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With video growing more popular and more common in day-to-day, B2B life…a lot of you may be considering starting a vlog or video-podcast or some form of video updates for your network. Chris Luecke of Pubcast Worldwide and Rockwell Automation is a great example – he’s got great content on LinkedIn!
But going on-camera can be daunting.
Even if you’re carrying a high tech camera in your back pocket everywhere you go, how do you get to be good at utilizing it in order to build your audience? Here are five key tips to get comfortable on-camera.
- Be okay with being bad.
- Let out a big belly laugh.
- Prepare an outline.
- Keep it short.
- Practice, practice, practice.
1. BE OKAY WITH BEING BAD.
This is one of Danny’s favorite tips, and it’s also highlighted often by another podcaster known as Jason Swenk. Though we all hate the idea of “settling,” the truth is that the fear isn’t necessarily going to go away; even if you take months or years of special acting classes.
Even people who seem relaxed on-camera aren’t always thrilled with their own results.
Mistakes and hiccups and the classic “I don’t like the way I look,” moments always happen; classical training or not. Get used to it. Embrace the fear.
Accept that your performance will always be a little flawed, and move on.
2. LET OUT A BIG BELLY LAUGH.
No, really. Our creative director has visitors do this a lot whenever they’re preparing to speak for a video shoot, and it’s surprisingly effective!
The moment of wackiness gets you loosened up, so you’re less stiff on-camera.
It can feel weird or ridiculous, but it will help you relax. It also will give you a chance to laugh at yourself, which is valuable as we’ve already mentioned – and your smile will become more genuine as a result.
3. PREPARE AN OUTLINE.
Some people simply cannot function without a teleprompter. Some simply cannot function with one. We’ve seen it all – the key is to have a plan of what you need to address in the video.
Don’t assume that a coherent discussion or rant will “just happen,” because it almost never does.
Even in this video-podcast, we go over an episode’s layout before we shoot it – and even Danny Gonzales himself will occasionally reference a sheet of paper with bullet points to keep himself on-track.
4. KEEP IT SHORT.
When viewers are browsing LinkedIn or Twitter, they may scroll past your video within the first five seconds. Often you’ll be lucky if they stick around past thirty. That’s why our show creates short, captioned teasers for social media. Not everyone’s into longform.
Not every audience wants short-form, but most do – especially if they’re on social media.
Just remember, this rule isn’t set in stone. Knowing your audience is key!
Recently, AGCO started a podcast that would average over an hour long, and they were worried it was too much – but, as it turned out, their listeners are farmers working out in the fields for up to eight hours a day. They wanted longer content, not shorter! Who knew?
But short form does force you to condense your message; and that makes for richer content.
5. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
No surprise here. There are too many “practice makes perfect,” adages to count. Going on-camera is the same way.
If you quit, you will never get better at it.
There’s no excuse, not when webcams and smartphones are rampant and daily parts of everyone’s life nowadays.
Film yourself discussing topics you’re passionate about. Ask a friend, a coworker, a family member to film you so you have a face behind the camera that you can connect with.
Being on-camera is all about being human; flaws and all.
Are you a human? Great! Then you’ve got everything you need.
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get each of our weekly episodes sent directly to your inbox. You can also subscribe wherever you download podcasts so you can listen on the go!
If there’s a particular topic that you’d like for us to talk about, or if you have a particular a challenge that you’d like us to take a crack at, send us an email. We’d be happy to answer them for you – and if your topic gets picked for a future episode, you’ll win a free IndustrialSage t-shirt!
Sponsored by Optimum Productions
Author: Rica
Since the inception of IndustrialSage back in 2017, Rica has been one of the driving forces building IndustrialSage. As Marketing Manager, she's dedicated to producing amazing content on the site. There's little she loves more than storytelling: helping to explain new ideas in order to aid others in solving their problems. Fortunately, that's what IndustrialSage is all about.
