3 Tips On Getting Interviewed On Camera

By Joe Cunningham, Internet Marketing Manager
07/03/2013

I try to be cool, but it doesn’t always work out.  Lately at Cowley, we’ve been filming some videos (we call “Talk-A-Bouts”) on what we do as part of our own agency promo.  Guess whose idea that was?  And guess who gets to be in a bunch of them?

I managed to be pretty awkward in my first appearance, but got the point across, and learned a few things too.  Here are three tips I garnered from the experience on getting interviewed on camera.

3 Tips On Getting Interviewed On Camera

These are in no real order.

#1: Relax and Be Yourself

Lion KingAll the “don’t worry, be happy” stuff; “hakuna matata,” etc.  Remember in grade school when the music teacher said to imagine the audience was in their underwear?  Well, that never worked for me (too many disgusting looking people in the front row); but you get the idea.  Use whatever tactic you find useful, but don’t try to be someone you’re not.  The camera has a way of becoming a million people both literally and figuratively: the whole world can see you once the video goes viral, but after all it is just a machine.  Chill out and just do it.

#2: Know What You Gotta’ Say and Just Say It

So we had a script which was more just bullet points.  That worked very well and we did several run throughs, Tracey, our Project Manager, and I, before shooting the real take.  That way the examples and words flowed smoothly (none of us are Oscar-winning actors, let’s be honest) and we just picked up on what we had rehearsed and let it flow.  I have to admit, we did a pretty good job in this regard: we had our roles well defined.  Tracey led the discussion, while I filled in the blanks with geeky stats and info.  All in all, not a bad final cut.

I’m also a screenwriter so going without a word-by-word script is against my training and nature (rule #1 of film: “No great movie comes without a great script.”) but for an interview it’s okay to improvise with some general direction.  And, more often than not, it’s in the nature of an interview to be asked on-the-spot questions.  So prep yourself as best you can; then it’s all lights, camera, action.

#3: Have Fun!

Poe and Joe InterviewedI literally started writing this blog while we were prepping for another interview with myself and (believe it or not) our company mascot, Poe the Gnome.  Given the nature of the interview, it was a lot easier to have fun, though last time the explicatives that won’t even make it to the blooper reel made stuff a lot of fun too.

In short, loosen up!  It’s more natural and in turn, really more professional.  It makes you look good, as opposed to awkward as he[ck].  Comparatively, (we just finished the shoot) I really rocked the interview today because I had fun and in turn relaxed (tip #1).

In Closing

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences, add your own tips in the comments box below!  And check out our videos on our Vimeo account, website, and Pinterest page.  Happy filming and break a leg!

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