I’ve performed and edited more interviews in the last two years that I can remember; I’d guess more than 300. During that time, I’ve coached and trained people and given presentations on interview skills. I’ve come to realize that people also need coaching on being a great interview guest. Here are my suggestions:

BE ENERGETIC AND DYNAMIC

If you use a monotoned voice or lack energy and inflection during your interview, the listener will tune you out. Your voice is a powerful tool; use it well.

BE CONCISE AND ON TOPIC

I’ve edited a few interviews in the last few weeks in which the guest carried on for so long after a single question (at least five minutes in all cases), and lacked energy (see the point above), that I actually forgot what the question was. The nice thing is that this makes the editing decision easy — lose the question and answer.

GIVE THE LISTENER SOMETHING TO REMEMBER

It’s sad to say that most of us have grown to expect great speakers who can talk in sound bytes. Having said that, little packages of information are great because your audience will remember them. Frame your ideas in a quotable way.

HAVE STORIES TO TELL

Having good responses for each question is important. It helps a lot if you are able to support your responses with entertaining and interesting stories where possible.

BE RELAXED

This is a lot easier said than done for many people. If you can focus on the interaction between yourself and the interviewer, and think of the interviewer as a curious friend, it will help a lot. Talk “with your host” not “at the microphone”.

Do you have any stories about being an interview guest?