Here are our tips for 2012 on choosing the right TV Presenter Course.  It’s possibly the most important decision you will make if you are keen on becoming a TV Presenter.  Get it wrong and you may end up in the reject pile with millions of others!

These are the questions you need to ask:

1.  WHO RUNS THE COURSE?  TV Presenter Courses have such a bad reputation in our industry.  If you want to get into mainstream broadcasting you need to be working with people who work in the industry.  Also find out what they did – was it their job to hire people?  If they are presenters how do they know what agents and producers look for, if they have never hired anyone themselves?

2.  ARE THE COURSES TAILOR-MADE?  The biggest mistake people make is that they go on courses that are packed and everyone reads the same scripts and ‘pretends to be a TV Presenter’.  Our industry DOESN’T hire presenters we hire PERSONALITIES.  So what you need is unique, tailor-made training to suit you!

3.  WHAT IS THE SUCCESS RATE?  Ask what the success rate is – and ask how they get the results.

4.  DO THEY KNOW THE INDUSTRY? Ask what contacts have they got?  You need to do a course that is connected to the industry – that feeds people in to a very risk-adverse business.  Ask questions like ‘who is the commissioner for entertainment at the BBC’ (the big boss!) or ‘what agents are good’ and see what answers you get back.

5.  WHAT MAKES YOUR COURSE DIFFERENT:  It’s a very difficult industry to get into TV and you need the best chance possible of success.  So ask why their course is different and what do they offer that no one else does.   And why they offer you the best chance of success.  These are all important questions to ask and if you don’t ask you don’t know, and making mistakes are costly!

We’ll give 5 more tips next week!