Lessons Learned From My First TV interview
I was so excited. I just received a call asking if I could come to a the Spotlight NJ program to talk about my dance group and book. I had done several podcast interviews but never anything for television. I was on cloud nine and quickly accepted. I had one month to prepare for the taping.
After the euphoria wore off panic immediately set in. People were going to actually see me being interviewed. I was thrilled for the new exposure but at the same time I was nervous. What was I going to wear? Did I have enough time to lose 25 pounds? Did I have the right undergarments? Panic started to step in. I remembered with horror what happened to my idol Oprah Winfrey who wore the wrong bra to a taping and her nipples showed through her dress. People talked about that incidence and one viewer even sent her nipple pads. (Who knew they existed.)
I had the good fortune to attend the Publishing in Color writing conference in Madison NJ. (You can read all about that wonderful experience in my post, Why Writers Should Attend Writing Conferences) I met with Sophronia who is a true veteran when it comes to broadcast interviews. She had the best tips and was very reassuring. We spoke for a while about how I should prepare and what I should wear. She even went through a few outfits that would be flattering to me.
The interview went extremely well and I am so glad the Sophronia, my cousin A, and my BFF Denise Murray (check out her site niecyisms.com) helped me prepare. Niecy put together my talking points. My cousin put helped me pick out an outfit and Sophronia gave me lots of tips about clothing, make-up and what to say. (You can check out my interview below.
Sophronia Find your personal style, enhance your best features with makeup by either doing it yourself, Sophronia took a class or hire a make-up artist. My make-up artist Monaco helped me create my look.