Presenter advice
Jenni Murray
A doyenne of radio broadcasting, Jenni Murray is a regular presenter on
Radio 4's Woman's Hour and is no stranger to interviewing and
challenging people on their points of view.
Whether it's evasive politicians or impenetrable academics, Jenni has tackled
them all and here she offers her way through the obfuscation.
Best way to get your point of view across?
If you're going to get a view across you need to have prepared and be completely
across the topic so that you can discuss it without reference to notes. Try
to be anecdotal - human stories are what audiences latch on to - and avoid
jargon and statistics.
Any interviewing tips?
Listen to the questions and what other people say and engage with the point in
hand. Humour will get you past most difficulties as will warmth and charm.
Never say, 'well, there are three things I have to say about that'
as it's likely you'll be interrupted before you get to point three.
Have you ever encountered any difficult interviewees?
The most difficult people to interview are academics who fall back on jargon which
is incomprehensible to others and politicians who answer anything but the
question. For the former ask again and again what they mean until they tell
it as if to a child. For a politician, be well informed, persistent and look
for the weak points - then go for the jugular.
How would you approach a sensitive subject?
If the subject is sensitive use warmth, empathy and simple, straightforward questioning. Make sure you know everything about the story before beginning so as not to put your foot in it.
Some final words of advice?
Questions are there to elicit information on behalf of the audience. Think about
what you would want to know if you were sitting at home listening or watching
and then summon up the courage to ask those questions even if you feel unbelievably
cheeky whilst doing it.
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