May 28, 2025 • 33 mins
Authors: Crafting Your Media Presence, Interview Tips and Advice
In this episode of 'All Things Book Marketing,' host Corinne Moulder, Smith Publicity's Vice President of Business Development, welcomes back Emmy award-winning television producer, bestselling author, and media training expert Paula Rizzo.
Paula shares her journey from TV production to becoming a media trainer, emphasizing the importance of preparation, content creation, and confidence for authors and experts. She discusses common misconceptions about media training, the value of storytelling, the essentials of video creation, and effective strategies to handle interviews.
Listeners will gain insights on becoming media-ready, leveraging their book as an extension of their brand, and preparing for media appearances. Paula also introduces her course, 'Media Ready Author,' aimed at helping authors successfully navigate the media landscape.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:22 Paula Rizzo's Background and Journey
02:18 The Importance of Media Training
04:53 Becoming Your Own Producer
07:08 Creating and Leveraging Content
11:35 Tips for Effective Video Content
16:05 Preparing for Media Appearances
17:29 Television Interview Preparation
18:18 The Power of Storytelling in Podcasts
20:39 Essential Equipment for Podcasts
23:16 Handling Controversial Questions
28:32 Long-Term Media Strategy for Authors
31:09 Media Ready Author Course Overview
For more insights about book publicity and book marketing, visit Smith Publicity and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming podcast episodes.
In this episode of 'All Things Book Marketing,' host Corinne Moulder, Smith Publicity's Vice President of Business Development, welcomes back Emmy award-winning television producer, bestselling author, and media training expert Paula Rizzo.
Paula shares her journey from TV production to becoming a media trainer, emphasizing the importance of preparation, content creation, and confidence for authors and experts. She discusses common misconceptions about media training, the value of storytelling, the essentials of video creation, and effective strategies to handle interviews.
Listeners will gain insights on becoming media-ready, leveraging their book as an extension of their brand, and preparing for media appearances. Paula also introduces her course, 'Media Ready Author,' aimed at helping authors successfully navigate the media landscape.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:22 Paula Rizzo's Background and Journey
02:18 The Importance of Media Training
04:53 Becoming Your Own Producer
07:08 Creating and Leveraging Content
11:35 Tips for Effective Video Content
16:05 Preparing for Media Appearances
17:29 Television Interview Preparation
18:18 The Power of Storytelling in Podcasts
20:39 Essential Equipment for Podcasts
23:16 Handling Controversial Questions
28:32 Long-Term Media Strategy for Authors
31:09 Media Ready Author Course Overview
For more insights about book publicity and book marketing, visit Smith Publicity and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming podcast episodes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Smith Publicity All Things Book Marketing podcast,
offering tips, insights, and advice from the best in the
publishing industry.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hi everyone, thank you for joining us today on All
Things Book Marketing. We're real to invite Paula Rizzo back
to our podcast today. She was interviewed a few years ago,
but now it's my turn to sit in the seat
and chat with her today. Paula is an Emmy award
winning television producer, a best selling author of Listful Thinking
(00:31):
and Listful Living, media training coach, speaker, LinkedIn Learning instructor,
and host of the livestream show Inside Scoop. She's also
the creator of the popular online training guide The Media
Ready Author. She writes a regular column for Writers Digest
is an on air contributor to wpix W Picks eleven
(00:53):
in New York City. Grab Paula's free guide and her
ten media questions every author needs to Know at pauloizo
dot com slash ten Q.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Faula, thank you so much for joining today.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I'm so happy to be back. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yes, it's been a little while, but I know it's
only gotten.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Crazier out there, so we're happy to have you on today,
but Paula would love to have you introduce a little
bit of your own story and your own inspiration. Having
gone from production and now supporting so many on the
front side of the camera, tell us a little bit
about your journey.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, my background is as a television producer in New
York City for close to two decades. So I worked
in local and national news and I was the one
on the receiving end of all of those pitches, some
from Smith pr through the years, and you know, so
I was the gatekeeper. I was able to say which
experts got on and which did not. And I, you know,
I loved that. It was very fun. I enjoyed that
(01:52):
work very much. But then I also wanted to be
an author, and so I had my first book come
out while I was still working in television. Thinking came out,
and it was very exciting and you know interesting, and
I thought to myself, you know, even before that, I
started getting media for myself as a productivity expert, as
a list making expert. So I started to lay that
(02:13):
groundwork on my own and come up almost like with
a formula for how other authors could do it. And
you know, I decided that I wanted to do my
own thing, and media training was natural because for me
as a producer, it always broke my heart when I
couldn't book every author or every expert because they just
(02:33):
weren't ready and I didn't have the time as a
producer to coach them. I didn't have time to tell
them why or what they needed to do. I just
needed to do my job, fill that segment and move on.
And now as a media trainer, I'm able to help
people get their messages out there in a better and
bigger way where they may have you know, missed out
on some of those opportunities had they not been ready
for them.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, I can imagine you had to look internally too,
just to put yourself out there as an expert source
as well.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But it's interesting because I think and we.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Work with so many authors and experts here who are
experts at their craft and you know, need to learn
the ropes in other areas tell us about some of
the misconceptions of media training, or on the flip side,
what it really does serve in terms of the value
it brings to to the clients you're working with.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Especially if people are used to speaking in a professional
environment or their professional speakers. They think I'll be great,
It's fine, I talk about this stuff all the time,
No big deal, Let me just get up there and riff. No,
the media does not want you to riff. You know,
especially in television, you have a very short window to
get your message across. So someone who might be used
to doing keynotes speeches that are an hour long, can
(03:47):
you say that same thing in thirty seconds in fifteen seconds, right,
and have something really succinct ready to go. Not everyone
can do that because they weren't trained to do it.
Your mind doesn't think that way. A lot of times
it happens with authors as well. Well, we're used to writing.
We want to write down what we're going to say,
or you have the book speak for itself. Doesn't work
(04:08):
the same way depending on the medium, right, So if
you're talking about television, you don't speak the same way
that you write, so you have to practice. Even that
skill is a little bit different. So there are things
that you do need to do in practice. You don't
want to have that happen the first time you're on
talking about your book. And the other thing I'll say too,
(04:28):
is that even if you are an expert in your field.
You haven't gone out talking about this book in this way,
so it is a little bit different. There should be
some prep that you do. I've media trained people who've
been on television for years, but they never talked about
this particular new book, and so they wanted to make
sure that they're really doing a great job with it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's so true about having the confidence right to start
to talk about a.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
New product is essentially what the book is. So I
love that perspective there. Through inside Scoop and some of your.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Their educational resources, you talked about media guests being their
own producer. Can you offer some insight to what that
mindset means and how individuals can really harness it when
going into a new media cycle.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
It's so exciting right now because you could do your
own live show. You know, years ago you couldn't do that.
That was meant only for a television studio. You can
now take your phone and be live wherever you are,
and so you really need to be practicing and putting
information out into the world, whether that be through video,
which I would like for you to do video everyone,
(05:36):
but you know, even a blog or a newsletter or whatever.
It is just to be producing your own content, because
that is what then will be worthy of media. Sometimes
you need to get that information out on your own.
A lot of times people think, oh, I'll wait, I'll
wait until the book comes out, or I'll wait until
somebody calls me. It's like no, no, no, this media
(05:57):
cycle is way too fast. You need to be out there,
put your stuff out into the world, and then you
can go and pitch that idea and say, hey, look
I've already written about it, and look all these people
are interested in it or whatever it is. I do
that all the time. I've had my blog on list
making for over ten years, and I do a lot
of television segments. And where do my pitches come from?
