On-screen Interviewing: Controlling Nerves

Video Transcript

Hi, my name is Aimy Kersey. I want to talk to you today about some general screen tips. What to do when you find yourself in front of the camera? Now, it?s time to get your nerves under control. You're now ready for radio and television interviews. You're prepared. You look great. And you're ready to go. You arrive at the station on time and then it happens. You realize, you will be the one in front of the microphone or camera. Your palms sweat. Your stomach churns. What are you going to do? Stage fright is not a fatal disease. Just remember, you never look as nervous as we feel or not normally. With a few tips, you can overcome your fears and give a successful interview. Be organized and concise. Read over your material in advance to keep from sounding strained or awkward. Concentrate on the question being asked. It may seem really obvious but very often, you're so busy thinking about the answer you're going to give that you don't actually listen to the question you're being asked. And I've seen people on television answering a completely different question to the one the interviewer just asked them. Pause before answering a question just long enough to formulate an outline of the answer. If you really get stuck and you're not sure you really heard that question correctly. Or you haven't given yourself enough time to really come up with an appropriate question. You can always stall for time in a way that seems appropriate by restating the question. For instance, if the interviewer says, "So where were you at the time when this happened?" You can always say, "Well, at the time happened, I was..." And that just gives you a little bit more time. Before an interview starts, take a deep breath. Get a drink of water. Laugh or yawn. Why yawn? Because you can't yawn and be tense at the same time. Even a nervous laugh to yourself will help relieve tension. But keep in mind the noise factor if you're in a live recording. Always remind yourself that were asked to be interviewed because you saw something that someone else didn't. Or you're more knowledgeable in an area. If you need to present something prior to the interview, review taped performances of yourself to identify presentation strengths and weaknesses. Be sure that the TV station has your proper name spelling and title. Seeing eye to eye to them appearing incorrectly on the TV screen can throw you off guard. You might not know it's your turn to speak. So Lori, you've mentally prepared for your interview. You've done your background homework. You found your subjects about and you thought up some ways that you can be conversational. How now do you get your nerves under control? Can you think of any ways that you prepare in that way? Well first of all, I probably just kind of want to try to relax as much as I can. Take some deep breaths. Remember that I'm prepared, that will help a lot. And I guess just try and think, this will be over soon and it won't kill me. But I love to hear more ideas. Well you know very often when you're interviewed. If it?s a local news station, it could be very early in the morning. And so, there are some exercises you can do for your throat to help you warm your throat up. Because what you don't want to do is be in a middle of a interview and go to speak and your voice is very low or it's hoarse or it cracks. So I find maybe drinking some hot water with some lemon juice helps ease my throat. Warms it up. Maybe just doing a few little humming exercises again to just warm it up. And then to really remember that you have prepared. Maybe to think of some more conversational pieces like we talked about before where you can just expound on what he's asking you. And as long has you've done that kind of preparation, I think that you are ready to go. Remember you know more about this than the interviewer does.

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