My first live radio interview experience

On 22 March 2019 I did my first ever two live radio interviews, and what an experience it was!

If you’ve read my blog posts for a while then you’ll know that I love to share my experiences with you all, and this is one of those posts.

 

I did my first ever radio interview on the Daily Connect Show with Steven Scott on RNIB Connect Radio last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was then asked to be on the show again earlier on this year and of course I said yes. The second interview was a bit different as we discussed the #BirdBoxChallenge which was a hot topic on social media at the time. The two interviews on RNIB Connect Radio really sparked my love for doing that sort of thing. In fact, one of my goals for 2019 was to do more radio interviews and be on a podcast, but little did I know that they would actually happen.

 

I was recently in the Yorkshire Post discussing all things vision impairment, blogging and common misconceptions on sight loss. The responses and messages that I received following that article were lovely and I’m so glad that people enjoyed reading it. That was my first experience of being in a newspaper so it was fantastic to receive such positive feedback.

When it was published, I never even thought that I would be asked to go on the radio the following week.

 

On Monday 18th March, I received an email from a Producer at BBC Radio York asking if I would be interested in being on the morning show, she asked if I could give her a call. Unfortunately, I was unable to call her that day due to being at work all day, so I emailed her back to explain that and asked if I could call her the following morning.

The following day she replied and I then called her to discuss the interview in more detail. She was actually unable to talk at that time but got someone else to call me back, who turned out to be the lady that would be presenting the show on the morning that I would be doing my interview. She asked if I had any access requirements which I thought was great, I said that I would need someone to guide me as I had no useful vision and would be in an unfamiliar environment, this was no problem for them at all. I think it’s brilliant when people ask about your access requirements in advance, it shows that they are prepared and willing to help.

We decided that my interview would take place at around 10:30am on Friday (22nd March) so there were just a few days to go.

 

Later on that morning, I received an email from a Producer at BBC Radio Leeds asking if I would like to go on their morning show, she asked if I was free the following day but unfortunately, I wasn’t due to work commitments. I decided that the easiest thing to do was to call her as I had to get ready for work and really wanted to get it sorted.

We had a chat over the phone and decided that I would do my interview at the Radio York studio on Friday morning, rather than going to the Leeds studio which would make things a lot easier for me and worked perfectly. She very kindly sorted out everything with Radio York and my interview would be taking place at around 10:15am on BBC Radio Leeds.

So, I didn’t just have one interview, I actually had two! How crazy is that?

 

Throughout the week people kept asking me what questions I’d be asked during the interviews but I had no idea, that made it even more exciting. All I knew is that I would be discussing my blog and vision impairment.

 

It was just a matter of waiting for Friday to arrive.

 

The interviews

The week seemed to fly by and Friday came around in a flash. I got up, ensuring that I had plenty of time to get ready. Once I was ready, I left my house and made my way to BBC Radio York.

My Dad came with me, we drove into town and had plenty of time to get parked and walk to the BBC Radio York studio.

 

On arrival at the studio, we were met by someone who let us inside and signed us in, he offered us a drink and told us to wait in the reception area. We were a bit early so were more than happy to wait.

Radio York was playing on the radio in the background whilst we waited.

 

After a few minutes, the Producer came to meet us in reception, she said that she would come back in a few minutes as she had something to do first. She explained that she would take me into a small studio and that is where I would do my interview with BBC Radio Leeds.

 

Whilst we were waiting, my Dad took a few photos of me in the reception area.

I was feeling both nervous and excited, I didn’t really know what to expect but I knew that I wanted to enjoy the experience.

 

A short while later, the Producer came back to reception and took me into the small studio. She was a brilliant guide and explained everything to me such as that there was a microphone in front of me and told me exactly what would happen. She gave me a set of headphones to put on and checked that everything was working properly and that I was ok before leaving the room.

 

I could hear BBC Radio Leeds through the headphones, I was then connected to the Producer of the show. In fact, it was the Producer that I had spoken to earlier on in the week which was really nice.

She asked how I was and explained that I would be put through to Stephanie Hirst, who was the Presenter of the show and that is how the interview would take place. It was all so fascinating! She told me that they would play one or two songs and then it would be time for my interview.

 

A couple of songs were played and then it was time for me to be on the show…

 

Stephanie told the listeners a bit about me and my blog, she gave some information on my vision impairment and also my blog before introducing me, we had a chat about my eye condition, my vision impairment itself, my life, some of the assistive technology that I use and also my blog.

The interview seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was over.

I couldn’t quite believe that I had done my first ever live radio interview!

Once it ended, I spoke to the Producer again, she asked how it went and also thanked me for being on the show, I thanked her for having me and then it was all done.

 

You can check out my interview on BBC Radio Leeds below:

 

The Producer from Radio York then came into the studio and took me to the main Radio York studio where I met the Presenter, Julia Lewis.

Both ladies instantly put me at ease and they were both lovely, it was such a relaxed atmosphere.

I was guided to a seat, there was a huge microphone on the desk in front. I didn’t need headphones for that interview as we were both in the studio together.

 

Julia explained that she would read the weather, play a song and it would then be time for my interview. She asked if it was ok if we could talk a bit first, then she would play a song and then we would have another chat which was absolutely fine with me.

 

We started off the interview by talking about my blog, people’s perceptions on sight loss, my eye condition and my childhood.

She then played a song, during the song myself and Julia were chatting, she asked if we could take a selfie for Twitter and of course I said yes. This got us onto the topic of how I use a mobile phone, I explained that I use an iPhone which has built-in accessibility features and the one that I use is called VoiceOver which reads everything out on the screen.

She asked if I would mind demonstrating this live on air, it was very unexpected for the both of us. My phone was actually in my bag which my Dad had in the room next-door so she ran out to get it.

The song ended and the interview commenced. Julia put the tweet up and I then spoke about the accessibility features on phones, explained a screen-reader and I proceeded to demonstrate how I use my iPhone.

We then spoke a bit more about my blog, the best ways in helping a person with a vision impairment, accessibility of my local area and places I visit, as well as discussing my hopes for the future.

 

That interview was much longer but it flew by, it was just like I was having a chat with someone, not being live on the radio as it was very relaxed.

 

Before I knew it, the interview was over. Once we had finished, Julia guided me out of the studio where I met my Dad, had a quick chat with the Producer, I said a huge thank you to both ladies and we then left the BBC.

 

You can check out my interview on BBC Radio Leeds below:

 

On the way back to the car, we stopped off at my work as I had received a couple of messages from my friends who had listened. It was really nice to know that they had taken the time out of their day, they are all so supportive of me and my blog which means the world.

We then headed home and I obviously wanted to know what my Mum thought of the interviews.

 

I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity of going on two BBC Radio stations, it’s such a surreal feeling, it’s something that I’ll remember for years to come. It’s up there on the list of my proudest achievements.

 

I’ve grown up listening to the radio, there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t listen to it or some sort of music so to have the opportunity of actually being on the radio honestly means the world to me.

I think I have found a new love of radio.

The experience was fascinating and I enjoyed every minute.

 

A huge thank you to my readers for your constant support, without you I wouldn’t have such amazing opportunities! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and the work I do, and for reading my blog posts, it truly means the world to me.

I’m excited to see what the future has in store and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

 

A huge thank you to the Producers and Presenters at BBC Radio York and BBC Radio Leeds for giving me the opportunity, I loved it.

Do I want to do it all again? HELL YES!

 

I really hope you got a bit of an insight into my experience of doing my first live radio interviews.

 

Have you ever done anything similar? What was your experience like? If not, would you like to?

Let me know in the comments.

 

Holly x