I’m really, really bad at interviews and public speaking. I get the shakes, my voice quivers, I flush, I get teary-eyed. Stupid, I know, but that’s the way it is. I’ve tried all kinds of things: meditation, alcohol, photos of a loved one by my side, imagining the audience naked, Toastmasters, everything short of hypnosis.
Public speaking, however, is important to the budding writer.
Knowing this, I am in the process of creating a list of 30 or so interview questions that I can post on my website. That way, I’ll have ‘faux interviews’ with media sources. I’ll provide a link for them to access and they can use quotes from this for their articles. Limits the amount of live interviews.
TV and radio and in person, I’m stuck. I think I can take these questions with me and ‘share’ my answers when asked questions. I’ll just need to get the interviewer to stick with what’s already written, not throw anything new at me.
Wendy L. Koenig 