fbpx

TV Presenter Show Reels

TV Presenter Show Reels

TV Presenter Show Reels

Category: Presenter Career Strategy

Your TV Presenter Show Reel is the most important marketing tool you will have as a TV Presenter so you must make sure you get it right. No-one is going to hire you without seeing what you are like on camera.

If you’re serious about having a career as a TV Presenter here are 10 Top Tips to make sure your TV Presenter Show Reel stands out and you can get seen:

1. Keep it short & sweet! Show reels are getting shorter and shorter. Ideally, your show reel should contain at least 4-6 clips and around 2-2 half minutes, no longer than 3 minutes.

2. Always put your best/newest pieces first. Most professionals looking at a show reel only watch the first 10 seconds, so you really need to make an impact within this time. If you are in regular contact with a producer or casting director when they’re looking at your updated show reel they can see the newest PTC’s. Your making their job a lot easier.

3. Your TV Presenter Show Reel should show that you’re not only a confident and natural presenter but more importantly your personality, expertise, and your brand, what is your talent! Ideally, it should look like a collage of presenting work/projects you have done over a year. Don’t pretend that it’s from the BBC when it’s not! Make sure your show reel is not branded by the company that made it, it’s a marketing tool for them and not a promotional video for you!

4. Try to think what your brand is or area of expertise, your passion or just something you’re knowledgeable or passionate in. If you can’t think of anything, imagine what show you would want to present, if you could present any show in the world. Is it sports, politics, light entertainment or children’s then try to base it around that. One thing to try and avoid is having bits and pieces from every genre, news-broadcasting, shopping tv, children’s, sports. An agent or casting director will not know where to market you and will not know what your brand is. Casting directors & producers are busy people and may look at hundreds of show reels for a casting, it can be a tedious job so you really need to stand out in the first 10 seconds, most people will have switched off after 30 seconds so make sure your best bits are first! Think of it as a trailer to a movie and keep them wanting more so they will call you in. If you have done presenting in different genres it’s best to have separate reels. We have a lot of TV Presenters who do corporate presenting who have a completely separate reel.

5. Keep it updated. Show reels are a work in progress and should ideally be updated at a minimum of every 6 months to a year, if it’s not, a casting director/producer may not think your current and might wonder if you are a bit ‘rusty’ or ‘out of practice’. It’s really easy to update with editing programs such as iMovie and as a new Presenter, it’s always best to how to edit so you can update as and when you get new material.

6. Stay away from telly talk i.e ‘Hello and welcome to the show’ or ‘coming up after the break’. It’s a cliche. Just imagine how many times these phrases are used in show reels and a casting director/producer has to listen to them.

7. Don’t copy anyone else’s show reel or material this isn’t going to do you any good. We regularly have casting calls and we see a lot of show reels with the same script and backgrounds.

8. Make sure the lighting and sound is good. Fifty percent of video is sound and even if you look good if the sound is back the viewer is going to turn off.

9. No long graphical intros or collages get straight into the good stuff.

10. Personality, Personality, Personality, show what makes you different, what’s your USP? Why will people watch you? Be unique but more importantly be yourself.

On our 5 Day TV Presenting Masterclass we produce bespoke Show Reels individually to your needs, we also run 1 to 1 show reel production days. Recent examples can be found on our YouTube channel by CLICKING HERE.

If you would like to chat to us about show reel production or your show reel, email us info@tvtraining.org.uk or call 0800 046 3447.