Communicating to a TV camera

By João Tiago - Journalist

The last few decades have witnessed a dramatic transformation in the way we communicate with each other. Thanks to the explosion of social networks and other digital technologies, any individual today has the opportunity to communicate to a global audience in ways and scope that were previously reserved for professionals.

There are now more than 4.2 billion social media users worldwide and that number continues to grow. These platforms have given rise to a new generation of communicators, from YouTube stars to Instagram influencers, able to reach massive audiences with their messages.

But it's not just online personalities who use these new tools to communicate. In fact, most consumers today follow the video content of the brands they follow, leading even traditional companies to recognize the power of video as a communication tool.

This reality confronts us with the realization that knowing how to communicate effectively with a television camera is no longer an exclusive domain of journalists or television animators. This is an increasingly relevant and transversal competence for anyone who wants to communicate with a wide audience, whether an executive or a car salesman, even if their basic training did not prepare them for this reality.

For those who, by obligation, vocation or curiosity, have to speak in front of a camera, here are some tips:

- Before you speak, think about who your audience is. Adjust the message accordingly. The simpler the better.

- If it's an interview, look at the interviewer and not directly at the camera. If it's a direct to a social network, for example, do the opposite and make the lens your interlocutor.

- If you are standing, spread your legs slightly and place your feet more or less shoulder-width apart. This way you will feel secure, you won´t swing as if you were on a high sea.

- If you are sitting, sit in the front half of the chair. Don't lean back, or you'll get crooked and awkwardly positioned. If you have a jacket, tuck the back under you when you sit down. This prevents the fabric from looking wrinkled on the shoulder.

- Speak slowly, but as close to your natural tone as possible, as if you were talking to someone you know. Breathe. Take micro pauses and it's okay to smile if the subject is light.

- If you make a mistake, accept the mistake with fun and go on. Nothing more natural.

- If the intervention is live and something strange happens nearby, if it is audible or perceptible to whoever is watching, do not disguise it, assume what is happening and proceed. Example: A projector fell at the back of the studio and the crash was heard…. It's ok, smile, explain and continue the reasoning. If the room is on fire, say you can't continue for now and get to safety. That's what happened to me in this photo. In the middle of a fire I had to protect myself from the discharge of a Canadair. Things happen.