TJ Walker shows how to look slimmer on camera. Sit up high and lean forward about 15 degrees instead of back, which pushes your stomach and chin toward the lens. Button your suit jacket and skip all-black outfits, which read as shapeless on screen.
Questions this video answers
August 30, 2013.
About 15 degrees forward.
Chapters
So how do you not look fat on TV? We've all heard the TV camera puts 10, 20 pounds on you. Will make you look heavy. Well, it will if you do the wrong thing. But it doesn't have to. Now we've all heard you should be relaxed on tv. You should look relaxed and comfortable. Sounds like good advice, but let's just test that. Well, here I am sitting relaxed, comfortable. What do you notice? Don't hold back. Tell me what you're thinking. What do you notice? You see a big belly, you see a guy with about three chins. That's not attractive. Anyone looks fatter if they sit back like this. The camera latches on to whatever it's closer to. At this moment, my stomach is closer to the camera than my face. So you don't ever want to sit back relaxed, comfortable. And it gives anyone a double chin too. It's not a flattering look. So whatever you do, don't sit back relaxed. If you're doing a TV interview or making any video, it doesn't look good. Now here's the next thing people often do. You see this on major news programs, cable news channels all the time. Hi, my name is TJ Walker. I help people look relaxed and comfortable on tv. How does that look? Well, it looks stiff as a board. It makes me look uncomfortable. So having so called perfect posture actually looks horrible. The best way to sit on TV, hold yourself up high. Now lean forward about 15 degrees into the camera. Now do you see the double chin? Triple chin has disappeared. Now you're not noticing as much of a gut. So do not lean back, do not sit up perfectly straight. Lean forward 15 degrees. Now it's not a particularly comfortable position, but it's not painful. But it's not how you would normally sit. So now I've turned to the side and you can see this isn't a particularly natural looking position. I'm holding myself high, trying to lean forward about 15 degrees. But when the camera is in front of me, it looks fine. I would also recommend for men wearing a suit jacket if you button keeps a neater appearance and it avoids the big contrast of a light shirt and your belt and your dark pants. So it has a little bit of a slimming effect. The other thing I would avoid wearing all black. Believe it or not, all black can be slimming in real life, but on TV your arms can blend together with your torso and sometimes you're in a black chair. It can make you look blobby and heavier. I would avoid wearing black. Follow these tips and the camera will not make you look fatter.
