What can you learn from two interviews that ‘hooked’ our training team?

There are always media training lessons from interviews that go wrong.

And there have been some infamous examples.

But what about those spokespeople who get it right and the interviews that are more mastery than meltdown?

Well, there have been two recent radio interviews that captured our attention for all the right reasons.

Let’s begin by looking at Charlie Taylor’s interview on Radio 4’s Today programme, which you can listen to here at about 55:00.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons was interviewed after serving an urgent notification on HMP Pentonville in Islington.

An inspection by the watchdog revealed “frightening conditions” and inmates detained beyond their release date.

Asked about the failings, he said: “I walked around Pentonville, and I was horrified by some of the things I saw.

“I walked into a cell where a prisoner only had half a mattress on his first night in jail.

“I came across another couple of guys who had never been in prison before, were on remand, and didn’t have any basic bedding for the first night they were inside.

“But I suppose most concerning of all was the treatment of some of the vulnerable prisoners. We found prisoners on constant watch who were deemed at serious risk of suicide or self-harm, with staff who were supervising them who were asleep, some who were reading books.

“And in one case, we found no one was supervising a really risky prisoner at all.

“And then, of course, we had these late releases, where in effect people are being illegally imprisoned by the state because the prison is failing to calculate the sentence properly.”

That’s some description. It almost feels like he is taking you on a journey, and you can see those prisoners struggling without adequate bedding and being poorly supervised.

Asked how conditions in Pentonville compared to other prisons, he added: “Well, sadly, we come across a number of these crumbling, overcrowded, Victorian prisons, which at the best of times are very difficult to run.

“They have more prisoners than they are supposed to have. There isn’t enough space for prisoners to get to often basic activities. We find people locked up often for 22 hours a day.

“This is an extreme case. But it is a case that reveals many of the problems that we see in other prisons we inspect.

“But thankfully, nowhere recently has been as poor as we found at this jail.”

It’s a short interview.

But it is packed with excellent storytelling and imagery.

You can visualise what Mr Taylor and his team saw as they toured the prison and the bleakness they encountered.

And that makes it resonate.

Suddenly, a report about Pentonville being in ‘special measures’ has more impact and meaning. And it makes more people think about the conditions inside the jail.

Imagine, instead, he said something like. “What our inspection revealed was…” – it would not have had the same impact or depth.

Chris Maughan, one of our brilliant media skills trainers, who made me aware of the interview, said: "Charlie Taylor’s visual, descriptive language was really effective.

"It carried listeners with him.

"The examples and illustrations used from several prisons helped him land his broader message."

The other interview that stood out was also on the Today programme.

It was about the launch of the Lost Boys Task Force for young men at risk of disconnection from society.

And it featured Paul Barber, the head of the task force, and Yassin, a young man who has benefited from being mentored by a trusted adult outside the family. You can listen to this one here at around 1:51:20.

First, we heard from Yassin and learnt how his life has benefited from being mentored.

“He came into my life when I was in Year eight, about 13 years old,” he said.

“It was rough at the start. Things at home with both parents were not great.

“Around that same time Pedro came into my life, I got robbed at knifepoint.

“That took a twist on my attitude and how I intervened with life at the time. I became a lot more aggressive, started to get into a lot more trouble, was getting into a lot more fights, was very defensive and didn’t want to do any work at school.

“He came in and we built this trust and I knew that whatever happened – no matter what – I could go and speak to him. And he led me on to the right path.

“He showed me a whole different side of life. Now, I’m working with young people and helping to try to change young people’s lives.”

It is a great bit of storytelling that adds credibility to the conversation, brings the message to life and helps build a connection with the audience.

And there was more to follow, as Mr Barber, who is also the chief executive of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, shared his story.

“Yassin’s story is one of probably 630,000 young people in this country who don’t have a trusted adult to turn to outside of their immediate family.

“And as Yassin said, his mum is working around the clock to provide, but the father is not as much support as possible – there are a lot of people in that position.

“I was in that position in 1980 when my parents separated and subsequently divorced, and I went into a spiral. A period of playing truant, not connecting with anyone around me and feeling quite lost with the world.

“And it is very easy then in that situation to find yourself in a lot of trouble.

“I was lucky. Like Yassin, I had a trusted adult that I connected with who happened to be a teacher, a football coach and someone who I could turn to and talk to.

“Although my mum did a fantastic job like Yassin’s, I still needed that trusted adult to support me and get me through those difficult times.”

Andrea Booth, one of the account managers who designs the bespoke media training courses for our clients, alerted me to the interview.

She said: “I was listening to the radio while driving to our studios.

“Often with radio, you can zone in and out as your mind wanders to other things.

“But this interview instantly grabbed my attention. And held it.

“The personal storytelling had me hooked.

“It was vivid, and you could picture what it must have been like for Paul and Yassin before they found their mentors.

“I thought they were brilliant radio interviews.”