All the content that I've shared through the years. So
(06:20):
I look back and I say, Okay, what really got traction?
Or what have I not spoken about in a while,
or what can I put a new twist or spin on?
And it comes back to all the content that I've
produced myself. So you really need to be your own
producer first and then be able to give to the
media in that way.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I love that perspective, and I can vouch I have
no media professional here but even just prepping for our
conversation today, how helpful it was to go back into
your past content, to look through your YouTube videos, to
get a taste of your LinkedIn blog, and really pull
our questions together based on what I saw you're already
(06:58):
talking about. So that is a living example right now
of how that can benefit. Jumping ahead a little bit
because it is truly the thought leader that we are
often working with, the individual whose book is an extension
of their brand. And you're starting to touch here on
video assets. What are some of the ways that thought
(07:19):
leaders can really prepare to leverage their book and position
themselves as the go to expert. Yeah, you yourself have
quite a few assets and channels to your brand, So
what are things that you would recommend thought leaders are
starting to think about adapting before their book launches.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
First, think about the questions that you're always asked. What
are people always coming to you for? Start making short
videos about those, one question at a time, you know,
or even a blog post, and you can write more
in the blog post and then do a quick little
video that just gives one tip or one little idea.
That way, you know you're already using what you know
and a lot of times people say, oh, I don't
(07:59):
know how to create content. I don't know what to
talk about. I'm not sure what's interesting. People tell you
what's interesting, right, It's the thing that they come to
for the questions you keep hearing over and over again.
That's how you slowly start to build that. And you know,
sometimes I didn't invent lists. I just talk about them
more than everybody else. You know, my two books are
about that. I've done media for years. Even in between
(08:20):
those books coming out and years before I even had
a book, I was talking about it. So you need
to be the person who people think about that topic,
you know, really comes top of mind because you're always
talking about it. You're the one who's out there. You're
the one who's really you know, pushing that idea. But
it really comes back to what do people ask you about?
How are you different? How do you define yourself in
(08:43):
a different way? Because there is a lot of noise
out there and there's a lot of content for people
to consume.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, it's true, Paula.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
With that in mind and just considering all the ways
that individuals can connect and grow their network, what are
some tools or have that you feel help thought leaders
stay consistent while also bringing a little bit of the
unique twist that individuals are looking for on the other
side of the certain platforms.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Well, when I first started my own blog, I did
it as like a side project, fun little thing, and
I thought, oh, I'm not going to do it in
the way that I produce content, you know, for a living,
because that feels so rigid. And then guess what happened.
I didn't do anything. I had no structure, I had
no calendar, I had no accountability, and I did nothing.
And so I said, Okay, I have to put a
little bit of a structure around this. So I came
(09:32):
up with fifty blog post ideas. I wrote them all out,
and then I was like, okay, how often am I
going to send these out?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Once a week whatever it was, And I plodded them
out and then I just started writing them from there
and I went through and I had them so that
I knew, here's my plan. Without a plan, you'll you'll
just think, oh, whenever i'm inspired, I'll just write something,
or I'll do a quick video that comes with time.
That comes after you've been doing this for quite a
while and you're in a rhythm of producing something that
(10:02):
then you'll feel like, oh, I just heard something in
the news I could talk about that. So you need
to almost like train yourself to be producing content sort
of regularly, and it doesn't have to be once a week.
But if you're going to have a book, you want
to have a following, right, your platform matters, So you
want people who want to hear from you, not only
when you have a book to sell, but when you
have things that you can give them for free, you know,
(10:24):
because you want to give as much as you possibly
can so that when the time comes and the book
is out or you have an online class or whatever
it is, they say, well, the free stuff is so great,
I would love to see what I can you know,
purchase and go further.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Right, And that does really lead into a lot of
the work that you do is beyond the camera and
beyond media.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I should say beyond media.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
It is about just the content you can build yourself,
and that's often not just launching the book, but supporting,
attracting clients and creating new partnerships. So I do think
that's really important. Perspective to take away is the consistency.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
And I love the fifty.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Blog posts is quite aggressive, I think to build that
list out, but I imagine it really gave you some of
your own personal accountability.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
It was the best advice. I got that advice from
another writer, and she's said because I was like, oh,
I think I want to write a book about lists
and productivity, and she's like, write fifty blog posts first.
See if you're still interested in the topic. Do you
still have enough to say? Are you still interested? Do
people care?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Is this?
Speaker 4 (11:27):
And look, you know here I am ten plus years
later still doing it. So you know, I obviously continue
to have ideas that come up with things, but sometimes
that first jump start, that kickstart that you need to
get yourself going, almost like those little training wheels are on.
You're like, okay, okay, let's do this, let's see and
then go from there.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So I know, for me personally, I'm not very active
with creating video. It feels intimidating, but we hear it
all the time. Content is king, and now even more so,
video is king. So Paula, at a very big sick level,
what makes a good.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Video something that will catch attention fast and does not
go on and on?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I need to get in and get out, tell me
what I need to know and move on. Right, people
are so strapped for time, and you know, we don't
have a long a long attention span anymore at all.
We never did and now it's even shorter. So you
really need to get to the point. And also, something
that is produced, it doesn't have to be like professionally
produced and beautiful and whatever, but it does need to
(12:28):
be professional, right, So you should have you know, good lighting,
good sound, you know, all those things should be taken
into consideration. And a lot of times that's what stops people.
They think, Oh, I don't have the right equipment. Oh
I don't have you know, somebody to edit this for me.
Oh you know, and it doesn't matter, especially in the
very beginning. Just start doing it. You know, when you
look to other people's content, their early videos are never great.
(12:49):
You know, you just need to start doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So give yourself pervision to be human totally, especially early on.
What are some of the common mistakes that you fine
experts or authors are making when recording or creating videos.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
So they think that they're going to do it in
one take, and that does not happen because you know,
I've worked in television news for a long time. Look,
these are professionals who are all day, every day, they're
making videos, and sometimes they can't do it in one take, right.
Sometimes it takes several takes. You don't see that because
that's all taped and then edited, and you know, you
don't know that it took five takes because somebody kept
(13:25):
walking behind them in the shod or whatever it was.
You know, you don't get to see that. You see
the perfectly polished piece, which is what everyone is presenting
for the most part in social media. You know, you
don't know how long it took. So when I media
train people, I say, listen, these videos that we produce
here because I always give video homework, are for us.
You don't have to post these anywhere. It's just for us.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
If you want to and they come out you know
good enough and you want to do it, go for it.
But it's just for us to sort of just get
that out, be able to start doing it and look
at yourself on camera. People don't want to see themselves
on camera, right, so we have to look at it.
