I did an interview with British book industry news website The Bookseller a couple of weeks ago. Phone-based interviews are interesting and sometimes a bit disconcerting. I’m always scared, wondering whether I’m going to be quoted verbatim, or if the writer will be kind enough to cut out all the parts where I’m sounding less than polished. (I was on NPR’s Morning Edition about two years ago, and the editors slashed a 10 minute interview into a couple of short sentences. I was elated—I didn’t sound stupid on national radio.)
It’s interesting seeing how The Bookseller transcribed my interview, and how I seem to devolve from sounding serious and stilted (“gives us access to industry-specific consulting, support, and advice, which has helped us accelerate our growth plans”) to sloppy and colloquial (“we started having people using the site and discovering for themselves that it was pretty cool”). I need to even out those extremes.
I did a fun podcast interview with Paula B. from the The Writing Show, an radio-style interview-based program about writing and books. The hour-long program went online today, but I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet; though I’ve enjoyed listening to Paula’s other interviews, it’s strange listening to myself drone on and on. Do I really sound like that?
For anyone who can stand to listen to it — what can I be doing better?
[Now reading A People’s History of Science: Miners, Midwives and ‘Low Mechanicks’ by Clifford D. Conner]
Posted by Anirvan