Interview: Nutrition Month 2016 – Try Something New!

Media outlet: Rogers Daytime TV Durham Region, Ontario

Expert guest: Cristina Montoya, RD, @CristiMontoyaRD

Air date: March 29, 2016

Reviewed by: Gina Sunderland & Sue Mah, Co-Founders, Media Training Boot Camp

Interview Rewind: We review a media interview and offer our expert POV, highlighting strengths and suggestions for improvement. Let’s watch Registered Dietitian Cristina Montoya as she discusses “A New Recipe Idea for Nutrition Month 2016”.

Topic and Key Messages

  • This was Cristina’s first TV interview! She confidently started the interview in a friendly manner by summarizing the Nutrition Month 2016 theme of taking “a 100 meal journey” and recapped the focus for each week of Nutrition Month. Cristina enthusiastically stated that her favourite weekly theme was about trying something new.
  • Cristina was excited to share one her favourite recipes with the viewers – a savoury garbanzo bean (chickpea) salad that was inspired by her mother-in-law and also promotes the International Year of Pulses.
  • Cristina elaborated on the nutritional benefits of the chickpeas in the salad, stating that they are “packed with protein” indicating that 100 grams of chickpeas has 27 grams of protein and ½ cup contains 4 grams of fibre. Suggestion: Show a clear bowl containing ½ cup of chickpeas when stating the nutrition attributes and benefits of protein and fibre. People have a better sense of amounts when we talk in terms of cups (imperial measures) rather than grams (metric measures).
  • Cristina’s key message was to try something new such as her Chickpea Salad recipe and then she nicely walked the host Denise through each of the steps of making the recipe.
  • Cristina had a delightful sound bite in reference to the taste of the recipe – “It will tingle your taste buds!”

Key Message Delivery

  • Cristina had a friendly, conversational and cheerful tone. She spoke clearly throughout the interview. She interacted well with the host and there was a nice exchange and sharing of information between Cristina and the host.
  • Cristina clearly described the steps of the recipe and the amount of each ingredient. She provided easy tips such as using canned chickpeas to save time and rinsing off the extra sodium, as well as a time-saving tip to cook the potato in the microware instead of boiling it. Cristina also shared useful information/tips about the other ingredients including tamarind sauce and cilantro.
  • Suggestion: Describe some the other nutritional attributes of the other ingredients, similar to the way your described the nutritional attributes of the chickpeas. For example, you could state that the fresh tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C for helping to maintain healthy immune system and the potatoes contain potassium to help maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol lowering soluble fibre.
  • Cristina injected small elements of humour into her interview, (e.g., “I just squeeze the lime, or have my husband do it for me.”). This genuine, friendly dialogue allowed her warm, bubbly personality to shine during her very first interview!
  • Cristina had excellent eye contact with the host throughout the interview. She spoke clearly and at a conversational pace to ensure her information could be easily understood. She occasionally glanced at the camera to further engage viewers, and appeared to be enjoying herself. Great job and great “stage presence.” Suggestion: At the beginning of the interview while the host is introducing you, look either at the host and/or at the camera ahead rather than looking down.
  • Cristina used her hands very well while speaking and showed positive body language. Suggestion: Include an interactive component for yourself too instead of only directing the host to make the recipe. For example, while the host was mixing in the first few ingredients, Cristina could either be chopping a tomato or chopping the cilantro.

Visuals

  • Cristina had a nice visual display of all of the ingredients that were used to create her salad on a glass dish to her right. This looked beautiful! Suggestion: Take a moment before starting to make the recipe and motion to the the ingredient display to share with the host and viewers the ingredients that will be used.
  • It is always an excellent idea to have all the ingredients prepped in advance “mise en place” so the recipe can easily be assembled on camera in a short period of time. Suggestion: For future recipe demos consider displaying the prepped ingredients in glass bowls instead of white bowls so viewers can see what is in the bowls. Television is a very visual medium.
  • Suggestion: Display a completed version of your recipe “the hero” for viewers to see, in the event that you do not get a chance to complete the recipe during the segment. The finished hero recipe could either be shown in a big clear bowl or in the two small taste-testing bowls. (Food styling tip: display finished salads without the dressing. Dressing often makes fresh, colourful salads look wilted. They usually do not stay fresh looking for very long if dressed in advance and exposed to the bright studio lights.)

Wardrobe

  • Cristina looked terrific on camera in her jewel-toned top and she smiled throughout the interview! Her make-up looked professional. Her necklace complemented her outfit without getting in the way of the microphone. Suggestion: Consider wearing a brighter colour of lipstick to further bring out your nice complexion.

Overall, terrific on camera presence with lots of enthusiasm! You are so joyful to watch!

 

 

Tags: secrets of success, interview rewind, media interviews, strengths and weaknesses, key messages, key message delivery, visuals, wardrobe, interview insights, suggestions, Rogers TV Waterloo Durham Region, dietitian, Cristina Montoya, ArthiritisDietitian.ca, recipe, chickpeas, Nutrition Month