Lav placement: where to clip a lavalier microphone

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

A lavalier, or lav, is a small clip-on microphone. This page is for presenters, producers and anyone fitting one for the first time: where to clip it, how to dress the cable and how to check it before the take.

Why placement matters more than the microphone

A lavalier picks up whatever is nearest to it. Clipped to the chest, it hears the voice clearly and very little of the room. Any rub, cloth noise or pull on the cable arrives on the track at full strength, so the position does most of the work.

Step by step

1. Lay the cable out before you clip. Look for kinks and a loose connector, and check the mic is the one on your sheet.
2. Clip the microphone to the centre of the chest, a little below the collar bone, with the capsule pointing up toward the mouth. On a shirt with a placket, clip it just inside the placket so the clip does not show.
3. Route the cable under the clothing, down the back or across the body. Leave a small loop at the clip so that any pull moves the loop, not the microphone.
4. Tape the cable to the skin or a fold of fabric, away from the collar, buttons, zips and straps.
5. Ask the person to speak, turn their head and sit back in the chair. Listen on headphones for rustle and clothing noise.
6. Record a short line, play it back, and then start the take.

A worked example

A presenter in a cotton shirt and an unlined jacket is filming a three-minute piece to camera. The lav clips inside the shirt placket, two buttons below the collar, with the capsule pointing up. The cable runs down inside the shirt, with a small loop below the clip held by tape, and round to the transmitter pack on the belt at the back. On the first listen there is a scratch each time she turns, where the jacket edge brushes the shirt. Moving the clip one button lower and taping the shirt flat either side of it clears the noise, and the take goes ahead.

Common mistakes

• Clipping to a lapel or a tie. Both swing as the person moves, and the mic picks up the swing.
• Putting the mic under a thick jacket. The lining rubs, and the fabric dulls the voice.
• Letting the cable hang free so every movement reaches the track.
• Not checking the tightest shot. If the mic is meant to be hidden, look at the close-up on the monitor. If it is meant to show, clip it straight and tidy.
• Setting levels with a loud test voice and then recording a quiet speaker.

When a lav is the wrong tool

A lav suits one person speaking from one place. For a group, a moving subject or a loud room, a boom or a handheld microphone usually does better. The mic technique for podcasts page covers distance and angle, and the location sound starter covers the wider kit list.

Granary and lav mics

Granary has Sanken COS-11D lavalier microphones in the kit. Tell us when you book the studio if you need lavs, so we can plan the cables and the sound check with the rest of the day.

Related guides

• Location sound starter: boom, lav, room tone
• Sound report template, with a worked example
• Timecode and sync explained, with an LTC test file
• Audio test pack: tones, pink noise and sweeps
• How does remote ADR work?
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.