In the last few weeks I have been busy with the media, and this is a reflection of the fact that there are more and more opportunities for us to engage in broadcast media than ever before. Quite apart from the (literally) millions of podcasts and pre-recorded YouTube videos, there is demand for live radio, television, and YouTube events.
I was fortunate enough to do a media training course as part of my ordination training—one of the benefits of training full-time residentially, when you have the space and time to explore such things. Because of that, over the years I have been involved in regular speaking in the media—on Radio 2 Pause for Thoughts, on BBC Radio Nottingham and other local radio stations, on our local Notts TV, and more recently on national radio (particularly Radio 4’s Sunday programme on Sunday mornings) and national television.
For those in full-time ministry, appearing in the media will often feel like it is one ask too many, and it is tempting to say ‘no’. You need to find emotional, spiritual and intellectual space to add this into what is already a busy schedule. And it can feel as though the risks are all on the ‘downside’. What if I mess it up? What if I say something embarrassing? Is it worth the time and effort often for just a few minutes saying something useful?
But in my experience there are many benefits. Apart from contributing a Christian voice to wider discussion, being involved in broadcast media forces you to develop skills which are really valuable in everyday ministry. You have to hone your ideas, communicate well, and speak clearly and to the point. This helps to develop our thinking about a range of issues, grow the discipline of speaking well, and feeds into our practice of speaking and teaching.
So I offer here my Ten Commandments of speaking on the media, whether it be a YouTube broadcast, radio, or even a television appearance.
1. Make sure you tie down the details at the first point of contact. What is the show? What is the issue? Who else will be there? What is the format? What time is it at and where do I need to be when? The golden rule here should be: no surprises. The last thing you want is to turn up on the day and find that it is different from what you expected, or that you are being ‘set up’ in some way.
2. Get there in good time. You want to be thinking about the issue, not about getting there on time. How will you travel, and if by car where can you park? This is particularly important if it is the first time you have been to this venue and meeting these people. If you are appearing online from home (which post-Covid you can now do for YouTube and even television appearances) make sure you have created space in your diary so that you are not rushing from your previous meeting or discussion. Ensure that your home camera and microphone set-up are good; for speaking online, you can get a good cardioid microphone for about £65 and it is worth it is you speak at all often—and it does not need to be in camera shot! Make sure others in your household know you are online and will not disturb you.
3. Do your research. Go online and find out what the issues are and what is being said. If you have been given some notice, rather than being called on at the last minute, listen to other items on television and radio on this subject. What is the state of the public debate on this question? This will enable you to put your comments in a wider context. If you can, listen to the show you are going to be on; I tune in to Radio Nottingham in the car on the way in to town when I am appearing on it. It is nice for presenter to think you actually listen to the show—and it is nice for audience to hear you as part of an ongoing discussion. It makes the whole discussion feel more natural if you are able to say ‘As the person said on the previous item…’
4. Make sure you have with you a pencil and paper. Makes notes before and during the discussion. Doodle and scribble, and highlight the things you think are important. If you are in discussion with someone else, make note as they are speaking so you plan your response. This is easy to do when speaking on the radio, or on Zoom on video—you can easily have paper and pen in front of you on your desk. On television, you cannot—though there is no reason you cannot take a relevant document with you.
5. Say first what is most important. If you are on for 2 or 3 minutes (a typical interview format) you might only have five sentences in total. Time flies on air! So decide what is most important, and get that in first. If you leave your most important point to second or third place, you might never get to say it. Even in a ten-minute discussion with someone else, when you take into account the input of the person who is hosting, you are still likely only to have about 3 or 4 minutes at the most. This also means that what you want to say needs to be honed into memorable sound-bites. If it was good enough for Jesus (who often ended his teaching on a subject with a pithy summary) then it is good enough for us!
6. Here’s the controversial one: Avoid the question. By that I mean: if the interviewer asks you ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ then there is no right answer. You need to say what you want to say (assuming of course that it is in the relevant area!) whatever the question that you are asked. You see politicians doing this all the time—because it is an effective way to control the message. There is a big disadvantage here though: you see politicians doing this all the time. This approach, if handled in the wrong way, can frustrate the audience and annoy your interviewer. So in reality there is more of a negotiation, particularly if you know the interviewer and you are a regular or semi-regular on the show or station. But it is certainly a strategy worth bearing in mind. If you are in discussion with someone else, then the conversation needs to feel as though it is flowing. So listen carefully to them and the presenter, and pick out from their comments something on which you can hang what you want to say.
