By Melissa Sweazy, Creative Director
Congratulations! You’ve been nominated by your boss or your company or by fate to be interviewed on camera. If you are one of the 5% of the population that does not have some fear of public speaking, go back to practicing your Nobel acceptance speech in the mirror. For the rest of us, has the flop sweat started? Is dread coiling in the pit of your stomach, that inner voice whispering or shrieking that you will FAIL. YOU WILL LOOK STUPID. YOU WILL OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND OOPS IT DOUBLES AS A PORTAL TO HELL AND LOOK AT ALL THOSE HELLBEASTS THAT ARE MAKING THEIR ESCAPE! Again, congratulations. These thoughts and feelings mean you are normal, you are a human being whose lizard brain is telling you there is a threat, and you must get to safety at all costs. Saber tooth tiger, or an on-camera interview for HR aimed at new recruits? Potato, potatoh. Lizard brain has a lot to do, ok?
So you can’t or won’t back out. Here are some helpful tips to get you through it.
- Being on camera is intimidating. Let’s get that out of the way first. You’ve got cameras and lights and lots of fancy-looking equipment pointed at you. See all those people standing behind all that gear? They know it’s intimidating. That’s why they make tripods tall enough to hide behind. The crew understands on a fundamental level that you are brave to be in the hot seat, so smile at them while you secretly judge them as the cowards they are.
- If the interview is about you, don’t worry about trick questions. You are the expert on you, so rest assured you can handle questions coming your way. If you’re nervous about the questions, don’t be afraid to ask the producer/interviewer for the questions ahead of time so you can prepare your thoughts.
- The caveat to number 2. Prepare does not mean memorize. As tempting as it is to prepare to the point of committing your responses to memory, you risk sounding like the robot version of you. Unless the robot version of you is like robot Janet from The Good Place, in which case then carry on, because Robot Janet is pretty awesome.
- Do you physically become a nervous wreck as the interview begins? Shaky hands, rapid heartbeat? The good news is that this is actually your body’s way of helping. Kelly McGonigal mentions in her TED Talk (which girlfriend was clearly nervous about preparing for, hence the topic) that this super-delivery system of adrenaline sends extra oxygen to your brain to make it sharper, your body stronger, your thoughts crystalline, so in essence, it’s making you a superhero. A superhero that feels like she just mainlined a vat of Starbucks cold brew, but again, let’s cut your brain some slack, ok? https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en Now that you know why your body is responding that way, make it work for you.
- Have some water on hand or ask for a bottle before the interview starts. Nerves = cotton mouth. Easy fix.
- The simple greatest thing about being on video/film is that it will be edited. If you say the wrong thing or lose track of your thoughts, knowing that it will be edited later gives you the ability to start over, back up, look at your notes, do whatever you need to do to maintain your train of thought, and look like the professional you are. Editing is your friend. You know who’s not your friend? Hydrofluorocarbons from refrigerants. Can’t find a single redeeming feature. (My boss really wants to edit out this last part.)
- What do you wear? Well, what do you wear on days you want to feel confident an/or your best? Pajamas, you say? I don’t disagree. If you can’t rock pajamas, wear a known quantity. That is, make sure this is an outfit you’ve sat in before so there are no surprises, tears, pulls, or anything that would keep you focused on your clothes instead of the task at hand. And maybe not crazy busy patterns or large vertical or horizontal stripes, unless you want viewers to be hypnotized by dancing patterns. Just a thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXEgnRWRJfg
- Again, being on camera is intimidating. Centuries before our faces were bedazzled by snapchat filters, native American culture believed that being photographed stole our souls, a prescient belief system that has never felt more accurate than it does today. We live in a society that increasingly communicates via idealized/filtered/curated versions of ourselves, so the thought of not having control over how our image is being seen and used as we sit for an interview is a valid, powerful fear. I don’t have anything funny to say about this. Just an observation.
- Bring powder. And a hairbrush.
- There is only one of you in the world. You were selected to be filmed and interviewed by Oprah or by your niece’s girl scout troop. You mattered enough to be chosen. Be counted. Do your best. You got this.
