Doing a TV news interview is a daunting business, especially when it’s a “down-the-line” number that requires you to stare directly into the camera lens and hold your gaze throughout. That’s why we always advise that people should undergo media training before they do it. But of all the organisations that ought to understand this, you’d think that the BBC would know how it should be done.

This week, amid all the turmoil surrounding the BBC following the massive own goal of 2 November’s edition of Newsnight, the corporation apparently forgot to prepare and train Tim Davie – its new acting director general – before he went live on camera.

Davie spent some of Monday taking part in various media interviews, including a live one with Sky News anchor Dermot Murnaghan. The questions were polite but probing – certainly the tone that the BBC should have expected, especially from one of its former presenters. Davie just about answered the questions well, in the sense that he didn’t really say anything wrong.

However, he spent a great deal of the interview flicking his eyes back and forth to someone behind the camera (who viewers could unfortunately see reflected in the window behind him), then decided he’d had enough of the interview and walked off camera. Rather than executing a clean getaway, he stopped; appeared on camera again; seemed to wait for approval from the person behind the camera… then moved off again. All in all, it was a pretty dire performance from someone who ought to have known better – or at least, should have been better advised.

The lessons to be learned from this are:

1. If the interview calls for you to look directly into the camera – do it. Flicking your eyes around is distracting and makes you look like you are hiding something.

2. If you are going to be on camera, make sure you’re aware of what’s behind you – reflections in the background are a distraction for the viewer, who should be able to focus only on what you’re saying.

3. Don’t storm away from an interview, as it will make you look hostile and rude. If you are ambushed by the cameras and feel that you have to say something, get your message out and then politely excuse yourself and go – don’t dither.

4. Finally, get some media training. No one would expect you to handle a live TV news interview well, without a reasonable amount of preparation and practice.