On TV: Media Training Notes
On preparing for a live TV interview in studio in NYC
Tomorrow I fly to NYC to participate in a reading with Pulitzer Prize-winner Mosab Abu Toha and Windham Campbell Prize-winner Alexis Pauline Gumbs at The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Shortlist Reading & Panel. On Saturday, I will do a live in-studio interview with a national TV network. I love public speaking and, over the years, have taken several media training courses. At one point in my freelance career, I even began to train as an on-camera TV broadcaster with a network that planned to open a bureau in Mexico City. Here is some of the most helpful advice I’ve received in funded media trainings (often with individuals who charge clients anywhere from $500-$1500 an hour).
Recipe: keep the same narrative arc, but shrink it down
· I can’t give you all the details. I will say X
· Be judicious and leave some details on the cutting room floor
· Add something the interviewer isn’t expecting
· Have 4-5 stories of 45 secs prepared
2 Major rules
Tell the great stories
Don’t waste time
3 Things Audiences Love
1. A good story
2. What did my part of the story feel like?
3. My challenge: how to tell a story in 45 seconds
As one speechwriter who worked with Michell Obama reminded me, lead with curiosity!
Alice
PERSONAL NEWS AND EVENTS
I am now the Journalist-in-Residence at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University.
Sept. 19: I will be reading with Pulitzer Prize-winner Mosab Abu Toha and Windham Campbell Prize-winner Alexis Pauline Gumbs at The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Shortlist Reading & Panel. The event is free and open to the public. You can register HERE.
Sept. 20: Live national TV interview in NYC
On September 23 at 11 a.m. EST, Alicia Kennedy will host an event via Zoom to celebrate the paperback release of my book, "Life and Death of the American Worker." I will be in conversation with journalist Melissa Montalvo, who also covers issues related to the meatpacking industry. You can register HERE.
You can pre-order the paperback of LIFE AND DEATH OF THE AMERICAN WORKER: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company HERE.
"The workers who feed us are some of America's poorest and most exploited workers. Alice Driver tells their stories with enormous compassion and grace. This is a fearless, wonderful book." - Eric Schlosser, bestselling author of Fast Food Nation