We have to look at it again and see what
went well and what didn't go well. And so it's
a lot of repetition, but it's also it's practice. You
(14:10):
have to do it, and you have to say, Okay,
you know what I did that video, I'm not going
to use it and that's okay. I'm going to move
on and I'm going to do something else tomorrow or
whatever it is. So I think, you know, our our
real desire to produce something that's perfect and polished sometimes
holds us back.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I think that makes so much sense, and I do
agree it is tough to see yourself, but you do
have to understand everyone starts from from, you know, somewhere
at a certain.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Point, definitely, and that's how you learn tendencies too. You know,
are there words that you use to often? Are there
words that maybe you shouldn't be saying because you fumbled
over it twice, let's change the word. These are things
you won't know unless you actually do it right right.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
How does body language play into of course I know
it does, but tell us a little bit at any
to sort of takeaways that you have for body language
on video.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
You want to be mindful of gestures. I myself am
you know, talk with my hands, and so I have
to remind myself put the hands down, you know, because
sometimes it can be a distraction. But you have to
be mindful of that because you know, especially if you're
producing video remotely, that can even moving your hands can shake,
your desks can move, your camera can make things look
(15:26):
not great. So you want to be mindful of all
of those things, and you want to be comfortable. A
lot of times people are stiff in their videos because
they're trying to be perfect. But I want you to
feel comfortable. That comes from practice and time. But truly
it comes down to putting both feet on the floor,
being engaged with the camera. So like you know, your
(15:47):
posture is a bit pushed forward, so you're towards the camera.
I don't want you laying back. I don't want you
too comfortable. So there is a balance in between being
too stiff and you know, sitting on your hands versus
somebody who's flan on lair, arms everywhere. You need a
happy medium in the middle.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yeah, yeah, that makes so much sense.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And for television, you said it yourself, you maybe have
three to five minutes.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Five minutes would be.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Pretty lot, right, Yeah, So when you're prepping for TV appearance,
do you have any quick go tos that you do
recommend to make the most of that short window of time.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So you want to come up with those bullet points,
those talking points of what you want to get across.
So it almost doesn't even matter what questions they ask you,
because you want to make sure that these are the
points that you make a lot of times people will
come to me after they've done some media and they say, oh,
you know that interview didn't go well. They didn't ask
me good questions, And I say, you didn't have good answers,
(16:45):
because you should have excellent answers ready to go no
matter what the question is. Now, you don't want to
ignore the question and not answer it, but there are
ways for you to be able to get to the
point and get to the things that you want to
make sure to come across. So you make that list
and then you start practicing and you say, okay, can
I speak in sound bites? Can I take what is
the headline? So the way that I teach it is
(17:06):
called the accordion method, and so I have a short,
a medium, and a long answer to any question that
I'm asked, and so you can open and close the
accordion depending on how much time you have. So if
it's a television interview, it's the short answer, it's that
headline point that you want to get across as soon
as possible because you might not have time for more.
So you want to make sure that you give something.
(17:27):
If it's a podcast interview, you have a little bit
more time, you can give an example, you can you know,
have a little bit of back and forth on it. So,
but you want to be prepared for each of those
things that way. And even when I do television interviews,
I mean I've done them quite a lot for my
own books, and I always practice beforehand multiple times exactly
(17:47):
where I'm going to be in the ad dress, rehearsal
the outfit that I'm wearing, with the lighting exactly the
way that it is. I get on and I talk
directly to the camera and I say, Okay, if they
ask me this question, here's how I'm going to answer.
And then so I hear myself over and over again.
I'll do it probably three or four times. And I
do this a lot, but it's just to be able
to practice, you have to do it right.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I think we're sensing a theme here.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, in a good way, but you'll have maybe three
minutes five minutes with a TV interview on the complete
opposite side our podcast. Yes, you started to mention, I
think some more of the nuances and the opportunity to
bring in more diverse themes and ideas. What role does
(18:28):
storytelling play in podcast and being a podcast interviewe but
also just in general as you're kind of shaping your brand.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
It's what people remember. They remember the stories, right, they
want you want them to fall in love with you,
and then they'll buy anything that you have to sell.
So that's one way to pull people in is to
tell stories. To have people, you have to be a
little bit vulnerable sometimes, you know, be able to share
things that maybe didn't go right, and this is why
you put this book together, so that you could help
people and they were struggling in a similar way than you.
(18:59):
Whatever it is, that is what people will cling to
and remember, and you do have more time during the
podcast to be able to tell that story. So you
should have a short version if it's a TV thing
or you know, people often say why did you write
this book? Or you know, why did you name it that?
Or whatever it is. It's like, oh gosh, you need
to have a short answer and then if they want
to know more, you have the full the full answer
(19:19):
ready to go as well. So it's important to practice that.
But I love podcasts, especially because when you're when you're
first starting to talk about a new project or a
new book, it's interesting sometimes to hear how the interviewer
interprets what you're saying. And so I've done that with
my When my second book, Listsfule Living came out, I
(19:39):
did a bunch of podcast interviews and I, you know,
explained something someway and the woman said, oh, you mean
it's like this whatever. I even forget what the example was,
and I was like, yes, that's a way better way
to explain it. I'm definitely going to do that next time.
So you know, it's almost like a workshop because you
have time to do that.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Paula, I love that you just brought that up.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You had mentioned that, I think in one of our
earlier conversations, and it stuck with me in a big
way to hear you know, you share it that way.
But I love the idea of continuing to learn even
more about your own message, and that's going to be
the way that people will continue creating the conversation beyond
(20:22):
the publication data as well.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
And listening, listening to hear what resonated. Sometimes you think, oh,
people love this, it's going to be such a good
and no one cares, and then you're like, oh, I
shared this one story and everybody they keep asking me
about it. So sometimes you need to work it out.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah, and also just more opportunity to bleed that into
other content, right because it's been off of a blog
post or another asset that you're leaning into. Definitely, are
there any Are there any pieces of equipment that you
would say are non negotiable. I do think some of
our clients can get hung up on what they need
(20:57):
to have for podcasts, and then others are not very
cognizant of their background.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So do you have ideas of like your quick equipment
tactics for it?
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Totally, so the more professional that it is, you know, obviously,
if you're doing television, they'll know, Okay, you have a
great setup. We can come to you at any time.
So you just want to be ready. That's for me,
you know, That's why I created Media Ready authors like
I want to make sure that if media called you tomorrow,
you could say yes, because you have your setup, you
feel confident with it, you're not fumbling around. But you
(21:28):
don't need to buy a whole bunch of you know,
studio lights and all of this is fancy camera. You
definitely don't need those things. I'd say, if you're going
to do podcasts, I would invest in a microphone because
that sound is so important to the quality of your brand.
You know, there was an article that came out I
(21:49):
think it was Yale University did a study and it
was actually for people who were interviewing for jobs and
the difference between someone who had a microphone or a
better setup for their awe audio and sounded better versus
someone who didn't. The person who had the better audio
got the jobs more often than not because they came
across as more you know, polished, presentable, professional. And also
(22:12):
it's easier to hear you, it's easier to listen. You
want to listen. Everyone's heard that podcast where the interviewee
doesn't have great audio and you're like, you know what,
I don't even know if I can listen to this
whole thing. So at the very least, a microphone for sure.
When your camera, you know, every laptop comes with a
camera now and they're usually fine. You know, if you're
(22:33):
going to up level, I would do an external camera
because I do find that the quality is a little
bit better, So you could do that. Add that on.
As far as lighting goes, you know, use natural light.
That's the best light source ever. So if you have
a window, use it in front of you so that
it's you know, giving you that great lighting. I did
that for years. I had no lights. I just had
(22:55):
a big window and I used it as much as
I could. If it was nighttime, I brought in some
lamps and I use that and it looked just as good.
You know, there's a lot that you can do without
spending too much.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, and it does sound to me going back to
some of the earlier points you made. It's also the
confidence is what's going to help you deliver and really
really land the video. So while we have you here today, Paul,
I can't let you go without asking just a few
questions around interview preparation. I think, especially in today's polarized
(23:26):
media environment, how do you advise clients handle controversial or
challenging questions during interviews, especially knowing folks you're not likely
to get the list of questions.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Ah, it's just not the way it.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Works, not typical. Yeah, you want to be prepared for everything,
so you need to, again in the vein of be
your own producer, think about what are the questions that
maybe they might ask, what are the things that they
might come at you with that maybe you don't want
to answer, and let's practice those. Let's go through them
and think about what would you say if they asked
you this, what would they what would you say if
they asked you that. So there's part of that which
(24:02):
is preparation so that you're able to come off confident
and not seem like, oh gosh, you know, backing off
or you don't get caught by surprise. You really want
to practice that beforehand. But then a lot of this
is also improv I have to say. You know, that's
why it's important to do your own videos, to do
as many interviews as you can, because sometimes you never
know what's going to pop up, and you know, it
(24:23):
could be something where you're doing an interview with a
let's say a local television station and something happened right
before that. The let's just say, you know, there's there's
some kind of you know news story right before, and
it has something to do with your topic. Let's just
say it happens. You didn't prep for it. You had
no idea they were going to ask you that question.
It just so happened to be news of the day
(24:45):
and they come at you first question, ask you what
you thought of the last story. So you need to
make sure that you're prepared to jump in. And the
truth of the matter is, no one knows more than
you do about your topic. Truly. You don't need to
study what you know. Oh you already know it. It's
just how you come at those answers right when. I
(25:06):
want to make sure that you don't look like a
deer in headlights, that you feel confident when questions you're
not expecting come to you, and that comes from preparing
that make you know, I make all my clients make
a list of all the questions you don't want to answer,
and then we're going to answer them to make sure
that we know if this happens, this is how you're
going to approach it, so that you feel confident.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
That's so great, Paula.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
You know, being in the interview and hit with a question,
maybe even if they are prepared or sure it could
be something that comes their way. Do you have any
quick takeaways on how to keep your composure and kind
of face the question, yes, touching on it, but then
quickly steering it back.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
To definitely yes. So there is that pivot that needs
to happen. But this is where you you know, that
executive presence comes in handy, right, So we're talking about
thought leaders. These are people who are probably you know,
working with staff for years and people who ask questions
that you don't know the answer to or you don't
want to answer in front of everybody. And so you know,
to be able to have that sort of composure and
(26:07):
pull that since you have been doing this for years
as an executive or as a thought leader, you have it.
You have it in you. It's like, this is not
a new skill for you. It's just I want you
to hone it now so that you keep your composure.
That you do it, you have that poker face, you
don't seem like, oh gosh, you know, nobody sees you sweat.
That you're able to maybe address the question and then
(26:28):
pivot to one of your talking points of what you
do want to talk about, you know, So it comes
very much to again the improv of it, to be
able to say, if this happens, what will you do.
It's almost like defensive driving almost in a way. You know,
when you learn how to drive, and they would say,
what would you do if someone just cuts you off?
Right now?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Right?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Okay? Well first I would do that, you know, and
you have already in your mind the steps that you'll do.
So that's why it's so important to prep so that you, yes,
you'll be caught off guard, but you'll know exactly how
to handle You'll know exactly what you would do in
that situation.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Thank you, Paula.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
It seems it seems easy to think of it, but
I'm sure in the moment that's why we need your expertise.
It's a lot harder to be prepared if you don't
have the practice with.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
You and you don't want it to be the first
time that it's happened to you in a live interview
or you know. And the thing though, is it for
the most part, with most of the topics and the
things that we talk about that people are writing books
and you know, I'm training them on the media wants
you to do well. They don't want to catch you
off guard. They don't want to make you look like
a fool, you know, unless this is a controversial topic
and you're going up against somebody else and you're you know,
(27:35):
fighting it.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Out about something in the debate.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, okay, fine, but you'll know that ahead of time
and you'll want to do that. So that's a different story.
It's not like you're going to show up in this
environment thinking it's gonna be warm and fuzzy and then
all of a sudden it's like, oh my gosh, I
had no idea, I have to defend myself. That's likely
not going to happen. So if you go in with
the mindset of this is a warm environment, like, they
don't want to it's not gotcha. They want me to
do well. And because at the end of the day,
(27:58):
this is about the audience. This is about the people
watching and listening. What are they getting out of it?
What are they going to take away? How is their
life going to be changed? How are they going to
do things differently because of the things that you told
them to do. The anchor reporter wants that information from
you because they're there to serve the audience. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, yeah, and it makes them look good having you
on as a guest.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Exactly and win all around definitely. And as a producer,
that's why I could only pull the people, the experts,
the authors who are truly ready. Yeah, because it made
me look good as a producer to bring in someone
who's polished and ready to go to say, oh my gosh,
we could let's let's bring her in again. She was
so great. Let's does she have another book? Who cares?
Let's let her talk about something else, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Well, Paula, I do I want to ask you this
because I think it's important you know where people are
putting their time and their energy. What assets and brand
elements do you feel authors and experts relationship have prepared
and in place before contracting a media trainer so that
(29:02):
they can maximize the work that you're able to push together.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Yeah. I mean it is important that you that you
want to do it. You know that you there have
been times and I've been, you know, hired by publishers
in the past who you know, have a great author
who is definitely afraid of doing video and doesn't want
to do it, and so that's part of it. And
do we get her to be able to do it, yes,
you know, in her own way. And so I think
it's important to be to be true to yourself too,
(29:29):
of what you truly do want to do and how
you want to show up and how often you want
to do this? And does this What is the point
of all of this?
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
What you know, Yes, you have a book? So what
is it to get more speaking engagements? Is it to
get more clients? Is it to you know, elevate yourself
as a thought leader? Like what is the end game here?
Why do you want to do this? Why do you
want to do media? Why do you want to be
seen you know out there really thinking about that? That's
really helpful to then have that path forward truly, you know,
(29:58):
because the book is yours. Wherever the publisher goes away,
the publicist goes away, it just happens. It's just the
way that it is. Everybody's really excited about that launch.
And then you have this book and then what will
you do with it? What happens then?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Right?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
And so like for me, you know, my first book
came out over ten years ago. I'm still talking about
that book. I still love that book, you know. So
for me, it's part of who I am. It really
makes sense for me, you know. I continue to do that,
but think about it, I think that really has something
to do like what is the long game here? What
is five year? And I have to say I didn't
know that was going to be the long game for me.
(30:34):
It just ended up being the thing that I was
interested in and people gravitated towards me for you know,
and then I was able to use that sort of
to my advantage to continue doing that. And there are
people who followed me for years with the lists who
now are authors and have books and they're like, we
need help with media training. I would have never thought
that would have overlapped, but it does.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Love that and I feel like it's such a great
place to kind of put a pin in our conversation today, Paula,
tell us how people.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Can get in touch with you and.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
A little bit more about your guide, because I think
the media ready author is something that feels very approachable
in many ways, and just hearing about it from.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
You, it sounds like it could benefit a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Yeah, I just want to make sure that authors feel
ready that when the media calls, cause sometimes they'll find
you right, this is what happens. They're looking for new
experts for new books, and even if you don't have
a book out yet, they might find you. And it
would break my heart for you to say no, because
they might never call you again. That's just what happens.
They've moved on, they found somebody else to fill that spot.
(31:38):
That person was great, and they won't call you again.
