Clothes Make the Man - at Least on TV

If the undulations of your paisley tie on screen make your viewers go cross-eyed, they won’t hear a word you say. So men, when dressing for television, keep it simple:

• No geometric patterns, closely-spaced stripes, checks, or herringbone. Like paisley, they can create a dizzying moiré pattern on the screen, or “swim” effect.
• For most skin types, contrast is best: maybe a light blue shirt with a matching striped or large-pattern tie underneath a solid color suit in dark blue or charcoal. Also, dress the part – keep it fairly conservative if you’re a banker; if you’re a musician or a creative director you can get away with the black shirt under the black suit jacket.
• Avoid button-down collars - a straight color gives a more polished look.
• White shirts used to be a no-no, but most modern cameras can handle them now. Just be sure to wear them under a jacket for contrast.
• Skip flashy jewelry, which can also reflect light.
• Be sure to wear knee length socks – we don’t want to see your bare calves in the wide shot.
• If your suit fits well, button it. If it doesn’t, you don’t want it billowing forth.
• If you need glasses and can't wear contacts, get a pair with non-reflective lenses to reduce the glare.

Finally, it never hurts to check with the producer in advance about the setup and color scheme of the set. You don't want to blend in. Will you be sitting or standing? Give your outfit a dry run in front of a friend's iPhone or video camera — sitting, standing, with legs crossed, from near and afar. And remember, if your target audience misses you on TV, they're going to head to You Tube, so best to see how you look on the tiniest of screens as well as the big one.

Next time: Clothes Make The Woman

Rand Paul: Know Your Audience

Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul paid a visit this week to what is probably America’s best-known historically black college, Howard University in Washington, D.C. – and it didn’t go so well.

Along with the rest of the Republican Party, Paul is trying to win more African-American votes.  So he gave a speech at Howard arguing that smaller government and other Republican values should appeal to the black community. But he got himself in trouble when he clumsily tried to bluff his way through making a point without realizing that the audience knew more than he did.

He said Republicans had always supported civil rights, and to prove it, he pointed out that one of the first African-American U.S. Senators was a Republican. Too bad he couldn’t remember the Senator’s name.

“Uh, I’m blanking on his name,” he said, “from Massachusetts.”

A number of students in the audience quickly said “Edward Brooke!” and proceed to laugh when Paul then “repeated” the name, misstating it as “Edwin Brooks.”

It got worse when Paul then asked the audience if they realized that the founders of the NAACP were all Republicans.  Several people said “yes,” and one woman said “of course.” To which Paul said “I don’t know what you know.”

But he should have known, and that’s the point. Know your audience: it’s one of the cardinal rules of media training. As a high-profile U.S. Senator, Paul certainly has the resources to do some basic research on the knowledge level of his audience. Did he really think that a roomful of African-American college kids wouldn’t know that the founders of the NAACP were Republicans? Come on.

Not knowing that made him look clueless and condescending at the same time. And I’m guessing he didn’t score a lot of points for his team.

How Not to Apologize

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi managed to make a bad situation infinitely worse yesterday with his tone-deaf and arrogant news conference addressing his men’s basketball team scandal.

To recap the timeline: in November 2012, the team’s director of player development brought Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti dozens of video clips showing Coach Mike Rice engaging in abusive behavior toward his players during team practices: pushing them, kicking them, throwing basketballs at their heads, yelling homophobic slurs at them. After seeing this, Pernetti and other university officials decided not to terminate Rice, but to fine him and put him on probation. President Barchi says he didn’t bother to watch the video at the time because he relied on the judgment of his administrators and trusted their decision.

Fast-forward to this past Tuesday, April 2. ESPN airs the offending video, the public erupts with shock and disgust, President Barchi finally gets around to viewing the video himself, and Coach Rice resigns the following day, April 3. Two days later on April 5, Barchi holds a news conference to address the issues publicly.

