Cuisine Canada Scene

Interviews, like so many things in life, often involve paperwork. Before your appearance, the media outlet may require some preliminary information. As one friend always says, “Enquiring minds got to know!”

The amount of pre-interview information varies depending on the type and length of the interview and the media outlet. For some stations, your original news release or media letter along with a copy of your cookbook, recipes, restaurant menu, cooking class schedule or product may be all that’s required.

With radio interviews, especially for first-time guests, a pre-interview may be requested. This interview may occur several days before your scheduled appearance, or you maybe asked to arrive early to meet with the producer or interviewer. In either case, it’s a good idea to have a few key points in mind and / or a number of recipes or menu items you’ d like to highlight.

Other media outlets may only request copies of the recipes you intend to prepare and your general theme, for example, a brunch for Mother’s Day.

With television, particularly if there are multiple segments, you may be asked to file a complete segment breakdown. This is common with some morning shows. Some stations will send you a form to complete before a deadline. No matter how repetitive it might seem, be sure to fill the paperwork out completely for each segment. The information most commonly requested is:

• The location of the event, if it is not to be conducted in network studio. The full name of who will be presenting the segment. This is particularly important if there is more than one presenter.
• A brief description of what the audience will see and hear.
• A website address, telephone number and any pertinent addresses which can be displayed for viewers at the end of each segment. If you are promoting a store, restaurant or food event, always supply the hours of operation. In the case of special events or cooking classes, include the dates. Always double check this information.

On rare occasions, some segment breakdowns can be more complex.  In addition to the information above, you may be asked to include the actual recipes, an outline of what you plan to discus in each segment, potential interview questions and the answers.

Once you have completed any pre-interview submissions, you are more than ready to take your interview to the next level — assembling everything for your presentation!

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Barbara Barnes is an Edmonton home economist. Currently, she presents food segments for Sobeys on the CTV Edmonton Noon News.

Photo © nerdcoregirl. Published under a Creative Commons License.