In a recent MM post, Meet the Press, I talked about getting interviewed. This week, I’m going to reprise the information I learned in “TV school”—a media training course I was sent to when I had a day job as an editor for a high-profile women’s magazine. The training helped me when I had to speak on behalf of the magazine. More important, it has served me well since, whenever I’ve had the opportunity to speak about myself and my art.
Some of the info here was originally part of The Artist’s Talk, which I posted about a year ago, but I’m expanding it for this post. If you’re going to be interviewed on videotape for local, regional or national TV, or as part of an archive about your own work, why not present yourself in the best possible way? .
Speaking on camera? Somewhere between the grand gesture and no gesture at all lie a range of viable expressions
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.A Lineup of Clichés
As part of my training I was sent to a three-day course to prepare me for speaking on TV and to large groups. There were six of us in the class. Our first assignment, right then and there, was to stand in front of the group and talk about ourselves. We were videotaped. We hit all the clichés.
. The Jingler: First came the outgoing fellow who kept his hands in his pockets and jingled his coins and keys the entire time. Annoying? I found myself focusing on what he was jingling, trying to discern the various metallic sounds--the dimes from the quarters, the quarters from the keys. I didn’t catch a word he said.
. The Preacher: Then a plain-dressed woman stood up and told us about herself. The entire time she held her hands clasped together in front of her chest in a gesture of supplication. “Let us pray,” she might have been saying to her congregation.
. The Fig Leaf: Then came the demure young woman who kept her hands locked together over her pubis, as if she were as naked as she seemed to feel.
. The Ummer: Ah, um, ah, um, er, uh, ahh. It was excruciating to sit through.
. The Eye Roller: Every time this guy struggled for a word or phrase he rolled his eyes back and looked up. Yes, the information was in his head, but he looked as if he was trying to read it, as if off a TelePrompter.
. The Gesticulator: Finally, I’m embarrassed to say, it was my turn. If you’d seen my video without the sound, you’d think I was performing Evita.
As part of my training I was sent to a three-day course to prepare me for speaking on TV and to large groups. There were six of us in the class. Our first assignment, right then and there, was to stand in front of the group and talk about ourselves. We were videotaped. We hit all the clichés.
. The Jingler: First came the outgoing fellow who kept his hands in his pockets and jingled his coins and keys the entire time. Annoying? I found myself focusing on what he was jingling, trying to discern the various metallic sounds--the dimes from the quarters, the quarters from the keys. I didn’t catch a word he said.
. The Preacher: Then a plain-dressed woman stood up and told us about herself. The entire time she held her hands clasped together in front of her chest in a gesture of supplication. “Let us pray,” she might have been saying to her congregation.
. The Fig Leaf: Then came the demure young woman who kept her hands locked together over her pubis, as if she were as naked as she seemed to feel.
. The Ummer: Ah, um, ah, um, er, uh, ahh. It was excruciating to sit through.
. The Eye Roller: Every time this guy struggled for a word or phrase he rolled his eyes back and looked up. Yes, the information was in his head, but he looked as if he was trying to read it, as if off a TelePrompter.
. The Gesticulator: Finally, I’m embarrassed to say, it was my turn. If you’d seen my video without the sound, you’d think I was performing Evita.
You learn a lot from watching yourself on tape. You don’t need TV school, just use the movie feature on your digital camera and talk about your work. Read the tips below before you begin shooting. Then tape, review, refine.
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Some TV Tips from TV School
Watch a panel of speakers on CNN, or a pundit being interviewed one on one. They’re more media savvy than the average artists—indeed, they’ve probably gone to TV School—but make note of the ones who stand out for not standing out, the ones who seem perfectly comfortable, neither orators nor ill-at-ease mumblers.
. Stand up (or sit up) straight. Sounds elementary, but it makes a difference. When your spine is straight and your shoulders are back, your lungs can take in more air. That makes you more alert and gives your voice the air it needs to sound like you. Visually you have more authority. Plus you won’t look like … a Turtle (another stereotype whose presence is marked by slouching or shrinking, seemingly in effort to hide). Relatedly . . .
. Know where your head is. That expression “can’t keep his head on straight” has relevance if you’ve ever seen a speaker, head cocked to one side, addressing an audience or talking to an interviewer. You find yourself cocking your own head to compensate for the lack of perpendicular. (Remember the team of disco barhoppers from Saturday Night Live?)
