Where to Look during a TV Interview | Public Speaking

Should you look at the television camera during a TV interview? Now, there's a big mistaken notion out there that, oh, I'm on tv, I need to play to the camera. No, you are far better off looking at the reporter talking to you rather than a camera. Look at it this way. You have a lifetime of experience looking at human beings when you talk to them. You have very little experience listening to a human being in a room talking to you, ignoring them, staring at a piece of machinery. So it's harder for you to do. It also can look awkward because here's the thing about tv. If you're ignoring the person talking to you and you're staring at a camera, you never know when there's another camera on you showing you staring off into space. And if the reporter or an anchor is right next to you and you're ignoring that person and you're staring off into space, it can look weird. So the easiest thing to do is just to look at the reporter. Unless it's a situation. Like right now, there's no reporter in front of me, so I had to look at the camera. You may be in a situation where you're interviewed by a reporter or an anchor in another city through satellite, so you've got an earpiece. In that case, yes, you would look right at the camera. Anytime a reporter or cameraman or producer or camera operator or floor director tells you to look at a different place, look over here. Now, I would follow their advice, but absent them giving you specific instructions. Otherwise, just look at the reporter and you can't go wrong.