Every journalist across Africa knows this interview moment.
The presenter asks a straightforward question:
“So how will this new policy help small businesses?”
The guest nods confidently and begins:
“To fully understand this, we must go back to 1983…”
Five minutes later, everyone is still travelling through economic history while the original question waits patiently, unanswered.
This habit of turning simple questions into long lectures is one of the most common interview mistakes among otherwise brilliant professionals. And it happens most often to people who genuinely know their subject well.
Experts. Academics. Senior executives. Policy advisers.
People who carry deep knowledge and feel obliged to share all of it.
The instinct is understandable. When you know the background, the context, and the technical details, a short answer feels incomplete. You worry that simplifying the issue makes you look shallow or uninformed.
So you explain everything.
The problem is, media interviews are not classrooms. They are conversations with limited time and distracted audiences.
The viewer at home is preparing for work. The radio listener is navigating traffic. The podcast listener is squeezing learning into a busy day. Nobody sat down expecting a full lecture.
And when answers stretch too long, attention quietly slips away.
Worse, your key message gets buried under unnecessary detail.
I remember a business leader being asked how his company planned to reduce customer complaints. Instead of outlining the solution, he explained the company’s founding story, market challenges, regulatory shifts, and infrastructure investments.
By the time he finally addressed customer service, the presenter had to cut him off for a commercial break.
The headline later read: “Company Promises Service Improvements,” but viewers had already tuned out.
The opportunity was lost.
Long answers also create another risk. The longer you speak, the higher the chance of saying something unintended or confusing. Editors then trim interviews down to short clips, and sometimes the only surviving soundbite is the one you didn’t mean to emphasise.
Meanwhile, your core message disappears.
A useful discipline in interviews is remembering that journalists ask simple questions on behalf of audiences seeking simple clarity.
If someone asks how a new tax policy affects traders, they want to know what changes tomorrow morning, not a ten-year policy journey.
Answer the question first, briefly and clearly. Then, if needed, add one layer of explanation.
Think headlines, not lectures.
A good rule is this: if your answer cannot fit into two or three clear sentences, you are probably over-explaining.
Another helpful trick is to imagine explaining the issue to a neighbour over a short elevator ride. You would summarise, not deliver a seminar.
And here’s the secret many media veterans understand: short answers often invite better follow-up questions. When you are clear and concise, interviewers ask you to expand, giving you more controlled opportunities to make your points.
But when answers drag on, interviewers interrupt or move on entirely.
Media success is not measured by how much you say. It is measured by how much people remember.
So next time the microphone comes on and a simple question lands, resist the urge to teach the entire syllabus.
Answer simply. Add context briefly. Then stop.
Because in interviews, clarity beats complexity every time.
And the smartest experts are often those who can make complex ideas sound simple.
Find Kafui Dey on LinkedIN
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