A career in television news is like a first date that never ends

At one end of the personality spectrum you find Mary Hart of Entertainment Tonight. At the other end, you find Ben Stein. (Bueller? Bueller?)

Most of us lie somewhere in between. But if you're on television and you're closer to Stein than Hart, you're in trouble.

Every time I get a new client I start things off with a phone call. In many cases, the client's personality just jumps through the telephone. I'm talking to Mary Hart. And then the tape arrives and I end up looking at Ben Stein.

Many of you are apparently checking your personalities at the door when you arrive in the newsroom. And unless that changes, unless the viewer can see different aspects of your personality, you're going nowhere.

You need to imagine yourself on a first date every day. Imagine that you're going to dinner with someone you really want to impress. You not only want to look your best, but show off a personality that is magnetic. If the person across the dinner table sits there and talks in a monotone, and shows no life, you wouldn't want a second date.

Think back to high school or college. The most popular people weren't always the most beautiful, but those who had a life force that was irresistible.

That life force needs to jump through the television screen when you're on camera, and needs to be in your voice when you're not.

Too many people fail to realize that the eyes are truly the windows of the soul. I used to work with an anchor who never used her eyes; they were the same for every story. One day I took some sheets of paper and taped them across the bottom of the television screen, then ran an aircheck of the anchor with the sound off. When she saw this, she realized that her eyes were exactly the same whether she was reading a story about a murder or one that was light hearted.

The same holds true of your voice. If covering a sad story, your voice can be soft and convey emotion. When doing a feature, inject some excitement into your voice.

Use your eyes, use your voice. Check out Mary Hart, and see how she uses both. While she's certainly over the top, she's not boring. Now imagine Ben Stein hosting Entertainment Tonight. It would be a completely different experience.

Remember, you're on a first date with the viewer every day. If you want to be asked out again, your personality has to come through.