So I want to make sure that authors are media
ready so that at the drop of a hat, if
they call, you're ready to say yes. Right, your setup
is good, you know how to do the camera, you
know all these things. So that's what media ready author is.
It's an on demand video course broken up into short
little sessions that you can watch whenever you want to
(31:59):
to be able to teach you how to speak in soundbites,
how to do the according method, how to set up
your background, how to sell books without feeling salesy. Because
that's the thing too, is this balance between you know,
if you do a media interview, you want to be
excited about it, but they don't care about selling your book.
You know they're not They're not there for your sales.
(32:20):
Uh so, but that's not what your publisher wants right,
the publisher wants you to sell books. So it's a
fine line of how you talk about the book, how
you do book events, all of those kinds of things.
So it's you know, available on demand for people to
do that. I do work with people one online, do
media training you know more intimately via zoom from wherever
you are in the world. So that's always fun. And
(32:41):
uh yeah, I obviously have a lot of content as
you mentioned out in the world.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Wonderful, it really is, Paula, Thank you so much for
so again, so happy to have you back today, and
we'll make sure to post all of your contact information
so visuals can reach out if they feel the need
for the next step.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
But yeah, thank you so much for the great takeaways today.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Smith
Publicity All Things Book Marketing podcast. To reach us and
learn about our many services, visit Smith Publicity dot com
or send us an email to info at Smith Publicity
dot com.
Welcome to the Smith Publicity All Things Book Marketing podcast,
offering tips, insights, and advice from the best in the
publishing industry.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hi everyone, thank you for joining us today on All
Things Book Marketing. We're real to invite Paula Rizzo back
to our podcast today. She was interviewed a few years ago,
but now it's my turn to sit in the seat
and chat with her today. Paula is an Emmy award
winning television producer, a best selling author of Listful Thinking
(00:31):
and Listful Living, media training coach, speaker, LinkedIn Learning instructor,
and host of the livestream show Inside Scoop. She's also
the creator of the popular online training guide The Media
Ready Author. She writes a regular column for Writers Digest
is an on air contributor to wpix W Picks eleven
(00:53):
in New York City. Grab Paula's free guide and her
ten media questions every author needs to Know at pauloizo
dot com slash ten Q.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Faula, thank you so much for joining today.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I'm so happy to be back. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yes, it's been a little while, but I know it's
only gotten.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Crazier out there, so we're happy to have you on today,
but Paula would love to have you introduce a little
bit of your own story and your own inspiration. Having
gone from production and now supporting so many on the
front side of the camera, tell us a little bit
about your journey.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, my background is as a television producer in New
York City for close to two decades. So I worked
in local and national news and I was the one
on the receiving end of all of those pitches, some
from Smith pr through the years, and you know, so
I was the gatekeeper. I was able to say which
experts got on and which did not. And I, you know,
I loved that. It was very fun. I enjoyed that
(01:52):
work very much. But then I also wanted to be
an author, and so I had my first book come
out while I was still working in television. Thinking came out,
and it was very exciting and you know interesting, and
I thought to myself, you know, even before that, I
started getting media for myself as a productivity expert, as
a list making expert. So I started to lay that
(02:13):
groundwork on my own and come up almost like with
a formula for how other authors could do it. And
you know, I decided that I wanted to do my
own thing, and media training was natural because for me
as a producer, it always broke my heart when I
couldn't book every author or every expert because they just
(02:33):
weren't ready and I didn't have the time as a
producer to coach them. I didn't have time to tell
them why or what they needed to do. I just
needed to do my job, fill that segment and move on.
And now as a media trainer, I'm able to help
people get their messages out there in a better and
bigger way where they may have you know, missed out
on some of those opportunities had they not been ready
for them.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, I can imagine you had to look internally too,
just to put yourself out there as an expert source
as well.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But it's interesting because I think and we.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Work with so many authors and experts here who are
experts at their craft and you know, need to learn
the ropes in other areas tell us about some of
the misconceptions of media training, or on the flip side,
what it really does serve in terms of the value
it brings to to the clients you're working with.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Especially if people are used to speaking in a professional
environment or their professional speakers. They think I'll be great,
It's fine, I talk about this stuff all the time,
No big deal, Let me just get up there and riff. No,
the media does not want you to riff. You know,
especially in television, you have a very short window to
get your message across. So someone who might be used
to doing keynotes speeches that are an hour long, can
(03:47):
you say that same thing in thirty seconds in fifteen seconds, right,
and have something really succinct ready to go. Not everyone
can do that because they weren't trained to do it.
Your mind doesn't think that way. A lot of times
it happens with authors as well. Well, we're used to writing.
We want to write down what we're going to say,
or you have the book speak for itself. Doesn't work
(04:08):
the same way depending on the medium, right, So if
you're talking about television, you don't speak the same way
that you write, so you have to practice. Even that
skill is a little bit different. So there are things
that you do need to do in practice. You don't
want to have that happen the first time you're on
talking about your book. And the other thing I'll say too,
(04:28):
is that even if you are an expert in your field.
You haven't gone out talking about this book in this way,
so it is a little bit different. There should be
some prep that you do. I've media trained people who've
been on television for years, but they never talked about
this particular new book, and so they wanted to make
sure that they're really doing a great job with it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's so true about having the confidence right to start
to talk about a.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
New product is essentially what the book is. So I
love that perspective there. Through inside Scoop and some of your.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Their educational resources, you talked about media guests being their
own producer. Can you offer some insight to what that
mindset means and how individuals can really harness it when
going into a new media cycle.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
It's so exciting right now because you could do your
own live show. You know, years ago you couldn't do that.
That was meant only for a television studio. You can
now take your phone and be live wherever you are,
and so you really need to be practicing and putting
information out into the world, whether that be through video,
which I would like for you to do video everyone,
(05:36):
but you know, even a blog or a newsletter or whatever.
It is just to be producing your own content, because
that is what then will be worthy of media. Sometimes
you need to get that information out on your own.
A lot of times people think, oh, I'll wait, I'll
wait until the book comes out, or I'll wait until
somebody calls me. It's like no, no, no, this media
(05:57):
cycle is way too fast. You need to be out there,
put your stuff out into the world, and then you
can go and pitch that idea and say, hey, look
I've already written about it, and look all these people
are interested in it or whatever it is. I do
that all the time. I've had my blog on list
making for over ten years, and I do a lot
of television segments. And where do my pitches come from?
All the content that I've shared through the years. So
(06:20):
I look back and I say, Okay, what really got traction?
Or what have I not spoken about in a while,
or what can I put a new twist or spin on?
And it comes back to all the content that I've
produced myself. So you really need to be your own
producer first and then be able to give to the
media in that way.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I love that perspective, and I can vouch I have
no media professional here but even just prepping for our
conversation today, how helpful it was to go back into
your past content, to look through your YouTube videos, to
get a taste of your LinkedIn blog, and really pull
our questions together based on what I saw you're already
(06:58):
talking about. So that is a living example right now
of how that can benefit. Jumping ahead a little bit
because it is truly the thought leader that we are
often working with, the individual whose book is an extension
of their brand. And you're starting to touch here on
video assets. What are some of the ways that thought
(07:19):
leaders can really prepare to leverage their book and position
themselves as the go to expert. Yeah, you yourself have
quite a few assets and channels to your brand, So
what are things that you would recommend thought leaders are
starting to think about adapting before their book launches.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
First, think about the questions that you're always asked. What
are people always coming to you for? Start making short
videos about those, one question at a time, you know,
or even a blog post, and you can write more
in the blog post and then do a quick little
video that just gives one tip or one little idea.
