ALEX'S TOP TIPS FOR RADIO INTERVIEWS

TIP 1: MAKE A LIST

It is different on radio because you can write out a list of points and have it in front of you. Use leaflets and articles and pick out your soundbites. Join them up with arrows all over for what could follow what, so if they leave a space and your mind goes blank you just move to the next point.

Whatever materials were given to the show will be the basis of the interview, or what you told the researcher on the phone before, so keep a list. They will introduce subjects or leave pauses for you to fill based on what they expect you to say, which is only what you've told them. They can't wait for anything else they don't know you know.

If they leave a pause and you have 20 minutes, keep talking. If you don't take the radio time, they will fill it up with rubbish or end you prematurely or give it to another speaker. Have more material than you'll actually us. What you don't use this time is in the bank for next time. No preparation is wasted.

TIP 2: STAY ON TARGET

If someone from the opposition team tries to draw you onto any other subject (hunting, vivisection, even honey), duck the question or nail it with a one-liner if you can, and with a smile. Then immediately return to what you're really there for.

TIP 3: PREPARE CONCISE SENTENCES OR CRASH AND BURN

Never use 100 words when 10 will do. Use your "Vegan Story" as the basis for a long interview. Write out each area and cut cut cut till it really works. Each paragraph of your interview can introduce some new info about veganism. Stephen's articles are loaded with great points you can make. Aim at knocking out all the myths: protein, calcium, iron etc. "When I was vegetarian I thought I needed milk for calcium but then I discovered that in fact ..."

TIP 4: BEGIN IT NOW

Don't wait till the day of the interview to prepare. You won't be able to think straight if you're nervous. Write a list out as soon as you get off the phone to them. Anyone with a first interview coming up and not confident, or on a new topic, talk to me or anyone who's done them before.

TIP 5: AN ATTACK IS AN OPPORTUNITY

When they have a go, don't get defensive. They're just saying what the listeners may be thinking. When they say something disparaging about veganism, you can smile and say "Well that's what most people think, but in fact it's quite the opposite, vegans are super healthy because...." The vegans will love you, the veggies will get it, the meat-eaters probably won't change but they will stop giving vegans a hard time which makes it easier for more people to do it.

TIP 6: PLUG THE VEGAN SOCIETY

You can't blatantly advertise, but you can say in answer to a question: "Well at the vegansociety.com website there are info sheets on ...." Of course you should be introduced as a contact for the VS. Or you say "I'm the Oxford contact for the Vegan Society, which is based in St Leonard's on Sea, and we're here to help anyone who wants to go vegan or cater for vegans."

If they ask what we do eat: "The Vegan Society produces a book, the Animal-Free Shopper, which has almost 300 pages of ....... and there's a new edition just out."

Local radio is definitely the best place to start. It's normally very friendly.
Good luck all.

Alex, Vice-Chair of Vegan Society Council
P.O. Box 2284, W1A 5UH
Tel: 0207 336 6768
Mobile: 07956 169 214
alexbourke@aol.com