What I gained most from these interviews is the knowledge that radio and TV are extremely different mediums and just because you succeed in one, does not guarantee you success in another. The main differences according to ABC presenter Richard Fidler, is that while TV is a high impact medium, radio is much more intimate. Because there's no pictures, the voice seems to come from inside your head which is why it is extremely important to include the listener in all forms of radio.
During interviews, the main consensus is to make the person being interview feel secure in their environment, this will encourage them to open up more and reveal the more interesting parts of their story. Humor is also a great tool to make someone relax and make them seem more human for an audience. According to Fidler, the greatest mark of respect is to listen to someone, so as an interviewer, it is important to give people space to tell their story in their own time, they may pause for reflection, contemplation, or moments of emotion, just let it be. Silence is a powerful thing on radio.
The second interview with Steve Austin focused on how to create pictures with words. He quoted, 'Radio is the theater of the mind' which I found quite accurate. He stressed the importance of knowing what your listeners want and playing to a particular audience. What struck me most was the psychological aspect of it all, for instance, Austin theorised that between the hours of 9-10pm, people's biological rhythms are slowing down as they prepare for sleep and therefore radio needs to become much more intimate.
Austin also pointed out that radio is a much more honest form of media than television in that it is far easier to tell if someone's lying by just listening to their voice. I'm not sure if I completely agree with this as for me, a major indicator of lying has always been body language and I think often people's facial expressions and gestures can give away a lot more than a carefully controlled voice.
What both presenters had in common was their love of honest moments on radio. When people forget they're being heard by an audience and reveal things they never thought they would. I can understand the appeal in this, and it's obvious why moments like these would occur infinitely more frequently than on television. When people aren't in a bright studio with a camera pointed in their face and a whole crew or impatient interviewer waiting for them to spit out what they have to say but instead in a comfortable chair in an intimate little booth simply chatting with someone opposite them, the atmosphere becomes far more welcoming. On radio, without the pressure of even the smallest visible audience, a person may find themselves becoming a lot more vulnerable, and that's what makes for a good story.
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