The biggest fears about TV interviews

Concern number one: “People can tell where I’m from as soon as I speak.” That’s true: unless you’ve had formal training in accent-neutral speech, traces of your regional accent are hard to hide. But don’t worry: speaking standard, clear Dutch (without a heavy dialect) is more than enough for journalists and viewers at home.

Another language concern: saying “uhm” too often. Everyone does it, except professional newsreaders. And that’s perfectly fine. Unless you overdo it, people barely notice. No one watches the news to count uhms.

Filler words are a different story. If you know you tend to use the same word or phrase over and over, it’s worth working on that. Unlike the occasional uhm, filler words can annoy the audience and distract from your message.

“What will my colleagues or peers think when they hear me?” We train participants to deliver quotes in language everyone can understand. That means avoiding complicated terms and jargon. In other words: your explanation should make sense to the average viewer. They’re your target audience, not your peers.

This takes some conscious effort. What seems as obvious to you as 1 + 1 = 2 might sound like rocket science to a TV audience. The same goes for jargon: words you and your colleagues use every day without thinking twice can sound completely foreign to most people. The key is translation: turning expert language into everyday language. And it’s best to prepare that before the camera starts rolling.

An interview isn’t just a casual Q&A. Add a camera and stress levels rise, especially for beginners. The question “Will we get the questions in advance?” is perfectly understandable then. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. But that doesn’t have to be a problem. If you put yourself in the shoes of the average viewer, you can often predict the kinds of questions you’ll be asked. Or ask someone who knows nothing about the topic what they’d like to know, what sparks their curiosity.

Then there are the so-called difficult questions. Which is somewhat ironic: experts usually know (almost) everything about their subject, while the journalist’s preparation often consists of a single article, a short phone call or a quick Google search. And yet, that fear of tricky questions persists.

During our media training, we dive much deeper into these and many other concerns. Because our goal is simple: to make on-camera interviews part of your comfort zone.