Relaxed interviews are one of the things we pride ourselves on at Nova. It’s also one of the things we do that Ai could never replace. And yet for many people, the thought of an interview on camera is worse than a trip to the dentist. Here are five of the ways the real people at Nova help to make interviews a breeze.
We’re with good people
If you use the best ingredients then you’ll bake a better cake. At Nova we like each other, we respect each other, we’re kind to each other and we’re patient. We believe that if we extend the same kindness, respect and patience to the participants in our films, then we’re creating the right conditions for a relaxed conversation. We’re always interested and you have our undivided attention.
Anything goes
Stop and start, wave your hands about, um and ah, have a think, rephrase yourself, take your time. We don’t shout cut, we won’t ask for retakes, you don’t have to include the question in your answer. Just do it however it feels best. You don’t need media training, just talk your way around it until you’re happy.
Remember – it’s just a chat
The first thing we always say is: “Ignore the camera and just talk to me.”. It’s a conversation, there are no wrong answers. We’re here to make you look good, not to test your knowledge. We’ve got loads of time, we’re on your side and we’re only going to ask you about things you know. We’ll talk about the things you’re good at, the things that went well, the things that you loved or enjoyed, the way you felt. We’re not Laura Kuenssberg; there are no trick questions, we won’t put you on the spot and the whole thing will be edited.
Don’t over-prepare
Some days before the interview we’ll brief you about the kinds of things we’d like to discuss, but we’d rather not send you specific questions. By all means prepare, jot down a few pointers if you like, but please don’t write lines or try to rehearse your answers, it’ll only make you wooden. You don’t need to remember stats, we can add them later as graphics or you can read them from a sheet of paper. If you don’t know the answer to something we ask, it’s fine – you can find out at the end of the interview and we’ll happily ask you again.
Time to reflect
At the end of every conversation we film we always ask the same question: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to add, or anything you’d like to answer again? If you’re happy, then we’re happy. The words we love to hear are: “That wasn’t so bad after all.” – if the interview felt good, then we know we’ve done our job.
