Have you ever dreamed of being on national TV?

Here’s what it’s like behind the scenes, so when your moment comes, you’ll be ready.

It’s the moment you’ve been dreaming of. You’ve just finished 5 minutes on national TV. The host smiles, shakes your hand, and says, “Great job,” as you get up from your seat, floating on air.

Here’s what comes before that moment.

Laying the groundwork

First, some context. In the early years of building my first company and promoting my Working Solo book series, I did a LOT of national press. Countless radio, newspaper, magazine, and TV interviews about self-employment — including multiple appearances on CNBC and CNN/fn, the former financial news spinoff of CNN.

First, they find you — likely from non-TV news like a blog post, a video, or a book you’ve written. Some experts create website pages that elaborate on topics they can speak on for the media or frequently asked questions.

(You can also contact them and pitch — a topic for a future issue.)

Remember, the national media constantly needs ideas, content, and personalities. Producers are always looking for something new and interesting for their viewers. One day, your name pops up.

The pre-interview

The dance begins with a producer reaching out for a chat.

Respond immediately when they reach out.

If it goes well, they provide more details, and you schedule a date and time.

Navigating the Green Room

On interview day, you’ll arrive at the station (for CNBC, it was about an hour’s drive for me from New York’s Hudson Valley to their site in New Jersey). You’re filled with anticipation, and even if you’ve done this many times before, the butterflies are dancing in your stomach.

A production assistant will greet you, check you in, and take you to the Green Room, where guests wait to be called to the set.

At CNBC, the Green Room was often filled with corporate executives, financial experts, and their media teams. They would huddle, discuss talking points in hushed tones, and strategize how to answer questions.

In contrast, I was there to chat about self-employment, not market-moving comments. I closely watched the Green Room monitor showing the live set and broadcast. With any luck, I could tie in my comments with an earlier guest’s to make them relevant.

Of course, this usually didn’t happen. I wasn’t adept enough to link the price of gold or a recent manufacturing upturn with self-employment insights. But it kept my mind occupied and my stomach butterflies flying in formation.

Your task in the Green Room? Mental mastery. Review your talking points and don't let your nerves overpower you.

On set

It’s your turn. You’re escorted to the set and shake hands with the host. They may or may not chat with you, especially if they have breaking news in their earpiece.

Some were gracious, others haughty. I nodded at the former and ignored the attitude of the latter. I was there to deliver engaging insights, subtly promote my book, and not embarrass myself on national TV.

This is when you take deep breaths, have a sip of water, and calm your racing heart.

Things that go bump

As the AV techs mic you (plan your wardrobe to make this easy), you’re a step closer to your precious minutes. But until the cameras are on, everything is pending.

In less than a minute, everything shifted. They turned to me and said, “Sorry, we have to cover this.”

By the time they realized it was insignificant, my interview window had closed. I smiled, turned, and got back in my car for a long drive home. No interview for me that day.

On air

Most times, things go as planned, and the minutes tick down until the floor producer says, “We’re back in 10,” and you know a commercial is ending in a few seconds.

The camera lights turn red, and the host begins, “Welcome back. Today we have with us…”

If you think about your words reaching millions of people worldwide, you’re sunk.

Instead, I always focused on the host and answered their questions with short, to-the-point comments.

Now's not the time for long-winded anecdotes. Here, your preparation of crisp stories and meaningful sound bites pays off.

The segment was usually only a few minutes. You may find a chance to make three points, at most. It’s up to you to know them so well that they roll off your tongue as naturally as answering the phone.

My biggest high-wire act?

After you gain experience, national TV appearances are not as terrifying. But they always come with risk.

I had no idea what people would ask, yet my answers would go out on the airwaves. Yikes!

I remember thinking: You’re not a CPA. You’re not an attorney. Speak generally, with enough specifics to satisfy their questions. And weave in stories to sound friendly, yet authoritative.

Now, answering questions after a speaking engagement is one thing. Answering live on CNBC is a whole other level of tightrope walking.

I ended the segment, and everyone seemed pleased. But as I walked away, I collapsed in a mental puddle. I told myself: Let’s not do that again. Ever.

Maximizing the opportunity

After your interview airs, try to get a clip of the segment. The network might send you one, or find a firm that captures broadcasts.

I admit, I was never good at this. It used to be technically challenging to repurpose videos. Plus, I was always focused on future projects.

These days, I would turn them around in a day and promote them widely. It’s timely, and PR and media visibility build on themselves.

Just like you can’t predict when something might go viral, you can help it along.

If you make it to TV — or have already been there — zip me an email and let me know your experience. I’d love to celebrate your win and share it in a future issue.

❤️ My favorite visual delights

Here are this week’s gems from around the Web to help you build visibility, credibility, and authority:

🤖 The Busy Person’s Guide to Large Language Models (LLMs)​
LLMs are the core tech component behind generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. This video gives an easy-to-understand introduction and has nearly 2 million views. If you’ve been in the dark about the legal fuss regarding AI content, or how AI comes up with its answers, spend your lunch with Andrej Karpathy. No programming knowledge required. 🙂

⏳ The 4 Types of Professional Time​
Sahil Bloom shares his framework for investing professional time into four categories: management, creation, consumption, and ideation. He then walks you through analyzing your current balance and maximizing these four. Spoiler alert: Visual cues help, especially color coding your calendar. A worthwhile read.

🆓 Free Design Stuff​
Product designer Ben Sterne has curated a collection of free digital design resources, including fonts, icons, photos, illustrations, tools, learning resources, and more. A site for all visual thinkers to bookmark.

Thanks again for being a SOLO reader and coming along on this journey of visual exploration.
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See you next week,