That way, you know you're already using what you know
and a lot of times people say, oh, I don't
(07:59):
know how to create content. I don't know what to
talk about. I'm not sure what's interesting. People tell you
what's interesting, right, It's the thing that they come to
for the questions you keep hearing over and over again.
That's how you slowly start to build that. And you know,
sometimes I didn't invent lists. I just talk about them
more than everybody else. You know, my two books are
about that. I've done media for years. Even in between
(08:20):
those books coming out and years before I even had
a book, I was talking about it. So you need
to be the person who people think about that topic,
you know, really comes top of mind because you're always
talking about it. You're the one who's out there. You're
the one who's really you know, pushing that idea. But
it really comes back to what do people ask you about?
How are you different? How do you define yourself in
(08:43):
a different way? Because there is a lot of noise
out there and there's a lot of content for people
to consume.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, it's true, Paula.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
With that in mind and just considering all the ways
that individuals can connect and grow their network, what are
some tools or have that you feel help thought leaders
stay consistent while also bringing a little bit of the
unique twist that individuals are looking for on the other
side of the certain platforms.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Well, when I first started my own blog, I did
it as like a side project, fun little thing, and
I thought, oh, I'm not going to do it in
the way that I produce content, you know, for a living,
because that feels so rigid. And then guess what happened.
I didn't do anything. I had no structure, I had
no calendar, I had no accountability, and I did nothing.
And so I said, Okay, I have to put a
little bit of a structure around this. So I came
(09:32):
up with fifty blog post ideas. I wrote them all out,
and then I was like, okay, how often am I
going to send these out?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Once a week whatever it was, And I plodded them
out and then I just started writing them from there
and I went through and I had them so that
I knew, here's my plan. Without a plan, you'll you'll
just think, oh, whenever i'm inspired, I'll just write something,
or I'll do a quick video that comes with time.
That comes after you've been doing this for quite a
while and you're in a rhythm of producing something that
(10:02):
then you'll feel like, oh, I just heard something in
the news I could talk about that. So you need
to almost like train yourself to be producing content sort
of regularly, and it doesn't have to be once a week.
But if you're going to have a book, you want
to have a following, right, your platform matters, So you
want people who want to hear from you, not only
when you have a book to sell, but when you
have things that you can give them for free, you know,
(10:24):
because you want to give as much as you possibly
can so that when the time comes and the book
is out or you have an online class or whatever
it is, they say, well, the free stuff is so great,
I would love to see what I can you know,
purchase and go further.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Right, And that does really lead into a lot of
the work that you do is beyond the camera and
beyond media.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I should say beyond media.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
It is about just the content you can build yourself,
and that's often not just launching the book, but supporting,
attracting clients and creating new partnerships. So I do think
that's really important. Perspective to take away is the consistency.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
And I love the fifty.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Blog posts is quite aggressive, I think to build that
list out, but I imagine it really gave you some of
your own personal accountability.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
It was the best advice. I got that advice from
another writer, and she's said because I was like, oh,
I think I want to write a book about lists
and productivity, and she's like, write fifty blog posts first.
See if you're still interested in the topic. Do you
still have enough to say? Are you still interested? Do
people care?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Is this?
Speaker 4 (11:27):
And look, you know here I am ten plus years
later still doing it. So you know, I obviously continue
to have ideas that come up with things, but sometimes
that first jump start, that kickstart that you need to
get yourself going, almost like those little training wheels are on.
You're like, okay, okay, let's do this, let's see and
then go from there.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So I know, for me personally, I'm not very active
with creating video. It feels intimidating, but we hear it
all the time. Content is king, and now even more so,
video is king. So Paula, at a very big sick level,
what makes a good.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Video something that will catch attention fast and does not
go on and on?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I need to get in and get out, tell me
what I need to know and move on. Right, people
are so strapped for time, and you know, we don't
have a long a long attention span anymore at all.
We never did and now it's even shorter. So you
really need to get to the point. And also, something
that is produced, it doesn't have to be like professionally
produced and beautiful and whatever, but it does need to
(12:28):
be professional, right, So you should have you know, good lighting,
good sound, you know, all those things should be taken
into consideration. And a lot of times that's what stops people.
They think, Oh, I don't have the right equipment. Oh
I don't have you know, somebody to edit this for me.
Oh you know, and it doesn't matter, especially in the
very beginning. Just start doing it. You know, when you
look to other people's content, their early videos are never great.
(12:49):
You know, you just need to start doing it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So give yourself pervision to be human totally, especially early on.
What are some of the common mistakes that you fine
experts or authors are making when recording or creating videos.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
So they think that they're going to do it in
one take, and that does not happen because you know,
I've worked in television news for a long time. Look,
these are professionals who are all day, every day, they're
making videos, and sometimes they can't do it in one take, right.
Sometimes it takes several takes. You don't see that because
that's all taped and then edited, and you know, you
don't know that it took five takes because somebody kept
(13:25):
walking behind them in the shod or whatever it was.
You know, you don't get to see that. You see
the perfectly polished piece, which is what everyone is presenting
for the most part in social media. You know, you
don't know how long it took. So when I media
train people, I say, listen, these videos that we produce
here because I always give video homework, are for us.
You don't have to post these anywhere. It's just for us.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
If you want to and they come out you know
good enough and you want to do it, go for it.
But it's just for us to sort of just get
that out, be able to start doing it and look
at yourself on camera. People don't want to see themselves
on camera, right, so we have to look at it.
We have to look at it again and see what
went well and what didn't go well. And so it's
a lot of repetition, but it's also it's practice. You
(14:10):
have to do it, and you have to say, Okay,
you know what I did that video, I'm not going
to use it and that's okay. I'm going to move
on and I'm going to do something else tomorrow or
whatever it is. So I think, you know, our our
real desire to produce something that's perfect and polished sometimes
holds us back.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I think that makes so much sense, and I do
agree it is tough to see yourself, but you do
have to understand everyone starts from from, you know, somewhere
at a certain.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Point, definitely, and that's how you learn tendencies too. You know,
are there words that you use to often? Are there
words that maybe you shouldn't be saying because you fumbled
over it twice, let's change the word. These are things
you won't know unless you actually do it right right.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
How does body language play into of course I know
it does, but tell us a little bit at any
to sort of takeaways that you have for body language
on video.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
You want to be mindful of gestures. I myself am
you know, talk with my hands, and so I have
to remind myself put the hands down, you know, because
sometimes it can be a distraction. But you have to
be mindful of that because you know, especially if you're
producing video remotely, that can even moving your hands can shake,
your desks can move, your camera can make things look
(15:26):
not great. So you want to be mindful of all
of those things, and you want to be comfortable. A
lot of times people are stiff in their videos because
they're trying to be perfect. But I want you to
feel comfortable. That comes from practice and time. But truly
it comes down to putting both feet on the floor,
being engaged with the camera. So like you know, your
(15:47):
posture is a bit pushed forward, so you're towards the camera.
I don't want you laying back. I don't want you
too comfortable. So there is a balance in between being
too stiff and you know, sitting on your hands versus
somebody who's flan on lair, arms everywhere. You need a
happy medium in the middle.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yeah, yeah, that makes so much sense.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And for television, you said it yourself, you maybe have
three to five minutes.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Five minutes would be.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Pretty lot, right, Yeah, So when you're prepping for TV appearance,
do you have any quick go tos that you do
recommend to make the most of that short window of time.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So you want to come up with those bullet points,
those talking points of what you want to get across.
