On Cue with Kafui DEY: Forgetting you’re speaking to one person, not everyone

This is the quietest interview mistake. And possibly the most common.

Nothing goes obviously wrong. No argument. No controversy. No viral blunder. The interview runs smoothly. Everyone smiles. Hands are shaken.

And yet, an hour later, nobody remembers what was said.

You’ve seen it happen. A CEO appears on breakfast television. A minister speaks on radio. A founder joins a podcast discussion. The interview is polished, safe, technically correct.

But it leaves no trace.

Why? Because the speaker is trying to address everybody at once and ends up connecting with no one.

Listen carefully to many media interviews and you’ll hear phrases like “the general public,” “our stakeholders,” “citizens,” or “the wider community.” These are safe, formal expressions. They sound professional. But they are emotionally empty.

Nobody wakes up thinking, I am part of the general public today.

Media, in reality, is deeply personal.

Radio is one driver stuck in traffic, hoping to get home before the children sleep. Television is one viewer eating breakfast while preparing for work. A podcast is one professional listening through earphones while jogging or commuting.

Each person experiences the interview alone.

But when interviewees forget this, their language becomes abstract. Careful. Distant. Their tone shifts into announcement mode instead of conversation mode.

And audiences quietly tune out.

I once watched a respected business leader give a technically perfect television interview about investment opportunities. The numbers were correct. The strategy sounded solid. The delivery was smooth.

Yet, by midday, nobody I spoke to could remember a single point he made.

No controversy. No clarity. No connection.

The problem wasn’t the message. It was the distance.

He spoke like someone addressing a conference hall instead of one person sitting at home wondering, How does this affect me?

The solution is surprisingly simple.

Picture one person when you speak.

Not a crowd. Not voters. Not shareholders. One person.

A young entrepreneur trying to grow a business. A teacher worried about rising prices. A parent trying to understand how new policies affect their household.

When you speak to one person, your tone changes automatically. Your sentences become shorter. Your words become clearer. Your message becomes human.

You stop performing. You start conversing.

And conversation is what media audiences respond to.

This is why some guests become regular favourites on talk shows and podcasts. They don’t necessarily have the biggest titles or the most polished speeches. But viewers feel like they are being spoken to directly.

They feel included.

Media success is rarely about sounding impressive. It is about sounding real.

The camera may show millions watching. The ratings may suggest a large audience. But the experience itself is always personal.

One viewer. One listener. One human being deciding whether you are worth listening to.

So next time you sit in a studio chair or lean toward a microphone, forget the masses for a moment.

Speak to one person.

Explain things the way you would across a table, not across a stadium.

Because interviews are not performances. They are connections.

And connection, whether in Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg, or Dakar, always happens the same way.

One human being at a time.

Find Kafui Dey on LinkedIN

The post On Cue with Kafui DEY: Forgetting you’re speaking to one person, not everyone appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

Read Full Story