TIPS FOR BEING A GREAT RADIO GUEST!

I've been a radio lover forever. I love books too, which explains the two careers I have chosen in life. As a publicist, I work with authors at many different levels of media experience. Some don't need any coaching at all because they're they have experience and they understand the importance of knowing their key messages and how to speak in sound bites.

For those who aren't savvy--yet--I have some pointers for doing radio interviews. Some of these tips overlap into television and print interviews, but all of them apply to radio--terrestrial or digital. Here we go:

1. Always be polite to the producer and the host. This may seem obvious, but you'd be amazed what some people say--especially when they're stressed. Which leads me to point #2:

2. Live radio often covers breaking news so if you're scheduled for a live interview, know that the possibility of getting bumped exists. This applies to in-studio and over the phone interviews. Breaking news is breaking news, and unless your topic relates to the breaking story you are out of there. Accept it and be nice about it.

3. Never cancel an interview unless you're really, really sick, your flight is in a holding pattern over Denver, or you're dead.

4. If you're doing a series of interviews such a satellite radio tour, write all your key messages on index cards and as you make each point and tell each story, flip the card over. When doing back-to-back interviews, you will be amazed at how much this helps you.

5. If you're doing a phone interview, don't judge your performance by the response you get from the host. You may be doing great but suddenly all the computers in the control room crash. I guarantee you it is wild in there as people scramble to put things right, but they usually won't tell you that over the airwaves. They may be depending on you to keep talking and keep the interview going while they fix things. The fact that they're not interacting much with you has nothing to do with your performance. Remember: It isn't always about you.

6. If it's an early morning interview, get up extra early so that you can warm up your voice by drinking warm fluids and singing. Do something to make sure your voice doesn't crack.

7. Radio is very auditory. The listeners only have your voice to go by, so if you have a speech impediment consider seeing a therapist, and if you tend to speak in a monotone voice, practice varying the pitch and volume. One great way to do that is to read children's books and act out the character voices.

8. Make sure you are in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Your dog may be quiet now, but if the UPS guy comes during your interview, it going to be disruptive. It will throw you off not to mention the show host and listeners.

9. Disable call waiting if you have it. That clicking is annoying.

10. Keep your land line! I know it's popular to get rid of the land line and only use a cell phone, but for radio interviews, it needs to be a land line. Not a cell, not a mobile. The sound quality matters!

Be sure and listen to other people doing interviews and pay attention to what you find they do well, and what needs some work. Then make sure you do the good things, and stay away from the bad.