How Do You Choose Who to Interview?

This is the most frequently-asked FAQ.  The answer is … our editorial team chooses the guests.

FB follower, Alec Valcanis, adds: “is it by availability or by invite?”

It’s by invitation, Alec.  In a calender year we record approximately 45 interviews.  When we record depends on the guest’s availability and my research schedule (I’ll talk about research in a separate post). The editorial team also decides the appropriate transmission dates.

Here’s where we find potential guests:

I see an advert on the back of a disappearing bus.

Through news and feature articles.

Recommendations from colleagues.

Recommendations from guests.

Schedules of upcoming shows, books, conferences, events, speeches, festivals.

People write and offer themselves as interviewees.

Viewers offer suggestions via FB, Twitter and email.

Professional publicists representing authors, performers, academics, lawyers, and scientists (as a sample) pitch people or ideas to us.

Does everyone you approach say ‘yes’?

Occasionally it’s a no.  We move on.

What do you base your decision on?

It boils down to two questions:

* Why is the audience likely to be interested in this person?

* Is the guest likely to deliver a fascinating, half-hour conversation on camera?