Head over Heels 2014

Its 7.30am: not a normal time for me to be out on a Sunday morning. London is surprisingly busy. I can’t get a seat on the Victoria line train. There are suits and ties, tourists, shorts and hoodies, little dresses. No-one speaks. Birds chatter in the early morning, humans don’t. I pass a homeless man, blended into the building scenery, having a morning cigarette.

There is a receptionist at the studios, he lets me in the glass security gates and directs me to an empty room.

I call a number to chat to a nice man who checks the sound is working and then he tells me to wait for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to call. And silence. I’m surprisingly relaxed or maybe still asleep.

At 8.15am … no-one calls.

I’m slightly concerned there is a problem but am distracted by the temptation to press buttons.

Then a lady comes on the line, I’m not sure if I’m live on the radio and stutter. But, after initial greetings, she says that I’ll be speaking to the presenter in a minute and hangs up, leaving me connected to the radio. My adrenaline soars as I listen to the music.

When the presenter, Suzie Roberts says “Good morning”, I almost fail to speak. Luckily, Marie goes first and I’m interested in what she has to say. Listening to her, I relax. Then Suzie asks me question. I respond and all other sound cuts out. I can only hear my voice whilst sitting in an empty room. Surreal. It stops you babbling though, as you have to listen to what you are saying. The questions are good and easy to answer.  Then its goodbye and silence again. I’m a bit confused. Is it over? Seems to be and off I go without ever having mentioned that the run is called Head over Heels 2014 and how you can follow us. Doh!

You can hear the interview here, Marie’s first and my bit starts at 2.50 (a huge thank you to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for having us on the radio and being friendly): 

 Lessons Learned:

1. Don’t repeat the question because if they cut it you can sound stupid (I didn’t learn this from the radio, I learnt it from my friend in PR who I met up with the night before)
2. Also, I’d say don’t repeat the question because the presenter doesn’t have much time between songs so if you’re not concise you won’t get much info across.
3. Interviews are short, its not a chat show, make sure you get the key points in quick and notice when they give you an opportunity to do this.
4. Its surprisingly fun

All PR advice gratefully received

Have you had a radio interview? Any tips? Any funny mistakes?