:: INTERVIEW SKILLS

There are seven broad categories for news stories.

 They’re called the Seven Compelling C's:

Ø      Catastrophe  

Ø      Crisis  

Ø      Conflict  

Ø      Change  

Ø      Crime  

Ø      Controversy 

Ø      Colour (or human interest)

News is also -   

What is new? 

What is relevant to the audience? 

What has an emotional tug for the audience? 

News can often be prompted by other news. Local stories can hang off the 'peg' of an overseas story.

The Art of Questioning.

For hard news: 

Who, What, When, Where, Why, How 

For people’s life stories: 

How did this begin for you? 

What happened then? 

And the future, what does that hold? 

To elicit passion: 

What’s important about that to you?  

(and continue that until you get to a core value) 

Open and Closed Questions: 

An open question is one that allows the interviewee to express an answer that gives more information. A closed question only allows a simple yes or no answer.  

Be aware that you can, for deliberate effect, put assumptions into your questions.  

“Are you aware how unfair these laws are?” 

“Should Peter Hollingworth be sacked, or should he resign?” 

“Does testosterone cause violence?” 

“Was this a cock-up or a cover-up?” 

Other tips: 

Avoid asking two questions in one.  

Listen to people’s answers. Consider how they’ll look in the finished programme. 

Think about what the audience would want to know about the subject. 

Is this an important story that will attract wide media attention? 

News is what you don’t want others to hear about you – the rest is advertising.  

Is the Government involved? 

Will the issue be seen as having wide public impact? 

Did the media cover the original activity as a news event? 

Does the story have tear-jerker potential (emotion)? 

Is there a party that could benefit from exposure? 

Will the issue fit into a broader social trend? 

Is there a significant amount of money involved? 

Is there a well known person involved? 

Does the issue run counter to commonly held beliefs? 

A combination of any three of these points means the story has front page potential. 

Understanding influence and persuasion
By John Mariotti

Life as a manager is all about who can influence -- or persuade -- whom. Convince someone to buy what you sell or to change to the direction you want to go, and your likelihood of success improves measurably. Millions are spent on training people in negotiation skills. With all of this attention to persuasion and influence, by now we should understand the underlying forces in influencing others -- and how we are influenced.

A couple of years ago, quite by accident, I found a remarkable book, Influence -- The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (1993, Morrow, rev. ed.). Cialdini is an experimental social psychologist who decided to study compliance and why people respond the way they do. His book is based on both experiments and extensive observation, and the findings are very revealing. Only one major influence -- that of "material self-interest," getting the most and paying the least -- is not included in Cialdini's list of influences. That's because, although it is powerful and effective, it is also a more legitimate influence than the others.

The influences Cialdini describes create a powerful urge to respond, which the author refers to as a "click-whir" response that is automatic and almost irresistible -- even when we know what is happening. For example:

Reciprocation -- the old give-and-take-and-take-and-take. This is the principle behind the Hare Krishna practice of handing out free flowers or books in airports and the basis for the entire advertising-specialty business (free pens, coffee mugs, etc.). I give you something and you feel obliged to reciprocate. Nothing says the exchange must be fair or equitable, and the intent of someone using this to his or her advantage is that it won't be.

Commitment and consistency -- false hobgoblins of the mind. We make a carefully considered decision or analysis and then make a commitment, perhaps in writing. Afterward, we have a very strong tendency to defend and reinforce that position consistently -- regardless of how right or wrong it was. Think of the last car or computer you bought and how strongly you became a vocal supporter of that brand or model.

Social proof -- truths are us. This is the basis for the use of laugh tracks on TV, the Jonestown mass suicide, and the influence of mass behavior that allows a person to be mugged in full view of a crowd -- and no one helps the victim because no one wants to break out of the crowd.

Likability -- the friendly thief. Physical attractiveness and likability increase a person's influence. Thus the use of attractive models in ads and the friendly salutation of telephone solicitors. We also like people who are similar to us in interest, lifestyle, and culture -- and they can have an even greater influence on us if they compliment us and are nice to us.

Authority -- directed deference. Uniforms are not a coincidence. They impart an unspoken message of influence based on authority, as do titles, offices, and other trappings. In an actual situation described in Cialdini's book, a total stranger dressed in a doctor's coat was allowed to change the medication of many hospital patients with no questions asked.

