by Mary Flannery
With the usual summer conference circuit cancelled, tuning in to the BBC’s “The Forum” on 19 July provided a welcome substitute for the NCS Congress’s “wine hour.” I loved listening to the learned and friendly voices of Anthony Bale, Emily Steiner, and Mary Flannery. And I was awed by how natural they made the conversation sound. Of course, there was more to producing the event than met the ear, and we are pleased that Mary agreed to offer her take on the interview process.
This past summer, when I was missing my colleagues terribly, I had the honour of being invited to join two of them—Anthony Bale and Emily Steiner—in conversation with BBC’s host for The Forum, Bridget Kendall. The subject was one close to all our hearts: none other than Geoffrey Chaucer himself.
Of course, when I say ‘join’, I’m speaking only of the virtual realm. What with COVID-19 having confined most of us to our homes for half a year, we were sadly unable to meet in person. Nevertheless, the whole process was remarkably smooth, thanks to the BBC’s online ‘virtual studio’, which permitted us to hear and speak to one another in real time. In conjunction with extensive preparatory email exchanges with the program’s producer, this made for an efficient and enjoyable experience. It was also surprisingly moving. Having been deprived of the company of colleagues for several months, I found myself on the edge of my seat once Emily and Anthony’s voices came across the virtual airwaves.
The interview was also a useful reminder of how media outreach can be an excellent opportunity not only to communicate with the public about our research, but also to shape how our discipline is perceived by the wider public. And given how frequently medieval history is misappropriated (and, frequently, misinterpreted) in aid of extremist agendas, public engagement seems particularly urgent right now. Nevertheless, the prospect of speaking with members of the media can be a daunting one. (I vividly remember when I was contacted by the Associated Press about a decade ago concerning a story about Henry VIII; I never replied to their email because I was terrified that I might make a mistake about how many wives he’d had.) Here are three things that can help make speaking with the media a little less intimidating.
1) Decide what your message will be. Usually, you will have a few preliminary exchanges with an interviewer or producer before the actual interview takes place. This gives you an opportunity to shape how the interview will go and what you will focus on. In my case, the first question I was asked by the BBC’s producer was: ‘What do you think people ought to know about Chaucer?’ It’s a great question to bear in mind no matter what the topic of the interview might be: What do you think people ought to know about X?
2) Practice and prepare. Bearing that intended message in mind, write down key points (there’s no shame in this!) and examples you wish to bring up. Rehearse them (aloud!) with a friend. The more you get used to hearing the sound of your own voice the more comfortable you will be on the day.
3) Check the tech. In our case, simple earbud headphones and microphones (not unlike those you might receive when buying a smartphone) proved to be perfectly effective, though there were still glitches to sort out. The BBC gave us links we could use to test out our equipment before the actual interview, which I personally found quite useful: on my first attempt, although my computer was picking up the sound of my voice, the studio wasn’t!
Remember: you are only in control of so much. You may be asked to repeat entire chunks of speech that got missed by the mic, or in order to add in material that elaborates on a particular point (I find this especially hard). Then they have to edit some things out in the interest of keeping to time, which may mean that key details or references to the work of colleagues get cut out. Ultimately, the interviewers and producers control what the final product looks or sounds like (which is why having a clear message helps). But you can always request final approval of scripts and questions, as well as the opportunity to look something over before it is published.
I’m not going to lie: I was far from undaunted by the prospect of participating in such a long broadcast, and alongside such fabulous scholars (one of whom is the current president of the New Chaucer Society). But it was thrilling, too, and a valuable opportunity to reflect on precisely what I would like the public to know about the author we study.