How to Use a Lav Mic for a TV News Report

Most professional news reporters choose to use a lavaliere microphone when they conduct a sit down television interview. A lavaliere microphone is also referred to in the journalism industry as a lav or lapel microphone. Lavaliere microphones are easy to carry, easy to attach and unobtrusive and they transfer high quality audio back to the camera. Lavaliere microphones are sold wired and wireless.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Position your interview subject sitting in a chair or standing in front of your chosen background before you attach the lavaliere microphone.

2. Clip the lavaliere onto the lapel of the subject's jacket or onto the collar of his shirt.
   When you clip the lav onto a shirt, have the interviewee run the cord up the bottom of his shirt and then clip it onto the collar.

3. Hide the cord behind the jacket or under the shirt.

4. Take the connection where the microphone cable and the camera cable plug into one another and ask the subject to tuck it into her back pocket. This also helps keep the microphone cable hidden and in place.

5. Ask your videographer to get a mic test from the interviewee to test audio levels before you begin the interview.

Tips & Warnings

• If you conduct an interview outside on a windy day, make sure to attach a windscreen. Windscreens should come with all lavaliere microphones. Use it if there's the least bit of wind to avoid wind noise.
• Always come prepared with duct tape or another form of masking tape. If the lavaliere cable won't stay hidden behind the interviewee's jacket, apply a small piece of tape to the cable and attach to the inside of the jacket.

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