As heard on radio

Victoria Wood, gifted, talented and the couple of times she has been in doing interviews - shaky and shy.  Comedians are a pretty miserable lot.  I can remember I once tried to make small talk with Ernie Wise and got mortgage advice back.  Wood is one of the 'worry too much' comedians but as a radio producer or presenter you could learn a lot from the way she operates.

Her love of language, her attention to detail. and if something doesn't work she changes it. She is a driven woman and focused on what she wants to do. I found this out from a recent biog on her life that I caught on iPlayer.

She also has an ego, essential if you are going to perform, but she tempers that with her insecurity.  It's never a bad thing to ask yourself - Am I doing the right thing? Is this actually working on my show? Could I do better? Should I come at this from a different angle.  It's easy to get lazy and comfortable - just listen to a lot of BBC local radio to hear that going on.

So take a leaf out of Victoria Wood's book and take a good hard look at your professional self.