Within around 90 minutes of arriving you’ll be sat in front of a studio camera and asked to ad-lib, talking about yourself. But that’s not all...

• You’ll be “counted down”. In other words, you’ll only have - for example - a minute to talk and you must finish bang-on-time on zero
• So, at around 10 seconds left, you should be starting to wind up your conversation so that the viewer thinks you’ve finished naturally - instead of stopping at such a specific time
• As you no doubt know, one of the essential technical skills in the TV presenter’s arsenal is “talking to time”. And, don’t worry, you’ll get a couple of shots at it with one or two being recorded onto your showreel
• Presenters are often called upon to “make it up” and ad-lib for varying amounts of time, particularly during live programmes
• As well as being an introduction to this skill, this exercise mirrors a similar one used at many auditions and screentests
• Some of the things you’ll learn before recording these pieces include:
  • A simple technique to ensure you always finish on time in any on-camera situation
  • What to do if your mind goes “blank”
  • How to lose the “emotion-less eyes” common to many on-camera virgins
  • How to sit or stand for the most flattering effect
  • And, what to do and what to say to increase your chances if you’re faced with an exercise like this at an audition

Click above to watch past highlights from this section