Imagine you are a financial services director of a big-name brand.
You are on a live radio programme, and you’ve just been played lengthy interviews of two of your disgruntled customers talking about their application for a new credit card being rejected.
The journalist turns to you and asks how you respond to those customer experiences.
How do you begin your answer? Do you get straight to your message? Or do you start by thanking the presenter?
Well, if you happened to be listening to Amir Goshtai, from John Lewis, when he appeared on You and Yours last week, you’ll know he chose the latter.
“Good afternoon, Peter - thank you for having me on,” he said.
On the same programme, there was an almost identical start to an interview from Michael Solomon Williams, from the Campaign for Better Transport,
He appeared to give his thoughts after a man had spoken about how a train trip from London to Barrow in Furness on the train would cost between £120 and £400 and had managed to make the journey for just £33 after flying via Dublin.
“Hi Peter, thank you so much for having me on the programme,” Mr Solomon Williams began when asked what he made of the trip.
These are not isolated incidents – they just happened to be on the radio when I was looking into spokespeople starting interviews with “thanks for having me”.
It is something we have explored before in our media training blog.
And we thought we would look at it again after a reader contacted us to say it was on the increase – something he says is “irritating me greatly”.
My guess is that he is not alone.
It is impossible to say whether beginning interviews like this is increasingly infectious without some form of statistical study.
But, anecdotally, there does seem to be a lot of “thanks for having me” on the airwaves, and it feels like it has increased since the lockdowns.
And, other variations of this unnecessary pleasantry, are sadly available. You may have heard “pleasure to be here”, “it’s great to be on”, and “good afternoon and good afternoon to your listeners.”
There’s also that one that goes a little further, something like “thanks for having me on and talking to you a bit about…”.
Liz Truss began her Today programme with Nick Robinson on Monday by saying, “it is great to be here”. An opening that was not only unnecessary but arguably insincere considering the torrid time regional radio presenters had given her a few days earlier.
One theory is that starting this way is another fad imported from America, where interviews can be a little more polite.
Wherever it comes from, the question for a media training blog to address is whether it really matters. Doesn’t it create a relaxed, conversational tone?
In broadcast media interviews, every second counts.
If you or your spokesperson are appearing on the radio, you could have as little as two minutes. And people tend to listen to the radio while doing something else, like driving or washing up.
So, not only does “thanks for having me” eat away precious seconds, but it causes audiences to zone out, particularly if those who have already appeared on the programme have started similarly.
We all have short attention spans. So, you must cut to the chase and grab attention from the start if people are going to listen to what you have to say.
And starting by thanking the journalist is not inspiring or exciting. You need to get to something meaningful straight away, not water down your message with pleasantries.
You will probably have a little more time if it is a television interview. But the way we watch TV has changed. If you are like me, you watch it while scrolling on your phone.
And if the person talking doesn’t grab your attention, the scrolling takes over.
But that’s not the only reason we tell our media training delegates not to start this way.
You may be grateful for the opportunity, especially if the interview is on a proactive subject. But you don’t need to tell those watching and listening that you feel lucky.
It can also create the impression among the audience that the interviewer is more important than you, yet you are the expert.
And there is an additional issue if the interview is on a challenging subject. Starting with “thanks for having me” when you’ve just been asked something difficult can create the impression you are trying to dodge the question.
Or that you are trying to disarm the journalist by being nice to them. A reporter isn’t going to ask easier questions just because you thanked them for letting you appear on the programme.
So, if we are advising you to avoid pleasantries, how should you start?
Would you appear rude if you don’t reply with a “good morning” or “good afternoon”?
I doubt any of the current working journalists who deliver our media training courses would take offence. It is more vital you have something interesting to say that moves the story forward.
Sometimes journalists will introduce a spokesperson with a “good morning” without going straight into a question. And in that instance, there is nothing wrong with replying similarly.
But often, the introduction and opening question will come together. Here, the best approach is to avoid the pleasantries and go straight to your answer.
If that feels uncomfortable or unnatural, restrict your pleasantry to “good morning” or “thank you” before getting straight to your message.
Thank you for having me on your reading list today.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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