So it almost doesn't even matter what questions they ask you,
because you want to make sure that these are the
points that you make a lot of times people will
come to me after they've done some media and they say, oh,
you know that interview didn't go well. They didn't ask
me good questions, And I say, you didn't have good answers,
(16:45):
because you should have excellent answers ready to go no
matter what the question is. Now, you don't want to
ignore the question and not answer it, but there are
ways for you to be able to get to the
point and get to the things that you want to
make sure to come across. So you make that list
and then you start practicing and you say, okay, can
I speak in sound bites? Can I take what is
the headline? So the way that I teach it is
(17:06):
called the accordion method, and so I have a short,
a medium, and a long answer to any question that
I'm asked, and so you can open and close the
accordion depending on how much time you have. So if
it's a television interview, it's the short answer, it's that
headline point that you want to get across as soon
as possible because you might not have time for more.
So you want to make sure that you give something.
(17:27):
If it's a podcast interview, you have a little bit
more time, you can give an example, you can you know,
have a little bit of back and forth on it. So,
but you want to be prepared for each of those
things that way. And even when I do television interviews,
I mean I've done them quite a lot for my
own books, and I always practice beforehand multiple times exactly
(17:47):
where I'm going to be in the ad dress, rehearsal
the outfit that I'm wearing, with the lighting exactly the
way that it is. I get on and I talk
directly to the camera and I say, Okay, if they
ask me this question, here's how I'm going to answer.
And then so I hear myself over and over again.
I'll do it probably three or four times. And I
do this a lot, but it's just to be able
to practice, you have to do it right.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I think we're sensing a theme here.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, in a good way, but you'll have maybe three
minutes five minutes with a TV interview on the complete
opposite side our podcast. Yes, you started to mention, I
think some more of the nuances and the opportunity to
bring in more diverse themes and ideas. What role does
(18:28):
storytelling play in podcast and being a podcast interviewe but
also just in general as you're kind of shaping your brand.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
It's what people remember. They remember the stories, right, they
want you want them to fall in love with you,
and then they'll buy anything that you have to sell.
So that's one way to pull people in is to
tell stories. To have people, you have to be a
little bit vulnerable sometimes, you know, be able to share
things that maybe didn't go right, and this is why
you put this book together, so that you could help
people and they were struggling in a similar way than you.
(18:59):
Whatever it is, that is what people will cling to
and remember, and you do have more time during the
podcast to be able to tell that story. So you
should have a short version if it's a TV thing
or you know, people often say why did you write
this book? Or you know, why did you name it that?
Or whatever it is. It's like, oh gosh, you need
to have a short answer and then if they want
to know more, you have the full the full answer
(19:19):
ready to go as well. So it's important to practice that.
But I love podcasts, especially because when you're when you're
first starting to talk about a new project or a
new book, it's interesting sometimes to hear how the interviewer
interprets what you're saying. And so I've done that with
my When my second book, Listsfule Living came out, I
(19:39):
did a bunch of podcast interviews and I, you know,
explained something someway and the woman said, oh, you mean
it's like this whatever. I even forget what the example was,
and I was like, yes, that's a way better way
to explain it. I'm definitely going to do that next time.
So you know, it's almost like a workshop because you
have time to do that.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Paula, I love that you just brought that up.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You had mentioned that, I think in one of our
earlier conversations, and it stuck with me in a big
way to hear you know, you share it that way.
But I love the idea of continuing to learn even
more about your own message, and that's going to be
the way that people will continue creating the conversation beyond
(20:22):
the publication data as well.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
And listening, listening to hear what resonated. Sometimes you think, oh,
people love this, it's going to be such a good
and no one cares, and then you're like, oh, I
shared this one story and everybody they keep asking me
about it. So sometimes you need to work it out.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah, and also just more opportunity to bleed that into
other content, right because it's been off of a blog
post or another asset that you're leaning into. Definitely, are
there any Are there any pieces of equipment that you
would say are non negotiable. I do think some of
our clients can get hung up on what they need
(20:57):
to have for podcasts, and then others are not very
cognizant of their background.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So do you have ideas of like your quick equipment
tactics for it?
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Totally, so the more professional that it is, you know, obviously,
if you're doing television, they'll know, Okay, you have a
great setup. We can come to you at any time.
So you just want to be ready. That's for me,
you know, That's why I created Media Ready authors like
I want to make sure that if media called you tomorrow,
you could say yes, because you have your setup, you
feel confident with it, you're not fumbling around. But you
(21:28):
don't need to buy a whole bunch of you know,
studio lights and all of this is fancy camera. You
definitely don't need those things. I'd say, if you're going
to do podcasts, I would invest in a microphone because
that sound is so important to the quality of your brand.
You know, there was an article that came out I
(21:49):
think it was Yale University did a study and it
was actually for people who were interviewing for jobs and
the difference between someone who had a microphone or a
better setup for their awe audio and sounded better versus
someone who didn't. The person who had the better audio
got the jobs more often than not because they came
across as more you know, polished, presentable, professional. And also
(22:12):
it's easier to hear you, it's easier to listen. You
want to listen. Everyone's heard that podcast where the interviewee
doesn't have great audio and you're like, you know what,
I don't even know if I can listen to this
whole thing. So at the very least, a microphone for sure.
When your camera, you know, every laptop comes with a
camera now and they're usually fine. You know, if you're
(22:33):
going to up level, I would do an external camera
because I do find that the quality is a little
bit better, So you could do that. Add that on.
As far as lighting goes, you know, use natural light.
That's the best light source ever. So if you have
a window, use it in front of you so that
it's you know, giving you that great lighting. I did
that for years. I had no lights. I just had
(22:55):
a big window and I used it as much as
I could. If it was nighttime, I brought in some
lamps and I use that and it looked just as good.
You know, there's a lot that you can do without
spending too much.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, and it does sound to me going back to
some of the earlier points you made. It's also the
confidence is what's going to help you deliver and really
really land the video. So while we have you here today, Paul,
I can't let you go without asking just a few
questions around interview preparation. I think, especially in today's polarized
(23:26):
media environment, how do you advise clients handle controversial or
challenging questions during interviews, especially knowing folks you're not likely
to get the list of questions.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Ah, it's just not the way it.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Works, not typical. Yeah, you want to be prepared for everything,
so you need to, again in the vein of be
your own producer, think about what are the questions that
maybe they might ask, what are the things that they
might come at you with that maybe you don't want
to answer, and let's practice those. Let's go through them
and think about what would you say if they asked
you this, what would they what would you say if
they asked you that. So there's part of that which
(24:02):
is preparation so that you're able to come off confident
and not seem like, oh gosh, you know, backing off
or you don't get caught by surprise. You really want
to practice that beforehand. But then a lot of this
is also improv I have to say. You know, that's
why it's important to do your own videos, to do
as many interviews as you can, because sometimes you never
know what's going to pop up, and you know, it
(24:23):
could be something where you're doing an interview with a
let's say a local television station and something happened right
before that. The let's just say, you know, there's there's
some kind of you know news story right before, and
it has something to do with your topic. Let's just
say it happens. You didn't prep for it. You had
no idea they were going to ask you that question.
