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Like reality TV contestants getting ready for a live final, the leaders of Britain's three main political parties are currently being put through their paces by some of the best experts in the business.

Labour and the Conservatives have both hired former aides to US President Barack Obama to help them prepare for the prime ministerial debates that look increasingly likely to dominate the forthcoming general election.

The Conservatives have signed up a Washington-based political consultancy, Squier, Knapp, Dunn Communications, which also counts New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg among its clients.

Senior partners Anita Dunn, who advised Barack Obama before his presidential campaign and was communications director at the White House until last year, and Bill Knapp, a former Obama and Clinton adviser, have already begun coaching Conservative leader David Cameron in how to get the better of his opponents - even though the first debate is still likely to be more than a month away.

Gordon Brown is also undergoing intensive preparation, aided by Obama's former polling chief Joel Benenson, who was on the team that helped the US president prepare for his 2008 campaign debates, and David Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign consultant.

Composure

The prime minister prides himself on being a master of policy detail - and will be hoping to make Mr Cameron appear inexperienced and shallow by comparison, but the Tory leader is by far the more relaxed of the two in front of the cameras and will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to take on Mr Brown on what he might see as home turf.

For Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg it will be an unparalleled opportunity to appear on an equal footing with the big two party leaders.

Televised presidential debates have been an established feature of the political process in the US for decades - but how much can Britain's party leaders really learn from them?

The emphasis is very much making the candidates appear presidential.

Observers say the key to Obama's success lay in his ability to radiate a calm, commanding presence.

"So much of the time I think it's the composure, the demeanour that counts in American politics," says CBS journalist Bob Scheiffer, who moderated the 2008 debates.

"I am absolutely convinced that Obama won not on substance, but on composure."

Obama did "not take a single note - he just kept looking McCain directly in the eye", Mr Scheiffer told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, while "McCain would squirm around when Obama was speaking, he'd be hastily taking notes and things like that".

Joel Benenson gave an insight into the sort of advice he might be giving to Mr Brown when he told Newsweek magazine that he repeatedly stressed two words to Mr Obama during three days of intensive preparation for his first TV debate: "Command and control."

Obama is said to have prepared for the debate as if studying for an exam, spending hours pouring over policy details and endlessly rehearsing attack and counterattack lines with aides on a mocked-up TV set.

Mr Brown is said to be taking a similarly thorough approach and his team are taking heart from the fact that Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain, was initially seen as the more impressive TV debater, having got the better of Obama in one early encounter.

One of the big differences between the US and Britain is that the main party leaders already go head-to-head on live TV nearly every week.

But there is a world of difference between the knockabout atmosphere of prime minister's questions, where the debate often descends into taunts and name calling, and the more sterile, unforgiving glare of the TV studio.

There is also the question of the format for the 90-minute debates, which will see the leaders open with a one-minute statement, then take questions from the audience, studio and public via e-mail.

They will have a minute to answer the question, a minute to react, and four minutes of free debate.

"There is quite a bit to learn because of the format being so different," said an aide to David Cameron.

She said preparations for Mr Cameron's appearance had begun "in earnest" but would not go into any further detail at this stage.

Anita Dunn is an increasingly frequent visitor to Conservative campaign headquarters, but it is likely that Mr Cameron is also being coached by his regular circle of advisers such as ex ad man Steve Hilton, former News of the World editor Andy Coulson and shadow education secretary Michael Gove, who often plays the part of Gordon Brown when they are preparing for prime minister's questions.
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We asked what your advice to the three leaders would be, ahead of the TV debates. Here is a selection of your comments.

My advice to the party leaders would be to stop trying to convince us of anything other than your genuine integrity and selfless wish to bring this country up off it's knees. The hiring of these presentation experts to gain one over the opponents reeks of more spin to come and does not bode well for the advancement of wise, long-term government strategies in the making.

Also please do not try to convince us that you are presidential candidates, we want to see cabinet government, not one self-obsessed leader with a charisma by-pass and plainly short of good judgement, trying desperately to improve things which don't need attention and otherwise ruling over everything in sight.
Idiot from the West, Oxford

My advice: tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I'm fed up of spin, spin on spin, and wonky interpretations of statistics. I want to hear what you are going to do to "fix Britain". I want to hear what vision you have for Britain. I want to know how we can become a nation that creates/produces wealth - not one that shops till it drops.
Paul McGrath, Egham, Surrey

My advice for them would be to not lower themselves to the name calling and taunting we are so used to seeing. A leader with a bit of integrity would be nice. But they all think that they are right 100% of the time, so fat chance.
Daisy Chain, Leeds, UK

Show yourself - not who your aides suggest. Spend time to explain your beliefs. Don't waste my time dissing the other guys, I can make up my own mind about him. I want to vote for you (rather than not vote for them).
Steve Edwards, Hampton

Insist that the leaders stick to their own policies, suggestions, thoughts etc.. rather than turn this into a backbiting, pathetic shambles: "His party said this, and so the world is going to end if you elect them.." "his party in the past did this that and the other, cos its really relevant to what they may (or may not) do if elected" Lets get down to the essential nitty gritty - I want to see who can hold their own under intense scrutiny, rather than who is the most elouant and media savvy.
Colin, Leeds, UK

Thankfully, Nick Clegg is going for the honest WYSISWYG approach, whilst the other two misguidedly go for the transparent American gloss of presentation over substance. I don't think the British voting public is so gullible.
Phil Sears, Dorking UK.

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