Seven steps for a great TV Interview

Many of us fear going on TV to promote our business.

In case we make a mess of it.

But what are the benefits of grasping the thistle?

And how do we pull off a great TV interview?

Well Nisha Katona did just that this week.

The founder of Mowgli Street Food restaurants produced a first-class TV interview.

I watched her on BBC Breakfast News present the most interesting item of the morning.

Today, her business is better known as a result of it.

Here are the seven steps she took to success.

Step 1: tell a good story

Nisha explained she’d been a barrister for 20 years.

And she loved her job.

But she had a burning desire to open her own restaurant.

Selling food, she loved and knew well.

Rather than throw in the towel with her day job, she worked hard around it.

“This thing kept me awake,”

she told Steph McGovern.

“Can I bring my family’s food to the market?”

She told us she’d work hard in court – then serve tables in the evening.

“All my savings – the roof over my head – I put into building this restaurant.

I’d sit outside restaurants studying them at lunchtime , like a teenager doing a GCSE on business studies.

That’s how I behaved.”

All the studies paid off.  She got her research right.

Step 2: speak with passion and enthusiasm

I sat captivated in front of the TV – her enthusiasm leaping out of it.

“Once you have a passion for something…

And you think there might be a business idea in it…

It doesn’t let you sleep.

It just keeps poking you”.

And it reminded me of how I felt setting up our media training business 30 years ago.

Her passion and enthusiasm were evoking vivid memories.

Step 3: explain what it takes to succeed

Nisha Katona found progress less than straightforward.

She was turned down for the prime site she desired in Liverpool.

Instead, she had to settle for an up-and-coming street in the city.

It was more Bohemian and perfectly matched the style of restaurant.

Despite being a barrister, banks turned down her requests for loans.

So, she found the money herself.

“I just had to work harder,”

she told us.

Step 4: use positive body language

Some look scared when appearing on television.

Many look as if they’d rather be anywhere else.

Nisha may have been nervous – but she kept that feeling to herself.

She was smiling.

Her eye contact with the presenter was tremendous.

She looked comfortable sitting upright.

She used her hands to paint pictures.

Step 5: be relentlessly positive

“You have to have a passion and a belief that your product fills a hole in the market.

It’s got be unique and unusual.

Consumers need good value for money.

It has to be healthy – really healthy.

And it has to be at a good price point”

All good advice – and every word positive.

Step 6: explain your vulnerabilities

“Many would say failure forms 99% of success.

Failure in business is one of the most pruning things that can happen to you.

It gives you insight and it gives you humility.”

The interviewer asked where she had failed.

‘Well I haven’t yet – but I will,”

came the quick reply.

But it’s how you deal with the setback that defines how you next succeed, she explained.

Step 7: leave the audience wanting more

Four minutes passed and I felt the interview was far too short.

After weeks of reporting depressing stalemate over Brexit on Breakfast News, this was a breath of fresh air.

Even the interviewer remarked:

“Totally fascinating.

“I wish I could carry on talking to you”.

That’s how you should leave the audience feeling.

Like a movie you want to keep on going – rather than rolling the credits.

Indeed, it was a TV interview masterclass.

But how easy is it to perform well on TV?

What do you need to do to convince an audience?

How do you tell your story through the media?

First, you must want to.

Second, be proactive in contacting newspapers, radio and TV.

Publicise your success online.

And third, once you have the attention of the media or social media, follow the same steps as Nisha Katona.

Whether running courses at our Glasgow studios.

Or across the world on our travels.

We come across people every day – nervous of taking the opportunity.

Our mission is to leave them clear and confident on how to take that opportunity.

And expand their horizons.

Just as Nisha’s done now with seven restaurants to her name.

Bill McFarlan is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Pink Elephant Communications in Glasgow.

You can read his full profile here.

Photo credits Mogwli Restuarants and Pexels.