Interview Tips Part 2

Avoiding the common 'in my book' trap

Here's an example of what we're talking about. How many times have you heard an author interview on a radio talk show where the guest continuously answers questions with the preface, 'well, in my book I talk about?' How many times have you said that phrase during your own interviews? It's so common it's almost a cliche. but the problem is it's a disaster.

George Merlis, author of How to Make the Most of Every Media Appearance, sums up perfectly what happens when listeners hear the phrase.

"Just yesterday, I heard an interview on NPR that I joined in progress and left in progress. It was with an author who had just written something I think was titled 'My Book,' because that's the only way he referred to it," he says. "I found the interview quite intereseting and so interested in the book. I had to go online to www.npr.org to find out the name of the book. For every one of us who made the effort, how many hundreds of others just shrugged their shoulders and walked away?"

[Download the rest of Sourcebooks' Interview Tips Part 2]