What's the number one mistake most people make when they're going into interviews? It's a mindset problem. They're telling themselves, oh, this is like a college exam. And if I just answer all the questions as thoroughly as possible, the reporter will love me and I'll get an A plus and a bunch of checks and a pat on the head. That is the worst mistake you can make because it completely steers you in the wrong direction. If you spend all your time worrying about gathering up more and more information, you've turned yourself into a reference librarian.

Well, let me tell you, folks, there's invention called Google. Nobody needs you just for information. Reporter needs you for context for flavor for opinion, for analysis for perspective. And the way to do that is to think about everything you could say, and then figure out what are your top three ideas and then to have clear messages and sound bites for all of them. That's how to avoid the number one mistake.