Emotional Image and Personality

Introduction

When viewers talk about generally liking or disliking a newscaster, they are talking about their sense of that person's personality ... or emotional image. Just as you project a certain visual image based on the way you dress and move, you project a certain personality based on the emotional approach you take to communicating with viewers and with the other members of your team.

To put it another way: for viewers, you create a personality by the way you react to the news and to the people on the air with you.

If viewers understand and appreciate the way you react to the news and to teammates, they will say that they like you. If something about your reactions is consistently ambiguous or even distasteful, they will say that they do not like you.

This is not to say that you must always be warm and fuzzy. It is to say that:

• your reactions must be specific and appropriate
• you must show genuine interest in how the news is likely to affect your community, and
• you must treat colleagues with authentic respect.

For viewers, the sum of these efforts is your personality.

Emotional Image and Personality: