TJ Walker coaches people on TV interviews and on-camera presentations. He covers hand placement, vocal energy, sitting posture, and how to deliver a three-point message in 30 seconds. He emphasizes rehearsing with audio and video before you go live.
Chapters
Gesture above your face because that will be distracting. You don't want to distract from your central message. You want people to learn about what it is you're talking about. And you want to seem comfortable and confident in the process. So move your hands. Don't just sit on them. Don't just do like that. Don't cover yourself. You'll seem nervous, you won't seem comfortable. Now what do you do with your feet? The best thing is to have a runner's position. Or just cross them ankle under ankle, get them out of the way. Remember when we talked about how to sit? Not only do you not want to sit back, but you certainly don't want to cross your legs so that you see your knees sticking out. If you do cross your legs, do it at the ankle level. And that keeps you up high and it keeps you looking your best. Now, another big, big problem that many people have is they don't have enough energy in their voice. You simply have to more energy than usual. If you're going to sound normal or natural on tv, by the time you speak into this microphone and it goes into that camera and it goes up on a satellite, it's going to suck the energy out of your voice. You're going to sound boring, bland. Well, I'd like to tell you about this exciting new product. That's how you'll sound, even though in normal conversation you sound fine. So it's critical, it's absolutely essential that you boost the energy level in your voice when you're on tv. It's not just volume, it's not yelling, it's not talking louder like there's a big group of people and you have no mic. That's not what I'm talking about. It's more energy, more animation, just to seem normal. It's not that you're going to seem like some infomercial guru yelling and hawking knives just to seem normal, natural and confident. You need more energy than usual. Think of it this way. If you're at a noisy restaurant, wooden floors, and you're at a table and you're telling five friends a story, or you're talking to your family members, you're going to be a little louder, but you're going to have a little more animation as well, a little more energy. It's variation and fluctuation. That's what creates energy. That's what makes you interesting to listen to. So please, please, please have more energy when you're on tv. Finally, go into any interview situation with an exact message in mind. We've covered the basics on how to look, but you've got to have a message. Go into an interview with a three point message. Go into it. The idea that if all of a sudden some news bulletin comes in, they have to chop you off after 30 seconds. You couldn't care less because you got all of your message points across. So go into any TV interview with three message points that you can say in 30 seconds and stick to it. Repeat it using different examples, different vignettes. Because believe me, a five minute, even a seven minute interview gone like that, if you're in a reactive mode, you're not going to do well. Final tips on dressing Women don't wear dangling earrings. Men either for that matter. No dangling earrings because it's going to distract. If you have any sort of metal buttons, make sure it's not too shiny. Glasses, if you normally wear them, wear them. If you only wear your glasses half the time or less, take them off because that's distracting. People can't see your eyes as clearly when it comes to clothes. Don't wear a lot of stripes. They dance around. Don't wear white that glows. A light blue shirt. Light pastels tend to work best. Dark solids for suits, men or women tends to be less distracting. Again, we don't want people focused on what you're wearing. We want them focused on your message, your words. That's what it will take. And finally, the best tip of all. Practice. Rehearse. Audiotape what you're going to say, videotape, have someone ask you questions, and practice. And we're always available too, for all of your media presentation rehearsal training needs. Go to tjwalker.com or we'll come to you. Or you can come to our studios. Thanks. Good luck.