It just so happened to be news of the day
(24:45):
and they come at you first question, ask you what
you thought of the last story. So you need to
make sure that you're prepared to jump in. And the
truth of the matter is, no one knows more than
you do about your topic. Truly. You don't need to
study what you know. Oh you already know it. It's
just how you come at those answers right when. I
(25:06):
want to make sure that you don't look like a
deer in headlights, that you feel confident when questions you're
not expecting come to you, and that comes from preparing
that make you know, I make all my clients make
a list of all the questions you don't want to answer,
and then we're going to answer them to make sure
that we know if this happens, this is how you're
going to approach it, so that you feel confident.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
That's so great, Paula.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
You know, being in the interview and hit with a question,
maybe even if they are prepared or sure it could
be something that comes their way. Do you have any
quick takeaways on how to keep your composure and kind
of face the question, yes, touching on it, but then
quickly steering it back.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
To definitely yes. So there is that pivot that needs
to happen. But this is where you you know, that
executive presence comes in handy, right, So we're talking about
thought leaders. These are people who are probably you know,
working with staff for years and people who ask questions
that you don't know the answer to or you don't
want to answer in front of everybody. And so you know,
to be able to have that sort of composure and
(26:07):
pull that since you have been doing this for years
as an executive or as a thought leader, you have it.
You have it in you. It's like, this is not
a new skill for you. It's just I want you
to hone it now so that you keep your composure.
That you do it, you have that poker face, you
don't seem like, oh gosh, you know, nobody sees you sweat.
That you're able to maybe address the question and then
(26:28):
pivot to one of your talking points of what you
do want to talk about, you know, So it comes
very much to again the improv of it, to be
able to say, if this happens, what will you do.
It's almost like defensive driving almost in a way. You know,
when you learn how to drive, and they would say,
what would you do if someone just cuts you off?
Right now?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Right?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Okay? Well first I would do that, you know, and
you have already in your mind the steps that you'll do.
So that's why it's so important to prep so that you, yes,
you'll be caught off guard, but you'll know exactly how
to handle You'll know exactly what you would do in
that situation.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Thank you, Paula.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
It seems it seems easy to think of it, but
I'm sure in the moment that's why we need your expertise.
It's a lot harder to be prepared if you don't
have the practice with.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
You and you don't want it to be the first
time that it's happened to you in a live interview
or you know. And the thing though, is it for
the most part, with most of the topics and the
things that we talk about that people are writing books
and you know, I'm training them on the media wants
you to do well. They don't want to catch you
off guard. They don't want to make you look like
a fool, you know, unless this is a controversial topic
and you're going up against somebody else and you're you know,
(27:35):
fighting it.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Out about something in the debate.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, okay, fine, but you'll know that ahead of time
and you'll want to do that. So that's a different story.
It's not like you're going to show up in this
environment thinking it's gonna be warm and fuzzy and then
all of a sudden it's like, oh my gosh, I
had no idea, I have to defend myself. That's likely
not going to happen. So if you go in with
the mindset of this is a warm environment, like, they
don't want to it's not gotcha. They want me to
do well. And because at the end of the day,
(27:58):
this is about the audience. This is about the people
watching and listening. What are they getting out of it?
What are they going to take away? How is their
life going to be changed? How are they going to
do things differently because of the things that you told
them to do. The anchor reporter wants that information from
you because they're there to serve the audience. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, yeah, and it makes them look good having you
on as a guest.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Exactly and win all around definitely. And as a producer,
that's why I could only pull the people, the experts,
the authors who are truly ready. Yeah, because it made
me look good as a producer to bring in someone
who's polished and ready to go to say, oh my gosh,
we could let's let's bring her in again. She was
so great. Let's does she have another book? Who cares?
Let's let her talk about something else, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Well, Paula, I do I want to ask you this
because I think it's important you know where people are
putting their time and their energy. What assets and brand
elements do you feel authors and experts relationship have prepared
and in place before contracting a media trainer so that
(29:02):
they can maximize the work that you're able to push together.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Yeah. I mean it is important that you that you
want to do it. You know that you there have
been times and I've been, you know, hired by publishers
in the past who you know, have a great author
who is definitely afraid of doing video and doesn't want
to do it, and so that's part of it. And
do we get her to be able to do it, yes,
you know, in her own way. And so I think
it's important to be to be true to yourself too,
(29:29):
of what you truly do want to do and how
you want to show up and how often you want
to do this? And does this What is the point
of all of this?
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
What you know, Yes, you have a book? So what
is it to get more speaking engagements? Is it to
get more clients? Is it to you know, elevate yourself
as a thought leader? Like what is the end game here?
Why do you want to do this? Why do you
want to do media? Why do you want to be
seen you know out there really thinking about that? That's
really helpful to then have that path forward truly, you know,
(29:58):
because the book is yours. Wherever the publisher goes away,
the publicist goes away, it just happens. It's just the
way that it is. Everybody's really excited about that launch.
And then you have this book and then what will
you do with it? What happens then?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Right?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
And so like for me, you know, my first book
came out over ten years ago. I'm still talking about
that book. I still love that book, you know. So
for me, it's part of who I am. It really
makes sense for me, you know. I continue to do that,
but think about it, I think that really has something
to do like what is the long game here? What
is five year? And I have to say I didn't
know that was going to be the long game for me.
(30:34):
It just ended up being the thing that I was
interested in and people gravitated towards me for you know,
and then I was able to use that sort of
to my advantage to continue doing that. And there are
people who followed me for years with the lists who
now are authors and have books and they're like, we
need help with media training. I would have never thought
that would have overlapped, but it does.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Love that and I feel like it's such a great
place to kind of put a pin in our conversation today, Paula,
tell us how people.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Can get in touch with you and.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
A little bit more about your guide, because I think
the media ready author is something that feels very approachable
in many ways, and just hearing about it from.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
You, it sounds like it could benefit a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Yeah, I just want to make sure that authors feel
ready that when the media calls, cause sometimes they'll find
you right, this is what happens. They're looking for new
experts for new books, and even if you don't have
a book out yet, they might find you. And it
would break my heart for you to say no, because
they might never call you again. That's just what happens.
They've moved on, they found somebody else to fill that spot.
(31:38):
That person was great, and they won't call you again.
So I want to make sure that authors are media
ready so that at the drop of a hat, if
they call, you're ready to say yes. Right, your setup
is good, you know how to do the camera, you
know all these things. So that's what media ready author is.
It's an on demand video course broken up into short
little sessions that you can watch whenever you want to
(31:59):
to be able to teach you how to speak in soundbites,
how to do the according method, how to set up
your background, how to sell books without feeling salesy. Because
that's the thing too, is this balance between you know,
if you do a media interview, you want to be
excited about it, but they don't care about selling your book.
You know they're not They're not there for your sales.
(32:20):
Uh so, but that's not what your publisher wants right,
the publisher wants you to sell books. So it's a
fine line of how you talk about the book, how
you do book events, all of those kinds of things.
So it's you know, available on demand for people to
do that. I do work with people one online, do
media training you know more intimately via zoom from wherever
you are in the world. So that's always fun. And
(32:41):
uh yeah, I obviously have a lot of content as
you mentioned out in the world.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Wonderful, it really is, Paula, Thank you so much for
so again, so happy to have you back today, and
we'll make sure to post all of your contact information
so visuals can reach out if they feel the need
for the next step.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
But yeah, thank you so much for the great takeaways today.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Smith
Publicity All Things Book Marketing podcast. To reach us and
learn about our many services, visit Smith Publicity dot com
or send us an email to info at Smith Publicity
dot com.
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