Interview guidance and advice Interview guidance and advice

We run regular media training courses so please let us know if you would like to be trained. We also run courses for the Centre for Staff Development on how to get your research into the media.

We are always happy to advise colleagues who are contacted by the media. We have an ISDN radio studio which means colleagues can be interviewed by radio stations all over the world without leaving the campus.

Contact communications@uea.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1603 593496. 

Interview tips and guidance

In the meantime, here are some interview tips:

  • Make sure you know who will be interviewing you and which media outlet they represent

  • If possible, find out the general line of questioning in advance 

  • Prepare two or three main points and make them early

  • Think of the question you would hate to be asked, and prepare a suitable answer 

  • Avoid complicated language and jargon 

  • Use examples and analogies to illustrate what you are saying

  • Never go ‘off-the-record’. Make it clear if you are giving information for background only but expect everything you say to be quoted

  • Be careful not to sound negative or defensive. Keep positive and never say ‘no comment’

  • Inform the UEA Communications Office before going ahead with the interview. Call Laura Potts (x3007) or Lisa Horton (x2764) for advice and assistance or to request media training.

 Tips for broadcast interviews

  • Find out if the interview will be live or pre-recorded

  • Find out how long it is likely to take

  • If a radio station requests an ISDN line, call the Communications team on x3496. We have an ISDN studio in the Registry

  • If the interview is live, always ask what the first question will be

  • Find out if anyone else is being interviewed for the same package

  • If possible, find out when the recording will be aired

  • Speak slowly and clearly and make each answer self-contained

  • For TV, check your appearance in a mirror and accept make-up if it is offered. Check the location is suitable. Don’t fidget. Look at the interviewer, not the camera

  • For a ‘down the line’ interview in a remote TV studio, look straight at the camera. Try not to move your eyes from it except downwards if necessary

  • Contact the UEA Communications Office for advice and assistance or to request media training. Call Cat Bartman (x3007) or Lisa Horton (x2764) for advice and assistance or to request media training.