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Who doesn't want to be on TV? It is a chance to be famous, even if only for your 15 minutes, and it's a great chance to market your skills and that of your firm. But, if you're going to be interviewed for a TV news story (especially on national TV), there's a chance the interview will be conducted via speakerphone. So how do speakerphone interviews work, and how can lawyers prepare for them?
For a speakerphone interview, a cameraperson (and sometimes an audio technician) will record your on-camera responses, but the reporter won't be there in person. Instead, the reporter (or a producer) will ask you questions via speakerphone, so he or she doesn't even have to leave the office.
It sounds simple enough, but speakerphone interviews often lead to awkward results. Building on the five tips we shared in Part I of this series, here are five more tips specifically for speakerphone TV interviews:These tips come from personal experience: As a former TV news producer, I once interviewed a prominent law professor/legal analyst via speakerphone -- but my heart sank when I reviewed the footage. Wandering eyes, a strange sitting position, and inappropriate B-roll (of the lawyer playing with his kids -- something that did not fit in with the serious subject matter of the story) meant the footage was unusable. I had to call the professor to apologize and explain why he wouldn't be on TV after all.
Don't let that happen to you. While you can't control everything in a speakerphone TV interview, a bit of preparation can really pay off.
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