Is It Best to Stand or Sit During a Media Interview?

This is a question that I get from time to time from people who’ve done a few media interviews. After I give my answer, the person asking the question gives me their story and it’s usually not a good one. One person told me they were seated when a reporter approached and asked if they could do an interview. Before they knew it, the reporter was standing over them asking the first question. The person was terribly uncomfortable and it’s easy to understand why. They were little and the reporter was big. They also needed to look up as they spoke, which is more difficult.

When doing a face-to-face interview, it's best to stand. While being seated may seem more comfortable, it's also much more restricting. Standing gives you better presence, it allows you to have better eye contract with the reporter and use your hands properly.

Being seated can also result in a strange camera angle. If you don't believe me, just look at pro athletes being interviewed in their locker rooms after games and practices. They would look much better if they stood to do those interviews.

Standing also keeps all your organs lined up properly and it’s easier to breathe. At times during media interviews you’ll get nervous and you’ll find that leads to it becoming harder to breathe. You want to do everything you can to make breathing easier, not more difficult. Standing will help this.

Here’s another added benefit of standing. There will be reporters, who either knowingly or unknowingly, will get too close to you as they ask questions. It becomes much easier for you to take a step back if you’re standing. If they crowd you again, stop speaking and ask the reporter to respect your comfort zone.

There’s an exception my standing rule and that’s during longer one-on-one interviews. In these interviews it’s common for the person being interviewed to have a lapel mic on and the reporter to sit a couple of metres away. This provides a more comfortable and relaxed look to the interview and there’s nothing wrong with doing the interview seated, as long as the reporter stays seated as well.

If you are doing a phone interview, try standing as you answer questions, especially if you can use a headset connected to your phone system. This way you can use your hands as you speak and standing will allow you to be more confident as you do the interview. Holding a phone to your ear as you sit can reduce your energy in the interview.

Of course you can use notes during a phone interview, so only try this if you can still read your notes as you speak. Losing the advantage to refer to notes with your key messages and written sound bites isn’t worth the benefit of standing.

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