By Mike French
With all the new video making technology, it’s very easy to make your video presentation look overdone and like a commercial.
Videos are a popular marketing tool cropping up everywhere. They are easy to produce and a great way to promote business. Use them to welcome folks to your website. Use them to demonstrate products and services. Place them free on YouTube. I made one recently while sitting in my backyard. If I can do it, you can too!
Smart Phones and Video Cameras
You can walk around with your smart phone camera on a selfie-stick as many do. Or place it in on a tripod camera stand in your office or shop as you speak. If you want better quality than available on your smart phone, you can use a video camera. They produce better quality video than a smartphone or webcam and can be found on Amazon starting at around $50.
Editing Your Video
You can edit your video easily with free software that comes with most smart phones. There are also editing apps available from your App Store. Read reviews before you buy. You can add all kinds of bells and whistles to your videos such as: splashy intros, banners, headlines, bullet points, photos, graphic illustrations, video insertions, fade-ins and fade-outs, and sounds. Keep in mind, you only want to enhance your message, not muddy it up or over produce it. There are free videos on YouTube showing you how to edit.
Hire Someone
You can hire someone to produce a video for you but be careful! There are lots of bad videos produced by so called self-appointed “experts.” Always ask to see some examples of what they have done for others.
Tips for making your video more powerful and effective:
1. Personal Appearance. How you look and what you wear in your video sends a subliminal message, both positive or negative. If you are dirty, frumpy, sloppy, or poorly dressed, viewers will decide how you think of them or yourself. Your appearance tells viewers about: your attitude, intelligence, expertise level, opinion of your audience and respect for your audience. They intuitively pick up on whether you like your audience. Do not overdress, but dress in at least business casual. The number one rule is, be clean and neat. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
2. Speak to just one person. Look into the camera and speak as though you are talking to just one person. You will find people will respond better to your message. This is a tried and proven communication technique used by professional speakers. This was part of the success of old timers like Arthur Godfrey, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, and Red Skelton. Carol Burnett said she performed as if she was doing it only for her grandmother.
3. Use good lighting. Keep your presentation from looking dark and foreboding. Have the front of your face and eyes well lit.
4. Clean, uncluttered background. Whether recording in your living room, yard, or office, make sure clutter and other distractions are cleared out of the camera’s view.
5. Avoid background noise and distractions. Barking dogs, children, noisy traffic, people talking, and even the wind blowing, will take your viewer’s attention away from your presentation.
6. Keep the camera focused on your face and eyes at all times. No side angles! Talk directly to the camera as though you are talking eyeball-to-eyeball to someone. Don’t shift your eyes elsewhere. Zooming in to speakers at different angles is distracting to viewers and interrupts the personal connection. If you hire someone to record your presentation, don’t let them record you from different angles and zoom in and out a lot. Insist that all camera shots be focused on your face. Any zooming in and out should focus on your face, with your eyes continuing to look into the camera. When they zoom out, they should zoom to your full body with your eyes still looking forward into the camera to keep your eye connection with the viewer from being broken.
7. Don’t be glued to your notes. Even if you are presenting an educational or training seminar, don’t look at your notes too much. Professional speakers are careful about this. Looking down at your laptop or notepad too much breaks the viewer focus on you and your message.
If you must refer to your notes because of outline or bullet points, do it without it being a distraction. Have notes or bullet points appear on the viewer’s screen at the same time you’re reading them. Edit this into your presentation. Or print these points on a white board or easel tablet. Or have your notes on a teleprompter or monitor screen near the camera. This way, you can look into the camera and see your notes at the same time. Always keep your eyes forward toward the camera. It takes a little practice to keep from breaking your eye contact with the viewer.
8. Music. Don’t add music to your video if you don’t own the rights to it. You may run into copyright issues. There are lots of music providers available online for a fee. But background music can be annoying to viewers and distract from your message. Most of the time it is best to go without it.
9. Keep it simple. With all the new video making technology, it’s very easy to make your video presentation look overdone and like a commercial. People will stop watching if they think they are being “sold” to. Remember, it is about a personal message from you to them! Keep it simple, with the focus on you and your message.
10. Include a Call to Action. When a viewer watches your video, what do you want them to do? Encourage them to call you, sign up for a newsletter or blog, or visit your website.
Now go make great videos. If your video content is appropriate for the auto recycling industry, post them for free at the virtual Automotive Trade Show which is open 24/7: www.recyclershow.com/submissions.
Mike French, president of Mike French & Company, Inc., can be reached at 800-238-3934, or visit his company’s Web site at www.MikeFrench.com. Check out the new ToolBox Virtual Auto Recycler Trade Show™ at www.RecyclerShow.com.
