Is body language important?

Media training candidates sometimes ask me whether body language matters. Some candidates (and more problematically their PR advisors) think there are fixed rules.

My only rules are as follows: first, try to watch yourself on video. Second, don't get too hung up on what you see.

Try not to look like Thunderbirds

A couple of years ago a colleague and I were media training a CEO from a large international company. He was a nice guy and listened to people. Unfortunately one of the people to whom he paid most attention was his public relations person.

That should have been a good thing and it was, until we started filming him. Then she started giving instructions out. He looked relaxed, so she told him to sit up. He'd been speaking with his hands all the way through the session - so she told him to keep them rigidly by his side.

Honestly, by the end of it he looked like a particularly stilted puppet. It just didn't work.

If you're concerned about how you might look when you're being interviewed, first bear in mind that everybody else feels the same - we hate to watch ourselves on television. Second, if you look comparatively relaxed, don't formalise it too much - you're better off looking human.

We all umm and aah a bit in conversation. Take it all out and you look as though you're doing a speech rather than a genuine interview. The audience can spot a prepared question at some distance.

Be natural, be yourself, be prepared and well-briefed. It's pretty much all you're going to need.