A Financial Times columnist once wrote entertainingly about the problems that can arise when TV crews, reporters and various hangers-on invade your office. This is not happening much at the moment due to the current restrictions, but things will change sooner or later. Crews can be very nosy, get everywhere and be hard to control on occasion by sheer weight of numbers – particularly if it’s a full-scale production rather than a one- or two-person news crew. Think carefully about the best location for the interview; they will be looking for somewhere with an attractive background with reasonable acoustics, so give them a couple of options if possible. Ensure everybody in the office knows exactly what is going on and why, and make sure they have put away any sensitive corporate information, or embarrassing pictures, if the crew may be passing though your working area. If there is a problem, don’t let your anger show. TV cameras may be running, and nowadays everyone has a video-recording smartphone. So it’s always best to operate on the basis that any outburst could find its way onto YouTube. Be as firm as you need to be, but keep cool and try to appear as reasonable as possible.
Tom on X
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We can now offer on-camera and autocue skills coaching for spokespeople who have to present online video material or webinars.
