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Be enthusiastic and energetic when you promote your book. Make sure that you bring ENERGY to the table. Interviewers love it when you show enthusiasm on the air. If you’re excited about your message, the listeners will be excited, too—and more inclined to want to learn more about your book.
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Avoid all distractions. Make sure that there are no dogs barking or kids screaming and hanging onto your leg. Turn off your computer and the television and make sure that you turn off your cell phone. Shut yourself in a room where you can experience total privacy with no distractions so you can stay focused!
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Be brutally honest. Always be open and honest with the host. Listeners relate better to people who are an “open book.” Don’t be afraid to be who you really are and say what you really think.
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Define your mission and message. Before going on the air, know the key points you want to convey about your book. Make sure you stay “on message” no matter how far off the host’s questions take you. Always take the answer back to your own key message.
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Be mindful of your word inflections. Practice sounding out your main points out loud before your interview. Remember that it is not just what you say, but how you say it. Inflections help keep the listener’s interest. Speak slowly and clearly and make sure that you E-NUN-CI-ATE. You don’t want your words to mush together. If you speak too quickly, the listeners won’t be able to understand you. Make sure to enunciate so that people will remain interested.
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Have notes handy, but try not to read from them. Know your material cold. Reading your notes or word-for-word answers sounds stiff and rehearsed and you’ll lose your audience. You want to sound as natural as possible so that your message will be more likely to trigger a buying response.
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If you stumble, stutter, or slip-up during an interview, forget about it and move on. Don’t dwell on your failures and mistakes. Don’t get flustered. Stay on message and you’ll be okay.
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Don’t get technical or use language that most listeners wouldn’t know. Remember that you are trying to get a large audience to relate to you. Use layman’s terms, if at all possible, and save the four-syllable words for your next game of Scrabble.
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Smile when you are on the air. If you are physically smiling while you are talking, the listeners will feel it. If you are frowning, they will feel that too. Although the listeners won’t be able to actually see you on the radio, they will be able to “feel” your interest and enthusiasm. Remember—your intention for every interview is to enlighten the listening audience about your book and interest them in purchasing it.
