How to Prepare for a Phone Interview

You have a book coming out and you're starting your phone interviews to generate publicity. The best interview is the one where the interviewee is prepared, concise and relaxed. If you're a writer, you're probably at your best alone in a room and your phone manners or social skills may not be the greatest. You may even find yourself dreading the interview and being nervous. This is normal. The only way to help ease some of the tension is to practice what you're going to say beforehand, get the wording down to concise, interesting thoughts and keep your notes handy.

Instructions

1. Receive or submit a list of questions that you'd like the interview to cover. Make sure you and the interviewer agree on the final list. Now you can sit down and write out the answers to the questions. Writing down the answers will give you an idea of what the interview will feel like, and what directions it will head.

2. Review your answers. Read them out loud to yourself, or to a friend. This will help you see if you naturally change the words to sound more enthusiastic when talking out loud as opposed to how the words sound on paper.

3. Reshape your answers to best promote your book. You will see spots that need to be filled in, or questions that can be left out entirely. Read it out loud again. Have your friend ask the questions and you answer them as you would during the interview. This will give you practice, and ease the tension during the actual interview, since the words and interview process will be familiar.

4. On the day of the interview, have your notes in front of you to prompt you just in case you get stage fright, or feel lost.

5. When the interview starts, think about your book and talk about it like it's your best friend who has just saved you from a burning building. The more positive you sound about your subject, the more people will be curious to read your book and see why you're so enthusiastic about it.