Scarcity -- the rule of the few. When things such as stamps are misprinted or Beanie Babies are produced in limited quantities, their value goes up. Even the illusion of scarcity is very powerful. Real Estate Agents who have other (often imaginary) prospective buyers use this leverage regularly.
 

                                    Today's Exercise:

Working in pairs you are to prepare an introduction and an interview with Ian MacRae about the boom in Podcasting. 

The introduction, using the Influence Principles, will run about 30 seconds. 

It will use the word “you” and set up the questions that you will answer in the interview. 

Please use the two formulas we have discussed. 

We're looking for passion in the interviewee. 

Remain very aware of the questions that the audience wants answered, also be aware of how you're imposing your own agendas on the situation.  

Listen during the interview. 

Please do a throw to what's happening after the commercial break at the end. 

I will wind you up after 4 ½ minutes.

Ian MacRae 

Ian  began as an office boy at a Melbourne radio station and worked his way down from there! He became a panel operator and then moved to first on air job in a country regional station.

Sold his car to pay for ticket and went to the U.K. where he worked for two years on the off-shore "pirate" stations.

Ian then returned to Australia to a job in Perth then to Sydney where he joined Radio 2SM and stayed with that station all the way to the top of the ratings. Hosted the breakfast show for 13 years.

In 1987 Ian presented a weeknight network programme and thus became Australia's first satellite music show presenter.

Three years after that Ian joined news-talk radio on the 2GB (Sydney) breakfast session.

In 1993 Ian joined the Sky Radio Satellite Network to once again present a night-time music and fun show.

Now Ian freelances concentrating on radio sales and marketing, writing scripts and doing M.C, compere and speaker engagements plus some casual on-air work and programming an internet radio station as well as running the radio school.

Corporate Podcasts Take Off.

Media Release

Corporate Australia has picked up on podcasting at last, according to Ian MacRae, of Podcast Like A Pro. But big organisations are only just beginning to scratch the surface of how useful podcasting can be.

“We've been offering podcasting courses for the past year, and we've had a really wide variety of people in the classes. Now suddenly big organisations are picking up on the usefulness of putting audio on the net,” the former radio star says

Sometimes it's because they want to appeal to a Generation Y or X audience. “We recently recorded four recruitment seminars for young would-be accountants. Most of the people in the audience were in their early twenties. The client wanted to reach a wider geographic audience, and they decided podcasts were the ideal medium,”Ian explains.

Podcasts can be as effective in reaching a mature audience as they can be getting to young people.

The Australian Consumers Association wanted to explain how they did their product tests for Choice Magazine, and so Ian conducted a series of interviews with their testers. Audio is relatively quick and cheap to do, and it humanizes the people who re otherwise behind the scenes at Choice magazine.

Ian's also in the late planning stages of a trial of a regular weekly podcast for ClubsNSW. “It'll be a training tool for managers and directors. It's a way that we can get readily accessible information out to 1350 clubs in NSW very quickly. It'll cover useful management tips as well as updates on important issues.

Design lecturer Frank Lowe trained with Ian and Bob Hughes before devising his series of podcasts of Continuing Education for architects, hosted at www.podce.com

The Podcast Like A Pro courses continue to attract a diverse range of students.

“We thought the course would appeal to people who wanted to start their own entertainment podcasts, but we were wrong,” says Bob Hughes another Sydney radio veteran. “We suddenly found that web designers and project managers from very big companies were enrolling. They wanted to be ready when their bosses asked them to add audio to their websites."

Other people doing the Podcast Like A Pro course have included a telecom executive who needed to get a handle on content on mobile devices, a charity group wanting to reach out to abuse victims, management and sales trainers, and authors.

“Because audio is so easy and cheap to create, yet so intimate, it's attracting a lot of interesting people who want to create their own content,” Ian says.

“If you're running an organisation that needs to deliver a lot of information quickly and effectively, or you want to reach a specific audience, young or old, podcasts should be part of the media mix you use,” Ian advises.

For more information on the Podcast like a Pro course go to www.radioschool.biz and click on Podcast Course. Or to find more about corporate podcasting you can contact Ian on 9555 8671.