View from the Street: Getting uncomfortable off camera will save any embarrassment on it
Published
Rachel Watson
My first appearance on television went by in a blur.
I vividly recall being asked a question about Ed Balls appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, but most of the other details are lost in a haze.
And, much like Balls on Strictly, I couldn’t bring myself to rewatch the footage, even if I could find it.
The truth is, I was underprepared.
I’ve done countless TV slots since then and, while I’ve become gradually more comfortable with each outing, the experience is no less daunting and visceral.
The sound check is done. A make up artist has painted you a Trumpian shade of orange. The lights go on. Your stomach drops. You instantly forget everything you thought you knew and all the hours of reading and preparation seem wasted. You want to run away but your legs don’t work. And anyway, you are about to go live on television.
It might sound like a bad dream but sitting in a studio as the nerves take hold is a relatively familiar reality for me and, like a lot of people, it’s not something I had really anticipated.
I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I loved making up little books as a child and as I moved into my teenage years writing for a newspaper became my dream. Broadcasting was never something I aspired to. I imagined seeing my name in print, not my face on TV.
But when I left general news reporting behind for the political brief, I soon realised that hiding behind my byline wasn’t an option if I wanted to progress in an increasingly digital age.
Representing my title on news and political broadcast shows had become part of the job. And while I’d been guilty of failing to prepare properly that first time, I was determined never to make the same mistake again.
There was only one thing for it. This journalist needed media training. If that seems counterintuitive, I know from experience that it’s not. There’s a big difference between asking questions and answering them.
No amount of media training will eradicate all those green room nerves. But practising the core skills in a safe environment, with trusted advisers, goes a long way towards making it a more comfortable place.
Journalists and presenters work in a high pressure, time constrained industry. They don’t always ask questions in the way you would like. And in the social media driven time we live in, one televisual stumble can be seen and replayed millions of times.
But most broadcasters are in the business of making good programmes, not tripping people up. As someone who has worked for the BBC as a senior producer, I was always more than happy to share some questions with guests in advance – helping them prepare ensured a better outcome or us too.
The main piece of advice I can give anyone, no matter how experienced you might be, is to seek support from those who can help and will tell it to you straight.
I learned that lesson the hard way. And despite swearing off ever going on broadcast media again, months later I sat shaking in an Aberdeen radio station discussing the SNP conference live on air.
Yes, it still felt like a high-wire act in the moment, but every step had been well rehearsed and this time it went as well as I could have hoped.
Preparation can make you comfortable, but it should never make you complacent, especially when someone is placing a camera or a microphone in front of you.
Ten years on from that formative TV experience, those familiar butterflies still flutter before every appearance. But now they signal that I’m ready to roll, not ready to run.