Five tips for economists on camera

Don’t look at the camera – unless asked to.

Wear something colourful. It’s a visual medium: if you want to stand out from the sea of grey suits, some colour will go a long way. If you don’t want to stand out: beige is best.

Bring make-up and a mirror. We do this for our interviews but many producers don’t. Producers won’t mind if you live up to the stereotype of dusty professor. If you have long hair, beware of the stray hairs, known as ‘flyaways’. If you are applying make-up: keep to what you know and feel comfortable with, keep skin well moisturised but use matt foundation, not anything glossy or shiny.

Avoid wearing glasses if you can. Interviews on camera will capture how you say something as much as what you say. The eyes are a big part of your character that the camera is trying to capture –  if you wear glasses, there is a risk that the studio lighting will reflect in your glasses and cover up or distract from your eyes.

Don’t wear stripes. For reasons too technical and boring to explain, stripes don’t look good on camera (if ‘technical and boring’ is up your street, the effect is called aliasing)