Right from his opening statement, I had the sinking feeling that Barchi was taking the wrong approach. He did apologize, but he said the whole debacle was “a failure of process,” not his own failure. When asked if he had considered resigning, he smiled and flippantly said “I consider resigning every day.” What? His whole tone was somehow too casual and haughty at the same time, as if he wasn’t taking this very serious situation seriously because it was somewhat beneath him.

Rule #1 of media training for crisis management: when bad things happen, address them immediately, take full responsibility, and if an apology is called for (as it certainly was in this case), it should be complete, unequivocal and sincere. No qualifications or weak attempts at humor.

As of this writing, President Barchi still has his job. But he didn’t help himself with his pathetic performance in front of the cameras.

Real Men Wear Makeup

Your words might have the power to change the world, but no one's going to hear them if your face is shinier than a dead mackerel.

The solution: makeup.

If you’re lucky or high-powered enough to get yourself on MSNBC or Fox News, you’re in good hands; professional makeup artists will be there to help you look your best. But in other on-camera situations like smaller-market TV studios or even corporate videoconferences, you’re on your own. Bright lights make even dry skin shimmer.  Noses, foreheads, upper lips, and bald heads are all potential trouble spots. So, a few tips for the cosmetics-phobic:

The first step is to camouflage 5 o'clock shadow. Even if you’ve just shaved, this can still be a problem for men with heavy beards. You also need cover up blemishes, moles, acne scars, and blotchy skin, all more noticeable these days thanks to HD TV. So buy some foundation at the makeup counter and brush it on. Once that’s in place, pat on pressed powder to reduce glare.  An extra dab of powder on the upper lip just before going on air is a good idea.

Be sure to work the foundation and powder down your neck, or you'll end up with what looks like golfer's tan on your chin. President Obama had a little bit of that going on at the State of the Union address when he was mingling with the crowd beforehand. But once he was on the podium, under the TV lights, you couldn't tell he was wearing makeup at all, which is what you want.  Extra tip for the bald or balding: The powder goes on your head too.

You can stop there, but if you want to take it to the next level, work a narrow strip of foundation, a bit lighter than the one you just used, along the middle of your nose to widen your face. Highlight your cheekbones with a bit of blush, and sweep a thin line of eyeliner on your lower lids to make your eyes look bigger. Less is more.

Make sure the products match your skin tone - makeup salespeople in department and specialty stores are usually good at this. And try them on your face, not your hand, which often has a slightly different skin tone. MAC makes a stay-on line of makeup called Studio Fix expressly for on-air occasions.

Needless to say, there are a few other grooming non-negotiables: clipping nose and ear hair (get a friend to help spot these), short, clean nails, and especially if the interview is outside, hairspray. A word about outdoor interviews: natural light is more forgiving than studio lighting. Least desirable is overhead fluorescent lights in a conference room or office.

Most important, don't get caught "doing your face”(or hair) on camera. One of the more unfortunate scenes in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 featured former Paul Wolfowitz spitting on his comb while tape was rolling. It was certainly memorable, but not the way you want to be remembered.

Mirror, Mirror

 

A friend asked me last week whether it's a good idea to practice in front of a mirror before delivering a speech or presentation. The answer to the first half of his question is a definitive yes; one should always try to find time to practice out loud beforehand. It's the single best way to keep nervousness at bay, and it greatly improves pacing and delivery.

But I don't recommend the mirror part. It's distracting. Kind of like steering with a tiller for the first time - it looks and feels "backwards," and you're bound to be self-conscious.

Better to grab a video camera or your smartphone and record yourself. If you don't have a tripod, just balance the recording device on a stack of books or lean it on a shelf. This way, you can concentrate on your delivery and visualize the environment and the audience. Deliver your entire presentation if you have time, then play it back and take notes. Are you gesturing in a strong but non-distracting way? Are you emphasizing key words? Are making steady eye contact with the (imaginary) audience, or are you looking down at your notes too much? Try to practice and review the entire thing at least three times before you do it for real. There's nothing like seeing what the audience will see before they see it.