Live on the radio
Last week was my first time live on the radio. I was invited to talk about Herolens and a data analysis report we did on CyberMonday eCommerce sales in Argentina.
Excited! And being totally nervous, I thought I would get stuck and words wouldn’t come out just a few minutes before the interview started.
Once it started it felt really natural, and in the end I felt great with the outcome.
Public speaking experts or experienced radio hosts can give you really valuable advice, but sometimes they forget about their first time and how they felt.
I’ll share with you some tips that helped me as a first timer, before going live:
-
Think of WHAT you want to say and WHY. This might sound obvious but do take the time to think what you are going to convey.
-
Find ways of expressing your message and craft your sentences so they are understandable and relatable to your audience. Doing this process by first speaking out loud, and then writing it down worked pretty good for me. If I would have done o it the other way, I would have used a totally different vocabulary that woudn’t feel natural.
-
Rehearse a few times. Make sure to stress-out-the-key-phrases-in-a-sentence you don’t want to forget saying.
-
Have your notes ready. Although you’ll probably be speaking naturally, it’s good to know you can stick to you notes if you get paralysed for a second.
-
Sometimes you can get the questions before the interview happens, just ask the host or producer. In my case, the host was known to be a an improviser, so I prepared a list of questions & answers I was probably going to be asked about.
Above all, have fun!
And don’t criticise yourself. There is a long road to become a good public speaker, but there is ALWAYS a first step to take!
Get more stories and insights like these in your inbox.