TJ Walker teaches how to sit for on-camera interviews. Sit on the front two-thirds of the chair, keep your hands free to gesture, and stagger your feet to stay upright. Never lean back or touch the armrests.
Chapters
When you're doing seated interviews for TV interviews or your own video, my recommendation, do not sit all the way to the back of the chair. Again, that pushes you back. You look heavier. Double chins start popping out, even if you don't have one. So you're better off pretending your chair doesn't even have a back. The other problem a lot of people have with chairs, if there's an armrest, all of a sudden, you do this. Now I'm all crooked, rumpled. If I had a jacket on, there'd be all sorts of wrinkles. And when you're leaning, guess what's not happening? You're not moving your hands, you're not gesturing. So my recommendation is, if you have a chair, do not touch the armrest. Don't touch the back of the chair. What you want to do is sit on sort of the front 2/3 of the chair, hold yourself high, lean forward. That way you'll come across your best. Now, another temptation in some studios or even your own office is a desk where you're sort of leaning. Now you're slumped. You see all sorts of crumpled wrinkles here. And with my hands on the desk, I've immobilized my hands, so I look more passive, more nervous, more uncomfortable if you're not talking, if you're listening to someone else. Nothing wrong with keeping your hands on a desk or a table in front of you. But once you're speaking, my recommendation, don't touch anything, don't touch the table, don't lean on the armrest. You want your hands moving in the normal patterns. Now, don't worry about whether it's in the shot or below the shot. Don't worry about that. If your hands are moving, even if it's not seen, because mine aren't in the shot now, it still creates movement to the body. It's going to make your voice sound more comfortable, confident, more conversational. So don't worry about the camera angles. The main thing is you don't want to freeze yourself when you are seated. Your feet are important because if you spread your legs or you put your feet up, it's going to push you back. Uncomfortable. Again, my recommendation for your feet, one foot forward, one foot back, flat one, or ankle over ankle, back behind you. This way it makes it easier for you to hold yourself up high, lean forward, and there's simply no distractions.
