On-screen Interviewing: Being Conversational

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. Be conversational. Very often when people are in front of the camera, they clam up and become very stiff and formal. Everything they say becomes like a script or as if they're quoting something. Always try and imagine that they interviewer is just a friend you are talking to in your front room. Try to naturalize everything you're saying and then you'll feel comfortable and the people that are watching will feel comfortable watching you. Never try and extend what you're saying unnecessarily. If you can say everything that needs to be said in 30 seconds or less, it makes it less confusing for the person that's watching. Try and get to your point without all the extra waffle that sometimes goes on. Deliver your message with confidence. After all, you know more about the story topic than the interviewer. I have Laurie with me and we're going to talk about being conversational during an interview. Laurie, I want to do a bit of role playing and I want you to demonstrate how you should not be interviewed. You think you can do that? I think so. Ok. Laurie I heard you found the Roman coin in your yard. Yes. And when did you find this? Yesterday. And was it buried very deep? Not very deep, no. And what are you going to do with it? I don't know yet. Ok. That's very difficult for an interviewer. Let's play it another way where you can be a little bit more conversational with me. Ok. Laurie, I hear you found a Roman coin in your yard. Yes, we did. I was in the backyard with my children and we were getting ready to plant some flowers and so we were digging away and all the sudden one of children saw this little glimmer and we weren't sure what it was, so we went over and dug it up and sure enough there was this coin that we had never seen before. It was pretty exciting. How amazing. And do you know much about its history? I don't, but we have some friends that are looking into it and it looks like its something that's really old and probably has an interesting story to it. And what are you going to do with it? Well, we want to find out the history of the coin, like where it came from and how it got into our yard and then we'll decide what to do with it after that. Wonderful. Ok, now that was a big difference and it certainly makes the interviewer's job a lot easier."