Updated
Energy on camera matters because it is what makes an audience care about what you are saying, not just understand it. The fastest way to raise it is not caffeine or forced enthusiasm, it is asking yourself one honest question before you speak: why am I passionate about this. Answering that question out loud is what actually brings the energy up.
Early in my career as a TV producer, I used to keep sweets and doughnuts in the greenroom for guests before they went on, because a little sugar would nudge their energy up before the lights went on. It worked, a little, and it was probably not the healthiest technique in the building. What actually works better does not involve a snack table at all.
Why this matters (and what most executives get wrong)
Most people think of energy as a personality trait, something you either have or you don't. Low energy on camera gets treated as an unfixable fact about a person rather than what it actually is, a signal that can be raised on purpose, the same way volume or pace can be adjusted.
What gets missed is that an audience is reading your energy as a proxy for how much you care about your own subject. Flat delivery, even of genuinely important information, tells a viewer that the person talking does not find it especially interesting either. If you do not sound like it matters to you, it will not matter to them.
Passion. Ask why you are passionate about what you do, who you help, and what benefit you put out into the world, and the energy comes up on its own.
How to raise your energy before an interview
1. Ask yourself why you are passionate about the topic
Not a rehearsed answer. A real one. Why does this actually matter to you. The honest answer, thought through right before you speak, changes your energy more reliably than trying to perform enthusiasm from a cold start.
2. Ask who you actually help
Put a real person or group in your head, not an abstract market or audience. Energy rises when you are speaking toward someone specific instead of into the air.
3. Name the benefit you are putting into the world
Connect the topic to what actually changes for someone because of the work. That connection is where the genuine energy comes from, not from volume alone.
4. Let your body and voice carry it
Once the internal energy is real, let it show. Voice and body language are the tools that carry passion to an audience that cannot read your mind, so do not leave the energy trapped inside a flat delivery.
My level of energy may be different than yours. The point is not to match mine. The point is to bring your own up a notch from where it is right now.
The mistake most executives make
The most common mistake is trying to manufacture energy from the outside in, speaking louder or faster without anything real underneath it. That version of energy reads as forced almost immediately, and audiences are quick to sense performed enthusiasm versus the genuine kind.
The second mistake is assuming energy is fixed and cannot be adjusted at all. It is closer to a dial than a switch. Most people can raise it noticeably just by spending thirty seconds connecting to their actual reason for caring before they start speaking.
Case study: the guest who woke up mid-answer
A financial service executive I worked with delivered facts about her organization's work in a flat, informative tone, technically correct and completely unmemorable. I asked her, off camera, why she actually cared about this particular program. Her whole demeanor changed as she answered, voice up, hands moving, visibly engaged.
We recorded the same content again, right after that conversation, and the difference on camera was immediate. Nothing about the facts had changed. What changed was that she was now speaking from the honest answer to why it mattered to her, instead of reciting information she had memorized.
What to do next
Before your next interview, spend thirty seconds with the three questions: why am I passionate about this, who do I help, what benefit am I putting into the world. Answer them honestly, out loud, right before you go on. If you want a coach to help you find and channel that energy on camera, get a quick quote.
Once your energy is genuine, pair it with the physical delivery that carries it. Read body language in a media interview and how to use emotion in a media interview.