Appearing on television is a great opportunity to talk about your brand, but if you’ve never done it before it can be intimidating.
Knowing what to wear to look your best for the cameras may take some of the anxiety out of the experience.
What to wear:
Wear nicely fitted clothes that are well pressed and wrinkle-free.
Stick to solid colors that work with your skin tone.
Blues, grays, magentas, and browns are all good. Pastels are OK, too.
Wear a blue or off-white dress shirt instead of bright white, since white can overexpose.
A dark navy suit always looks great on men.
A sheath fitted dress is an excellent choice for many women.
Wear knee-length socks – if you cross your legs, you don’t want your bare skin showing.
What NOT to wear:
All busy, repeating patterns like herringbone, thin stripes, and small checks – even on ties. They ‘vibrate’ on camera.
Deep blacks, bright whites, and nudes – they all cause lighting problems.
Bright green shirts – they’ll give your skin an unhealthy-looking pallor.
Large areas of bright red, which can ‘bleed’ on camera.
Loose, billowy, or wrinkled clothes – they’ll make you look frumpy.
A bright white undershirt – it can show through your shirt under bright TV lights.
Scarves and turtlenecks – they can muffle your audio or rub on your microphone.
Excessive jewelry – especially jewelry that will glare in the lights or jangle noisily.
Light-colored t-shirt style shirts – these make it very difficult to hide the microphone.
Logos – If you’re promoting a brand or a cause it may be appropriate to wear your logo. If not, avoid logos and brand names like the plague. You don’t want to find out later that there’s a conflict of interest between the logo you’re wearing and the people who are sponsoring or distributing the program.
Make up is okay – Men and women alike should wear light powder to avoid shining under the lights. Visit a good makeup shop and ask for some loose powder in your skin tone to minimize shine. Oil blotting paper works well, too.
Remember, the anchor/reporter doing the interview wants the segment to come off as good as you do.
Have your key messages ready, share them with the interviewer well before the segment…and have fun.