On-screen Interviewing: The Media & You

Series Summary

The more ubiquitous media and technology become, the more likely it is that you will be on-screen giving an interview, speaking your mind, offering your opinions, serving as spokesperson of your group. Watching a professional actor, politician or activist with years of training in giving interviews is one thing. Sitting in the hot seat yourself is a completely different ballgame.

Aimy Kersey is a professional screen coach with 25 years experience in film and theater. She regularly appears on radio and television. In this free media video series, Amy will teach you how to give an on-screen interview. She will help you prepare your content, your appearance, your mind, emotions and nerves, and your voice. She will give you insightful guidelines for the moments before the interview begins. She will open your eyes to what it will be like to be sitting in front of a camera answering questions.

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. At one stage in our lives, many of us will need to be on screen or in front of the camera, either to present, to answer questions connected to an event, or to represent our point of view. Maybe you're interested in a career on screen. I'm going to give you some basic pointers to avoid some common mistakes. You may remember some amazingly bad press interview. Miss Wold's statements or appalling celebrity blunders. They could all have been avoided with a little bit of screen coaching. There are generally six areas that you need to be aware of. Preparing to be mentally and physically confident, speech, appearance, body language, energy or pace and question handling. I'll break each of these down to help you get through anything from a press interview about a neighbor's cat, to an in-depth interview on how you fought off an armed attacker in a parking lot. Even if you're doing your first screen test as a walk on, a lot of these points will be of use. You know when you see a presenter or an interviewee whether what they're doing or saying is genuine and meaningful. And I'll show you how to do this. Andy Warhol said, "in the future, everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes". Warhol's comment and the insight it expresses grew out of his own interest in fame and celebrity. His view of the media was that they could enable any person to become famous. Warhol's own shifting entourage of otherwise undistinguished hangers on in the sixties and seventies, who he dubbed his superstars, exemplified his idea of short term, disposable celebrity. The truth is that fifteen minutes is a lot closer to all of us. We just have to make the best of it when it happens."