

• Finally, one simple suggestion - have fun. Think of the inteviews you enjoy listening to most, are they the ones where the people involved seem to be relaxed and happy?