7. Know your message. Think: for people who are not church-goers, or who know very little about Jesus and what following him means, what is the most important thing you can communicate? Research suggests that people leave or stay away from church because it is boring, irrelevant, and because Christians are hypocrites. For me, that means the three most important things to communicate (across all the subjects on which I speak) are that faith in Jesus (not ‘religion’!) is exciting, relevant and has integrity. And you need to embody what you say, so always include examples from your own experience that listeners will be able to relate to. The medium is the message—or perhaps, better, the messenger is the message. If you want Christian faith to be winsome, then you need to be winsome, and that means…
8. Smile. Be positive and be yourself. People don’t want to hear someone being snide or negative; there is always a positive way to put things. If you smile, people can hear it. If you are in a studio, make yourself comfortable. Breathe slowly. Sit in a way which is relaxed but attentive. But note also that there is no harm in disagreeing. ‘Actually, I take a different view’ or ‘We don’t agree on this’ is something that people are happy to listen to—and healthy debate actually makes for good radio (and television). The last time I was on Notts TV, the (mild) complaint was that the four of us guests agreed with each other too much! (That has not been an issue more recently on national media…!)
9. Don’t preach. This is not a context for challenging people or demanding things. It is a place of public debate. It is not permissible to say ‘You must do X or Y’—though it is quite permissible to say clearly ‘Many Christians believe that God calls us to do X or Y’. Again, clarity and honesty are good strategies, but without attempts at coercion. And no-one can object to you simply describing what you and many others believe. You are not in a position to exercise extrinsic authority (‘You must do this because I say so!’) but only intrinsic authority—and appeal of common sense, or coherence, or integrity, or credibility.
10. Do it! Say yes the first time you are asked. Consider the situation of the researcher or producer; his or her concern is not to get the world’s authority, or the best balanced, or to be sure that your particular theological perspective is represented. They need to sign people up, and if you say ‘I’ll let you know in 3 hours’ they will have filled the slot by then. And take every opportunity your diary will allow. Practice makes perfect, and speaking on radio is great training for other forms of speaking, including preaching. There is no substitute for accumulating experience. It does take time, and sometimes seems hard to justify. It takes me a total of an hour and a quarter early on a Sunday morning to contribute 2 or 3 minutes on local radio, which hardly seems worth it—until you consider the numbers you are reaching, in my case, more than 140,000. And you might be surprised at who is listening in.
I have less experience working with television, but most of the same things apply. You cannot take a literal pencil and paper with you, so you need to practice working with a mental list, listening carefully and planning responses in your head. In that sense, radio experience is a good rehearsal for TV experience.
So go for it. After all, how can they believe if no-one proclaims the message?
(A shorter version of this was published previously.)
When I trained in Nottingham in the mid-1970s we had a radio studio on site to practice in and I also did a placement Radio Nottingham, which was great. I’ve been happy doing the occasional media piece ever since – and can wholly endorse Ian’s 10 commandments as basic common sense. Nothing to be afraid of here, folks.
I attended two hustings at the election just past. I think there are similarities with what Ian has described.
What was very noticable was that the sitting MP attended neither hustings. I have heard from more than one person that, although they disagree with his party politics, he was a good constituency MP. Given his party, I thought he would be there to get people to vote for him, if not for the party. He lost. Being there in the debate is important.
The first hustings, at a church in Weymouth, was very well done, I thought. The vicar, who was chairing, spent a few minutes with the candidates together beforehand. This enabled them to engage with each other as people. The result was that there was a good air of respect for each other, even when there were areas of disagreement. The Media loves to create conflict. Perhaps if one gets the chance to engage with one’s interlocutors beforehand, that can create a better atmosphere.
