As part of being intentional in building your influence offline, you will start to get invitations to be on TV or on events that will be televised.
How you carry and comport yourself will determine greatly, if you will get call-backs or even get invitations from others in the crowd to be on their own events and TV stations.
Many times, opportunities happen and because you are too ill-prepared to handle them, they pass you by.
So how do you make sure that you can take every opportunity that comes your way?
The thing is to prepare before hand.
You cannot say you want to be on CNN or CNBC or Ebony Life TV when you don’t know the first thing about being on an interview.
How many TV interviews have you studied? (I’m not talking about local tv interviews because honestly, they don’t do them well here)
Go on YouTube. Look for interviews on CNN, BBC, CNBC and the like.
Make it a habit to watch Late Night TV shows where they interview celebrities.
Watch shows like:
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”,
“The Jimmy Kimmel Show”,
“The Late Late Show with James Corden”,
“The Jimmy Fallon Show”,
“The Graham Norton Show” etc
All these shows I have highlighted, have different interview styles. They range from one-on-one, to sofa-style, to panel interviews and the rest.
Watch and learn them all because you never know which one you’ll be invited on.
How do you carry a conversation when it’s just you?
How do you become a part of a conversation when it’s you and two people or you and seven people?
How do you walk in if you’re introduced from behind a curtain?
How do you respond when you’re introduced on a sofa with other guests?
How do you greet your fellow guests who are being interviewed with you?
How long should you speak when asked a question?
How do you react or respond when someone says something you don’t agree with?
Do you argue and turn it into a shouting match as we so often witness on local TV stations?
How do you respond when you’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to?
How do you dress for a TV show?
How do you have a conversation that is not boring?
How do you portray your confidence with your body language?
How much eye contact do you make with the interviewer or guests if there are any?
How do you know when to include the guests in your conversation?
What do you know about sound bytes and tweetables?
Where do you look when answering a question?
Where do you look when you’re not being asked a question?
Do you know exactly when to sit, after being introduced?
How big a smile should you have? When do you inject a smile?
What kind of jokes are you permitted to say? Does the show permit jokes or is it more formal?
Is it a family show? Who is the audience?
Is there a live audience on the show, or is it just you, the interviewer and the producers of the show?
You see, being intentional about your personal brand is very important if you want to stand out and be the best.
You are too important to be mediocre and a local champion. You need to show to the world how excellence is done.
We see people like John Obidi get call backs on TV ever so often. Why is that so? Watch his interviews and you will understand why.
Start today to be intentional about preparing yourself for the life you want to live.
BE INTENTIONAL!
