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Oprah Who? - Tips on Doing a TV Interview
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From 1985 to 1991, I worked as a research assistant at the University of Connecticut Medical School. We were examining the after effects of people who had a near-death experience (NDE). At one point, my desk became the clearinghouse for the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) when board members couldn’t support a separate office. During that time, the media enthusiastically picked up on the NDE, and I often got calls requesting more information and to participate in their programs. I enjoyed working on documentaries. We had crews coming in from all over the world, and they were kind and curious about our subject. I also had the opportunity to be an expert consultant on a few movies.
One of the first American TV shows to contact us was “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1986. My immediate response on the first phone call was, “Oprah who?” The assistant producer explained that Oprah’s last name was Winfrey, and that this was a new national talk show from Chicago. They wanted me to appear on the show as a researcher and a near-death experiencer; a role I was to play many times on TV and radio. I went on an all expense paid trip to Chicago and met Oprah for the first time in the dressing room. She was friendly and down to earth. We talked longer than I would have expected, and I remember liking her immediately. After appearing on the show, Oprah personally invited me back any time I wanted. As I left, one of her producers presented me with a book titled, “You Can Have it All: Prosperity Consciousness.” Inside, Oprah signed it and wrote, “Barbara, I know you know this but I want you to know that I know this too.”
In the second half of the 1980s and into the 1990s, I did most of the major TV talk shows and hundreds of radio shows. I didn’t have a book out until the last year of the popularity I experienced as a researcher. Despite this, I learned a lot about that strange world we call the media.
TV work is exhilarating yet frustrating. Travel and lodging are usually paid for; we are made to feel incredibly important by the staff of the show and fed plenty of caffeine and sugar. Once, I was given Chris Farley’s NBC dressing room which was stocked with huge chocolate chip cookies and big bottles of Coke on ice. The moment we are escorted by staff to the studio is a shockingly stark moment. Often, a staff member has warmed up the audience so that they are enthusiastic minutes before guests walk onstage. Usually, you don’t meet the host until the show begins taping. The atmosphere can feel electrically charged; this is where deep, slow breathing and feeling our feet connected to the floor can keep us centered and grounded.
Immediately after the show is over, guests are ushered out of the building. The door closes, and suddenly you are thrown back to reality. I have witnessed a few of my fellow guests faint in front of the limos that were escorting us back to airports. It’s a grueling process, and for some I suggest bringing along a friend to help get through it.
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I’ve been on “The Larry King Show” twice. The second time I was on, he introduced me by saying, “Was she out of her body…or out of her mind?” We need to be prepared for these moments and go with the flow. Always keep in mind that the interviewer is a performer, and it’s his job to keep the audience interested. We’re there because we are promoting our ideas and our books. They may seem rude at times, but they are helping us by keeping their audience engaged. The host knows their audience better than we do. Larry King is also an expert at interrupting. If you take too long to answer, any interviewer will interrupt.
The most important thing I’ve learned about TV and radio work is sound bites. To understand sound bites, practice answering questions in two or three sentences. Go over possible questions, and practice answering them in a pithy way. This will insure that the most important is relayed in the interview. Keep your answers short and sweet and the number of interruptions will be reduced, resulting in better sound bites.
Here are some tips for your next interview:
1) If it’s a short interview and you have something you need to say, plug that response into another question. You won’t necessarily answer the question the interviewer is asking, but the conversation is moving quickly enough that you can throw in the additional information.
2) Make sure the producers will show the cover of your book and your website address sometime during the show. Get it in writing. I was on a show last year on the Spike Network from LA. They said they would show my cover, which they never did. I also didn’t realize that this show was a spoof; producers enticed me there because of my research background and then put me on a silly show. I went along with it, and actually ended up having a good time. I would have been satisfied with the appearance if they would have put the cover of my book in the credits the way they had promised. A few weeks later after the show aired, I asked where my cover was and I was treated poorly. Looking back, I realize the importance of getting all details of a TV appearance in writing.
3) Once you sign a release, you have no leverage in the way your interview is used after it is taped and edited. You also have no leverage when it comes to not signing the release. Most of the time, producers won’t air your segment unless you sign the release.
4) Live TV is best because no one can rearrange your words in an editing room. Obviously, you need to be on point throughout the broadcast. Its important to know your subject well enough and that the interview comes across as natural and knowledgeable. Before I appeared on Donahue, I knew I was being set up to fail miserably. One of my debunkers was a cardiologist from a fundamentalist background whose book was about NDEs being the work of the devil in disguise. The other debunker was the president of the National Association for Atheists. The night before, a clinical psychologist who I prearranged a long-distance session with took me through a 45 minute guided image where I saw myself on the show doing great. At six in the morning, I jogged through Manhattan with a river of joggers. This drained my body of stress. I also had an order of 300 nuns praying for me through the actual hour. It ended up being one of the best interviews I ever did.
5) Make sure your publisher sends a copy of your book with reviews as far in advance as possible to the show. Make up a list of questions for the interviewer, or have the publisher include interview questions with your book.
6) Ask your contact from the show what they consider appropriate attire. If you’re still not sure, bring an extra outfit.
7) Realize that they are going to want to put make up on you. This includes men too. The hot lights they use on set wash out your face. Makeup artists put it on heavy, however it’s not as visible on film.
8) A stagehand is going to stick their hand up your jacket or dress to pin on a mike. A couple of times when I felt uncomfortable, I firmly took the mike away and put my own hand up my blouse. CNN, including “Larry King Live,” uses an ear piece that screws a soft plastic coiled piece into your ear. You hear everything going on in the studio through it, including what the control room crew is saying to Larry. This can be confusing in the beginning.
9) Don’t take yourself too seriously. This is entertainment, and how you think the show went may be significantly different from how the show appears once it airs.
One last thing: While you’re doing a show, ask relatives and friends to pray. It helps!
Click here to read "Who's Imus" Barbara Harris Whitfield's radio interview tips.
Barbara Harris Whitfield is the author of five books and numerous articles on the near-death experience and natural spirituality. She is a near-death experiencer and respiratory and massage therapist. She spent six years at the University of Connecticut Medical School researching the psychological, emotional, and energetic after effects of spiritual awakenings and recently retired from teaching at Rutger’s Institute for Alcohol and Drug Studies. Barbara lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, author and physician Charles Whitfield, MD. They share a private practice helping adults that were repeatedly traumatized as children. Barbara’s new book, The Natural Soul, will be coming out in 2009 with SterlingHouse Publisher. For more information go to http://www.cbwhit.com and http://www.barbarawhitfield.com
