• Home
  • TELEVISION
  • RADIO
  • PRINT MEDIA
  • PODCAST
  • CONTACT
  Tesa Arcilla
Check out Choices & Chances with Tesa Arcilla: choiceschances.co/
SUBSCRIBE HERE

T E S A   A R C I L L A   
News Director | Former Foreign Correspondent | Global News Presenter | Panel Host and Moderator

Heads of State. Central Bankers. EU Commissioners. CEOs. Ministers. Celebs. Royalty. Sportsmen. Political refugees. Campaigners. Even former spies.

I've sat across from them and many others to ask direct, fair questions that foster honest engagement.

That, for me, is the mark of a great interview. The audience walks away feeling more informed, constructively challenged, or perhaps even changed their mind about something based on new information they've taken on board from the interview. 

For the interviewer, conducting a good interview requires skill, art, knowledge and experience. The skill and art of framing questions in a way that is fair, informative and direct, and that elicits an honest, informative and engaging answer takes years to hone. I learned from the best journalists and media executives in the world.

Listen below to a short excerpt from the EU-Asia Connectivity forum I moderated at the end of 2019. It’s still relevant.

This is what happens when you put together the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the US State Department, the European Parliament, the Confederation of Indian Industry and a Dutch academic.

​


If you want an interview to stand out and make a mark, don't be afraid to answer direct, sometimes tough, questions with honesty and intelligence. What you don't want are platitudes or a deferential interviewer, or an interviewee who deflects and dodges questions. A respectful, intelligent discussion is what stands out.

If you're looking for someone to help with media training for your executive team, or if you need a moderator or event host and would like to explore working together, I'd love to hear from you.
​

International news experience with:
Picture
​

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Also contributed reporting to:​
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
STORYTELLING AND COMMUNICATING
Telling impactful stories and communicating important messages can be done beyond the world of the global news media. I can help purpose-driven businesses, organisations and individuals to explore and tell those stories in a way that resonates with journalists and their audiences. After all, I do know what journalists look for. 


PictureInterviewing former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

SPEAKING IN SOUNDBITES
Throughout my career, I've interviewed countless individuals from heads of state to influential people, to ordinary folks who are brilliant in their own right. The reality is, some very intelligent people are not "media trained", meaning they speak in a way that makes it very hard for journalists to "quote" them, especially for TV or radio news broadcasts.

Speaking in "soundbites" is a useful skill for anyone to learn, especially for senior executives, scientists, academics, and those who need to communicate complex ideas in a manner that's suitable to the media platform. Not knowing how to give those quotable quotes is a missed opportunity to get an idea out there or get your voice heard.

​I hosted a 
daily political show where people like former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair or former Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev were put in the hot seat as I asked probing questions. Learning to answer those tough questions is also a crucial skill for anyone or any business aiming to increase their public profile and gain the trust of their audience. 


Picture
BALANCED, WELL-INFORMED, AND INCLUSIVE PANELS THAT GENERATE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS
There's no shortage of business events, forums and conferences where panel upon panel fill the days. Too often, we've seen panels that haven't been structured well enough to generate informative, representative, memorable, useful, and actionable information. They can drone on and on and the event risks becoming one of those 'talking shops' where people talk but no change or new ideas ever come out of them.


​In that same debate show I hosted for Euronews NBC, we had to form panels every single day on at least five major issues drawing political contention or fuelling public debate. We made sure our panels represented the whole spectrum of views that are relevant to the issue, that people who are direct stakeholders in the topic are part of the conversation, and that the questions we ask draw out honest answers to the key questions.

​Using the same skills to form your panels, decide on your speakers and formulate your questions or talking points will help improve the quality of these conversations. 


Picture
UNDERSTANDING GEOPOLITICS AND SOCIETIES
Whether you're a small company, a multinational or a government entity, nobody operates in a vacuum in our interconnected world.

Understanding the nuances of WHY certain actors do certain things, how decisions are made or why certain things are acceptable in some societies while shunned in others
— all these are key and pivotal to successfully connecting, communicating and eventually collaborating, if that's the goal.

Issues like traditional and cyber warfare, ESG compliance, the political climate, geopolitical strategies that impact trade policies, health policies, security challenges, a push for more diversity and inclusion, a crackdown on tax havens, to name a few 
-- all these issues, be it peripheral or central to your core business -- are important to know about. Global affairs impact local lives and navigating this world is something I can help with. 


Picture

REACHING OUT TO THE RIGHT MEDIA PEOPLE
A global newsroom is a well-oiled machine with hundreds of people with very specific roles: producers, writers, reporters, executive producers, presenters, line producers, show producers, guest producers, directors, editors, you get the gist.

​Knowing the right person to reach out to for a story is half the battle. Knowing what journalists need to get a story to air and helping in that process increases your chance of successfully pitching a story. It's not an exact science, but the more you know about the process, the better your chances are of telling the story you deem important to be told to a wider audience. 


***
USEFUL LINKS

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tesaarcilla
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TesaArcillaNews
Follow me on Instagram : @tesa.arcilla & Twitter: @TesaArcilla
COP 26 Glasgow coverage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9adz-O-MVk&ab_channel=TesaArcilla
Showreel 2020: https://youtu.be/4DTmAkVomOE

S H O W R E E L S


Politico Europe's "Women Shaping Brussels 2018"

Picture
Politico Europe's 2018 "Women Who Shape Brussels"

BURSTING THE BRUSSELS BUBBLE

Months after launching the flagship morning show Good Morning Europe, Euronews' very first live anchored programme, and soon after Raw Politics went to air, Politico Europe featured the Women of Euronews in their 2018 list of Women Shaping Brussels. I was named alongside my then boss, Deborah Turness, now BBC News CEO, Anelise Borges, Emmy-nominated journalist, and Ingrid Bakewell, Director of National News for Canada's Global News. 

In a city that's home to the EU's massive bureaucratic machinery, the political classes and all those who work in related fields inhabit the so-called 'Brussels Bubble.' Raw Politics aimed to burst that bubble for the 500 million Europeans whose lives are impacted by decisions made in Brussels, and to bring in-depth and nuanced analysis of EU affairs to our global audience.
THE BRUSSELS BUBBLE

PRESENTER & HOST

Former host of Euronews NBC's flagship daily primetime show, Raw Politics, launched in September 2018, broadcasting from inside the European Parliament in Brussels & Strasbourg.
Every single day, we dissect and analyse the biggest political stories, talk to stakeholders at the heart of those stories and get them on the show, ask them the most important and sometimes difficult questions, give viewers the means to engage directly with politicians and journalists, and put our unique Raw Politics brand of reporting on European politics.
(See video above.)
Raw Politics
Picture

POLITICAL JOURNALIST

We talk politics on the RP sofas like you would in your own living room -- honest, informal, relevant and passionate debates on issues that impact citizens' lives, influence general trends in political narratives and rhetoric, and drive society's collective political leanings.
As journalists, I think it's our duty to really listen to different points of views, different voices. At the very least, it could encourage healthy, productive debates by fostering understanding
of mindsets one may not agree with, and bridging the growing divide fuelled by polarising issues and politicians. Simply put, it's just better when people talk.
Don't you think?
THE RAW POLITICS SOFA

o t h e r   m e d i a

BBC World News
Al Jazeera English
CBC News (Canada)
TVB Pearl (Hong Kong)
© 2014-2024 Tesa Arcilla. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • TELEVISION
  • RADIO
  • PRINT MEDIA
  • PODCAST
  • CONTACT