LOOKING GOOD   MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL...

You might think it strange that advice about interview skills should be headed 'looking good'. What about the content - what should you say? Surprisingly, what you say hardly matters at all! (At least, to the viewer). It's all about looking good. Fair or not fair, that's the name of the game.

Albert Mehrabian, who made a speciality of observing how people watched and reacted to various forms of information, did a lot of research into how people percieved television interviews.

His findings confirm what television producers and directors had felt for years - you have to look good to do well. Like it or not, that's how people percieve you, your organisation or product.

This is what Mehrabian found about the aspects of an interviewee that influence the viewer:

That's it. The bit you worry most about - what to say - is almost irrelevant to the recipient! It's all about looking good.

So what do you do if you've got Prince Charles ears, a wide centre parting, a nose like a hatchet and zits all over your face?

Smile - that's what.

Of course it's not as simple as that, but read on. You'll be surprised how even the plainest of us can come across as user-friendly.

The main thing is you must have something to say. And then say it. Now that might sound a bit Irish; I've just told you that the viewer is hardly at all interested in what you say. But you must have something to say in order to feel right, in order to look right. You need the kind of confidence that comes from knowing you've got good things to say.

Most of a viewer's perception of a speaker is made up of the visual elements. Only 7% is governed by what he or she says. So you don't have to worry about what you say. Or do you?

Wandering off the subject...

If you go to Savile Row and spend five thousand pounds on a suit, have a shirt made in Jermyn Street and fork out a few hundred for a Hermes tie you'll look brilliant.

But get exactly the same outfit from Ah Wong's tailor shop in Kowloon and you'll look rubbish. Exactly the same kit, two different looks. Because you don't wear them the same. You haven't got that "I spent five thousand on this suit" feel.

In the same way, although the viewer doesn't much care what you say, you'll only look good if you're ready with five thousand quids worth of answers!

Preparation is the name of the game.

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