And in the afternoon at the radio course.... well, the next step was to assemble our clips from Borough Market into a recognisable programme insert.

Editing A Radio Programme

"Make sure you separate and label all the bits" chirped our tutor - so I had to try and remember how to do that, and play through the "takes" I'd done to find out which was the best, and cut out all the idiotic burbling rubbish which WASN'T right. As for forming it into a programme that was actually interesting - well, come on guys. At least it ended up with a beginning, middle and end.

How (Not) To Host An Interview
Then a quick switch to hosting an interview. We had to meet a real author who had written a real book, and interview him for a 4 minute insert into a magazine programme. In order to find out what his book was about, we had to read and absorb 2 pages of information, and, of course look through the book. We were told that he'd already been interviewed many times before, and urged to get some interesting material out of him. "Jot a quick reminder but don't write anything down" we were advised. "It's never good to be reading out questions on air." About five questions would do it, we were advised.

Alas, I really fell flat on this one, although it showed me that the cliche that the interviewers don't read your book is true. You'd better be grateful if they read the press release. I prepared five questions but hadn't reckoned on my interviewee, Simon, deciding to hold forth and cover some of the questions I'd prepared. So when he finally fell silent, I didn't know what to say.

Recovering From A Fluff or Dry

The crucial point is to recover yourself quickly. "One good question that always works is, 'So, tell me what the magic of the subject is for you'" advised David - who is a fantastic interviewer, of course. Unfortunately the advice came too late. I was left sweating in the interviewer's chair, not having read the book, having forgotten the press release, and having run out of questions. Not fun. Still, I did recover. I mean, I said something. When I get the CD, I'll discover what it was.

Pitching Radio Programme Ideas

The final session was putting together programme idease. I'd like to write more about that, but you know this screen has started jumping about again so I'm going to leave it for another time.