Prep. Prep. Prep. You need to do this hands down. Especially say when you are talking about a very racy book and cannot say sex, S&M and whatever else you really can’t talk about on a morning show or even Howard Stern for that matter. Plan ahead. Even if you give a producer talking points, it does not mean they are going to go AWOL on live television. Believe me, I actually dragged a morning show host out of a model home bathroom at one point. I am not kidding here. (Plus I was pregnant at the time and refused to doo an interview from a model home bathtub). Luckily the other host decided to interview my stomach – not kidding here whatsoever. My point? Stay calm, cool and collected and be prepared for anything.
Say my name, say my name. Here is the deal. You can never count on having a screen shot of your website or having it displayed for that matter. You can also not count of having your spot not cancelled – it is called “breaking news”. Spots get bumped all of the time and that is just what happens. My point is forget your name, forget your company name, but at the very least remember your website. Even if you have to say I work for www.xyzc/ompany.com or here is where you need to buy my product/book/etc. It’s key. Forget everything else.
Watch the show first. If you are going to do any type of promo, watch/listen to the show first. A. you will be better prepared and B. you will know what you are in for. Hands down. It’s called doing your homework. The more you have an idea when it comes to format the more you can expect what is going to happen. This is especially important if you have “deer in headlight syndrome” when you have 5 cameras on you. Not joking with you here. Been there and it is not cool when your corporate boss calls you to say that the whole flipping company is watching your television spot. That was a fun one for me.
