Your first TV appearance will be a very exciting experience, and you’ll probably spend hours carefully preparing what you want to say. You’ll also very likely spend much time preparing what to wear. This is a vital part of
process because TV is primarily a visual medium and how you look is an important part of package. So, to save you some time, here are rules:· Don’t wear all black. You’ll look as though you’re disappearing into a hole. This often throws women into a panic, as we love slimming properties of black, particularly when TV will probably make you look slightly heavier than you are in real life. Black trousers or skirt will normally be fine as a filmed interview will generally concentrate on your top half, but do go for a colour on top if you can.
· Don’t wear all white. It makes TV lights bounce back and you’ll look as though you just descended from heavens on a cloud.
· Don’t wear anything with a very small pattern such as pin-stripes, tweed or polka dots. Again, it has a strange effect on TV lights known as strobing. Men should avoid pinstripe shirts – bring a change of clothes if you’re not sure.
· No visible logos of companies or brands (watch out for this particularly on sportswear) as this may be regarded as advertising. You may be asked to change if a logo is too obvious.
· Avoid buying a new outfit day before and acting as if you’re going to a job interview. If you feel too stiff and formal in your clothes this will affect how you express yourself.
· If you can’t decide what to wear, bring a change of clothes – plenty of people do and it can be a good idea if your original choice turns out to be unsuitable.
· Ask if there are any colours you should avoid wearing. This can happen if they clash with set, or if an effect called ChromaKey is to be used – this is effect which is used as basis of some special effects, where a particular colour is replaced by pictures. The usual colours affected by this are green and blue (this is why it’s commonly known as blue screen effects). So if you were in a studio where this effect was being used and you happened to be wearing a blue tie, you could look as if you had a big hole in middle of your body, which will probably not enhance your corporate image.
