I heard a really experienced media performer being interviewed the other day and at one point he said on air, “the example I always like to use…”

It was a moment in passing, but it kept bugging me.

If it’s the example you always like to use, don’t keep using it.

Isn’t news at its most base of definitions something new? Come up with a different example, a fresh comparison, a killer stat, an unexpected analogy.

It just sounded a bit tired. Make the most of every opportunity – however often you go on air – to make your subject as impactful as possible.

And if for some reason you do need to keep using the same example, don’t flag up to the audience that you’re doing it.

After another unedifying week in politics it was fitting that in the seconds before an interview a delegate asked the other day, “you’re not going to do a Paxman on me are you?”

It’s amazing how many people still use this line. Jeremy Paxman stopped presenting Newsnight in 2014 – eight long years ago. Yet that reputation endures.

The advice I give to someone preparing for an interview is to visualise the audience…and then consider the behaviour they expect from their representative – the interviewer.

With politicians the audience are largely sanguine about a journalist trying to catch them out or box them into a corner. Ditto dodgy chief execs and scandal-hit celebrities.

But I’m going to take a punt and assume you don’t belong to any of those categories. So why on earth would I dream of “doing a Paxman on you?”

Expect to be tested. Expect controversial areas to be explored and difficult questions asked. But also expect to be given space to bring newsworthy, impactful content that resonates with the audience.

And if you must ask that question in the seconds before the red light goes on, at least invoke an interviewer who didn’t retire almost 10 years ago.

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