. If you’re using a mic, adjust it before you begin so you don’t fumble. And, this sounds ridiculously elementary but it’s not, know how to speak into it. There’s a sweet spot where your normal speaking voice will be amplified without your having to strain. If you’re on a panel, there’s nothing more annoying for an audience member than being unable to hear you because you’re not making adequate contact with the mic (or vice versa, when you lean over and shout into it)
. Make eye contact. If you’re speaking one on one to an interviewer, look at the interviewer—not on the floor, on the ceiling, or darting about. Darting your eyes makes you look as if you’re up to something. If you’re speaking to a group, make eye contact around the room
. Too many, um, vocal pauses is, ah, annoying to the listener—and, uh, it takes you twice as long to, er, get your point across.
. The answer is in your brain, but rolling your eyes back to find it will not retrieve the information. That looking-up-to-heaven eye roll is endearing in little kids, but in adults, not so much. Once you’re aware of it, it’s pretty easy to avoid.
. So, what do you do with your hands? Just let your arms hang by your side if you’re standing, or rest in your lap or on your thighs if you’re sitting. It may feel unnatural at first, but it allows a viewer to focus on your face and on what you’re saying. TV school tells you that the occasional “small gesture” for emphasis is OK. That goes for facial expressions, too. I’m Italian, so “small gesture” is relative. If your conversational style is physically expressive, you don’t have to straightjacket yourself—you’re not the Queen—but save the conducting for Sunday Dinner. (You bluebloods don’t have a clue to what I’m talking about, but the rest of you know what I mean.)
. Can you relax enough to let your body express itself? Normal facial expressons go along with our spoken language. Smiling, especially--not the "cheese" smile, but the relaxed, lips-apart expression that's part of conversation--puts your audience at ease and conveys your message with sincerity.
. Stand up (or sit up) straight. Sounds elementary, but it makes a difference. When your spine is straight and your shoulders are back, your lungs can take in more air. That makes you more alert and gives your voice the air it needs to sound like you. Visually you have more authority. Plus you won’t look like … a Turtle (another stereotype whose presence is marked by slouching or shrinking, seemingly in effort to hide). Relatedly . . .
. Know where your head is. That expression “can’t keep his head on straight” has relevance if you’ve ever seen a speaker, head cocked to one side, addressing an audience or talking to an interviewer. You find yourself cocking your own head to compensate for the lack of perpendicular. (Remember the team of disco barhoppers from Saturday Night Live?)
. If you’re using a mic, adjust it before you begin so you don’t fumble. And, this sounds ridiculously elementary but it’s not, know how to speak into it. There’s a sweet spot where your normal speaking voice will be amplified without your having to strain. If you’re on a panel, there’s nothing more annoying for an audience member than being unable to hear you because you’re not making adequate contact with the mic (or vice versa, when you lean over and shout into it)
. Make eye contact. If you’re speaking one on one to an interviewer, look at the interviewer—not on the floor, on the ceiling, or darting about. Darting your eyes makes you look as if you’re up to something. If you’re speaking to a group, make eye contact around the room
. Too many, um, vocal pauses is, ah, annoying to the listener—and, uh, it takes you twice as long to, er, get your point across.
. The answer is in your brain, but rolling your eyes back to find it will not retrieve the information. That looking-up-to-heaven eye roll is endearing in little kids, but in adults, not so much. Once you’re aware of it, it’s pretty easy to avoid.
. So, what do you do with your hands? Just let your arms hang by your side if you’re standing, or rest in your lap or on your thighs if you’re sitting. It may feel unnatural at first, but it allows a viewer to focus on your face and on what you’re saying. TV school tells you that the occasional “small gesture” for emphasis is OK. That goes for facial expressions, too. I’m Italian, so “small gesture” is relative. If your conversational style is physically expressive, you don’t have to straightjacket yourself—you’re not the Queen—but save the conducting for Sunday Dinner. (You bluebloods don’t have a clue to what I’m talking about, but the rest of you know what I mean.)
. Can you relax enough to let your body express itself? Normal facial expressons go along with our spoken language. Smiling, especially--not the "cheese" smile, but the relaxed, lips-apart expression that's part of conversation--puts your audience at ease and conveys your message with sincerity.
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Over to youHow have you prepared for public speaking? For a taped lecture interview? Tips, comments, and of course your personal stories are welcome.