At this hustings, the candidates were seated in pairs, each pair at a small café table, with a microphone on a lead which they could hold. There was no table between the candidate and the audience, as at the other hustings. This gave a touch of informality, more a discussion in a pub than Question Time on TV. I felt that two candidates used this well. When it was their turn to answer, they would lean forward, use their hands to engage with those listening. This was not haranguing, but conveyed their real engagement with the issue.
So, particularly on TV, body language is important. But do you engage with the presenter, who askes the questions, or the camera? On the radio you don’t have that. However, this means that you need to put more into your voice to communicate that which might otherwise be conveyed non-verbally. Variations of pitch, pause and pace can be used (as in sermons, of course).
The candidates did get an idea of the areas of the submitted questions. However, what surprised me was how the questions as asked were about very local issues although related to larger, national issues. Does this suggest that if we get ‘media exposure’, we should try to relate this to the concerns of the ordinary people viewing or listening? For those of us who like to try to consider the big ideas, we need to consider this.
All the points you mention Ian are really good. I presented Sunday Praise and a Classics program over a period of 33 years. When I began I was told to talk as if you are in the home of your very best friend, to realise that people have short attention spans, you can have a mum doing washing up as she listens, or a businessman in the car.
Talk as if you LIKE them and let them know why you find the subject important enough to discuss. Also to stop any dreadful moments of ‘dead air’ while you struggle to remember what it was you wanted to say, have the important points jotted down beforehand to jog your memory if needed. And relax, enjoy the experience then this comes out in your voice.
Thanks Robyn. Especially on radio, but also on TV, you have to remember that the experience of the listener/viewer is likely they are sitting in a room on their own, not with a big crowd. So you have to imagine just that one person sitting with you.
Obviously skills in media handling are important.
But I think there is one really important thing here – you have to speak in good faith.
The worst sort of interviews I have seen usually involve the interviewee not answering the question, repeating talking points and denigrating either their opponents or the interviewer or both.
Obviously nuance can be lost in a 5 minute interview, but people have to see a Christian leader as committed to their position but also able to love their opponents. It’s important that viewers who disagree with you don’t walk away being afraid of Christianity.
If a time comes to criticise the interviewer or your opponent, focus on the argument or question being presented rather than the person arguing.
One last thing I think is essential: respect the media you’re being presented in, and treat everyone well, including those behind the scenes. Speak honestly and openly to the interviewer before the interview about your expectations of their questions. Tell them which questions might be out of order, but also explicitly state that you expect them to operate judiciously and neutrally. Respect their position but don’t expect them to side with you.
Thanks Neil—spot on. I shared holiday tips with the person who welcomed me to the building, and the man fitting the microphone grew up in the same road in Dublin as my mother. We had a good chat about rugby—specifically, Ireland beating South Africa with two drop goals!
Good stuff here… and not without relevance to preaching… if a different thing
I’d suggest honestly is important… Obviously… but in the sense of being willing say “I don’t know” or an equivalent. It’s an expression of integrity and real humanity.
Some decades ago I did several talk/Christian music programmes with a clergy colleague for Radio Merseyside. It was and is important in this kind of thing to enjoy it. It’ll come across.
Well done for what you have been involved in recently… and thank you.
Yes, ‘I don’t know’ is sometimes a good answer!
I’ve done quite a few radio talks on aspects of physics explained at smart lay level, and also science phone-ins. Enjoyable if demanding. Don’t like TV, though: what I do is all about the optimal imparting of information, and my appearance has nothing to do with that.
Great tips Ian, thank you. Re. ‘Thought for the day’ etc. pieces for radio (especially the Sunday morning ‘God slot’), I would add:
1) stick to the time limit – nothing worse than having your piece badly edited!
2) if recording at home, use a ‘soft’ room (bedroom or lounge with a blanket over your head!) – Voice memo on a smart phone is plenty good enough and much the simplest way to record & send
3) use humour – I included a quick joke/funny story in the first several pieces I did and I’ll still being asked to include something when appropriate (think Lionel Blue from BBC R4’s TFTD).
4) Don’t be shy of mentioning/quoting Jesus – as long as the reference is relevant: after all the main reason they’ve asked you on is because of your Christian faith.
5) Start / end with a friendly greeting/sign off – come across as winsome. They might just ask you again!