Nothing makes me happier than hearing an interview with a compelling take-home message. (I should get out more.) I love a message rooted in the audience’s world. Fresh. Impactful. Something I can still remember a few hours after hearing it.

It shouldn’t be that difficult, however there’s a lot that can get in the way. An interviewer with an agenda. An interviewee confusing the picture with extraneous detail. Nerves. No preparation. Too much preparation…

You’d imagine I’d add to this list of obstacles being (a) horizontal (b) a metre from the ground and (c) carried by four policeman. Which is what makes the following soundbite so remarkable. Amidst almost impossibly difficult circumstances here is a key message delivered with clarity, energy and authenticity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3C9v0vR71E

Her message is personal, backed up with specifics and powerful language. Concise and uncluttered.

And if she can do it being whisked off Waterloo Bridge at high speed, what’s stopping any of us from delivering something equally memorable

BBC Local radio had its moment in the sun last week. Ahead of Liz Truss’ hour of back-to-back interviews, critics were scathing of a comms strategy that dodged the big beasts, opting instead for – in the words of writer Paul Mason, “a bunch of sleep-deprived non-expert presenters (who) will throw her soft questions”. Well nobody likes to be patronised, so naturally some of those presenters gave the PM an absolute mauling.

I often hear comms people say, “I’ll probably start them on something easy like local radio.” There’s nothing easy about it. For a start there are some excellent journalists kicking around, easily as good as the nationals and armed with a forensic knowledge not just of their patch but also what their audience want.

But – and this is where I might get a bit of flak – there are also some fairly average local radio presenters out there too, without the luxury of a team of producers to brief them. What this can lead to is an awkward and uncomfortable experience for an interviewee having to navigate through an exchange with someone who isn’t across a subject.

“They seemed totally obsessed with X, which I don’t know anything about…” is something I’ve heard a couple of times from delegates over the years.

Treat local interviews like any other. Take time to prepare and do your homework on the presenter as well as their patch.

“We have given contributors the drug of FaceTime”, wrote Jeremy Vine producer Tim Johns on Twitter recently. “How do we wean them off it and get them back in the studio?” As a radio producer he is in no doubt – nothing beats the quality, the warmth and the ‘personal’ of being face to face in a studio. And for you as an interviewee? Well the obvious (and for most, over-riding) factor is time. A 3 hour round-trip to do an in-person interview is now a 15 minute interruption without leaving your desk.

Don’t downplay the negatives though – half the responsibility for the kit working is yours, there’s the unpredictability of wifi signals, Amazon deliveries and toddler tantrums, plus Twitter loves nothing more than the forensic analysis of a messy bookshelf or long-forgotten but highly inappropriate birthday card from a friend.

My take, for what it’s worth, is not to turn your back on offering to go into a studio. You’re less likely to be dropped, you usually get more air-time, and – if nothing else – newsrooms and studios are always pretty interesting places to spend an hour. (It’s amazing the gossip you pick up).

Facetime, Skype and Zoom aren’t going away, and that’s unquestionably a good thing. However let’s not close the door entirely on sitting across the table from the person actually asking you the questions.