A few weeks ago, I was asked to be on a TV show. It's a true crime documentary, and they wanted me to explain something pretty technical about slot machines that I had previously covered on my YouTube channel. At first, I was really excited to do it. Even though the show will be heavily edited, the producer had said they didn't want it scripted because they wanted it to sound conversational. I had ChatGPT give me a practice interview, and I basically froze up. I couldn't answer even simple questions without stumbling over my words. I thought about quitting.
I decided to prepare for it like I would a normal YouTube video. I wrote a script, recorded myself delivering it, and sent it to the producer. I basically said, "Would it be alright if I did this [YouTube link] first, and then afterward we could do a normal interview and you could ask me questions?"
She said, "That would be great, your explanation is perfect!" I was still incredibly nervous, but at least I KNEW I could get through the scripted portion.
Well, I just finished the interview, and it went great! Though, I can pretty confidently say that if I hadn't had the scripted portion, I would have struggled badly.
The producer wasn't completely sold on the script at first, but after about 20–30 minutes, she said something along the lines of, "I think I'm warming up to the script. Your explanations are really good, and your delivery is perfect."
Once we got going, it was pretty easy. They had multiple cameras, and I knew they'd be cutting between different angles and B-roll anyway. So I didn't even bother trying to deliver entire paragraphs in one take. I'd just deliver a line or two, stop, and do the next couple of lines. We'd do multiple takes of each section, and I knew they'd have everything they needed to piece it together.
We also mixed in a lot of normal conversation. She'd ask questions, I'd ramble on about something, and occasionally we'd stumble onto a really useful sound bite. We'd stop and say, "Okay, that was good. Let's try saying it this way instead." We'd rewrite the line together and then I'd deliver it again.
We actually got through everything much faster than expected and had time to go back through the entire thing several more times, just to make sure they had everything they needed.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and encouragement on my original post
Im also vlogging about it. Although I can't release it until the episode aires (which could be a full year away. I think this vlog could do REALLY well. Its more about the entire experience of "im going to be on a tv show," as opposed to vlogging about being in new york. I think a new york vlog would bomb pretty bad but the tv show experience has a pretty compelling 3 part narrative.
Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PartneredYoutube/s/aqqgJiPHbb