How to Prepare for an Interview
When the media shows up to your event or invites you to the studio for an interview, follow these tips so you can be prepared. Anticipate common questions, such as:
- What are you protesting today?
- Why is this issue important?
- What is a better solution?
- What does your group do?
- Don't we need to use animals sometimes?
- What can the viewers at home do about this?
Make sure you can answer these common questions with just one or two sentences. Unless your interview is being broadcast live, it will probably be edited down to one or two sound bites, so make them count. You can practice your interviewing skills by having someone ask you questions about the protest, the issue, or your group.
What to Do During an Interview
Start by thanking the reporter for covering the issue. If you are being interviewed by a television crew, remember to look at the interviewer and not the camera.
What if you are asked a question that you don't know the answer to?- If the interview is being broadcast live, say that you don’t know the answer, and then redirect the conversation toward a topic that you do know. For example, “I don’t know the exact number of elephants in this circus, but I can tell you that every single of one of them is confined for hours every day, and forcing them to perform is cruel and unnecessary.”
- If the interview is not being broadcast live, offer to get back to the reporter later with an answer. Reporters work on very tight deadlines, so get the information and follow up as soon as possible, preferably within a couple of hours.
