Hillside Media Training

Yes Andy Murray’s Wimbledon win was impressive but why wasn’t I glued to the set during the match? In fact I was driven to keep wandering out to find something else to do. There is a huge difference between what works on screen and what works in the flesh. Often some TV presenters you meet in the flesh are strangely plain but the camera loves them and they light the screen.

Poor old Murray is not blessed yet with on screen looks. He may be magnificent when you are actually there watching him in Centre Court but just why doesn’t he translate to the TV screen?

Like many people he or his PR team have not yet realised that any interview on radio and TV should be a managed, controlled performance. We producers are not looking for actors or automatons but real characters who look and sound passionate and enthusiastic. McEnroe and the other on air commentators can bleat on how great Murray is but we the audience can’t see it! When he speaks to the interviewer after the match, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of a good TV presence. Just look at his eye line. He looks away before he answers any question – the viewer interprets that as shifty or unsure. He has nervous tics which betray his unease even when he has just delivered a 3 straight set victory. For God’s sake, he should be on cloud 9.The adrenaline should still be flowing . But he scratches his head. He looks down. He even sounds defensive. Even more surprising, at the end of the interview when he thinks it’s all over his shoulders collapse and he appears awkward. He looks dare I say it –DEFEATED!

Come on Andy –  Today you were a winner. You need to look like one. What you need is some TV Training!!

Come on you journos! Get  clever. Why all this ridiculous hype suggesting it’s foregone conclusion Murray should get to the Final? Get real. The real deal is that he will be lucky to do so. Every broadcast interviewer asks pundits “Do you think Murray will get into final?” Just watch the body language as each “expert “squirms and finds a tactful way to say it’s at best a tough call.

If you were really marketing Murray well, you would take the opposite position.  Hype up how difficult it will be and paint him as the underdog. Then we Brits poor saps will all be right behind him instead of the rather lukewarm reaction from the crowds. The match on Monday took ages for the crowd to get engaged. Speak it softly – he is not an exciting player. He may have all the shots but personality – where is it? Need more than that to be a crowd pleaser. Tennis like every other sport these days is personality driven. Create a brand and the money follows. But successful characters need to be just that –real characters.

Murray Mania? Nah! But like the Green Shoots Story! Let’s hope I am wrong