Sound Warm, Practise Often, Start Strong: Insider Media Training Tips

Q: What do Pratley Putty, Pinotage and the Prepaid Mobile have in common with South Africa’s First Thursdays?
A: They’re all South African inventions that went global.

Quote This Woman+ has started its own First Thursdays programmes with a series of online webinars at 3 pm SAST on the first Thursday of each month, where you, our community, can tune in for 100% free access to our feminist-first media training, hosted by René Sparks. Details are on our social media, and in our community newsletters each month.

In September 2025, we focused on insider tips for radio interviews: direct from African talk radio stations.
If you’d like to watch a replay, visit our YouTube channel.

For those of you who’re pressed for time, the top three takeaways were:

1. Friendliness: you may be sweating with nerves, you may feel intimidated by the size of radio audiences, but if you can inject warmth, confidence and friendliness into your on-air voice, you’ll win your audience over, no matter what you say.

Wondering how to sound warm and friendly when you’re uptight and anxious? Use your imagination. Picture yourself talking to your most trusted confidante, the person who loves and respects you unconditionally. Imagine they’re asking you the questions, not the talk show host. And use the voice you normally use, talking to them. Your audience will hear the difference. They’ll lap your interview up.

2. Practise: If there is any chance you’ll be interviewed for radio, carve out time to practise what you’ll say – long before the opportunity comes. Work out 30-second soundbites that explain your work simply, and focus on the most interesting aspects of it. Listeners want to sit at the dinner table and say: “I heard such an interesting thing on the radio today.” They should be able to repeat your words. If you want this to happen – make your words memorable.

3. Start strong, end strong: you never know how much time you’ll get in a radio interview – other news breaks and eats into the five minutes you were offered, and you may be cut short unexpectedly. So as soon as you can, make your most vital point. Also be prepared to answer a last, wrap-up question: something like: “What’s the one thing we can take away from this conversation before you go?”

For more details on the QW+ free online media trainings, on First Thursdays, email renesparks@quotethiswoman.org.za

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rita_Chantel_Anombase.jpg; shared under Creative Commons license.