What’s the secret to making better internet videos?
Isn’t it frustrating that some people look and sound so natural in front of the camera while others have to work at it?
One bright sunny day I was making a marketing video in my cramped little office. The camera was setup on my dark wooden desk overlooking my flat panel computer screen. I was concentrating and staring at the monitor reading a script while recording.
Two minutes into the shoot the phone rang. I picked it up and started talking to a client. The camera kept rolling as I carried on the conversation. After a few minutes the call ended and I decided to just pickup where I left off with the script. I could always edit out the phone call during post production.
Later I was watching the video and I noticed something startling. When I started talking to the person on the phone my voice changed. It sounded much more natural. The tone was confident, strong and realistic compared to the “scripted” speach.
What had changed? Why had it changed?
It dawned on me just then. I wasn’t thinking about the camera any more. I was just talking the way I always do in my normal every day life. The script I was reading wasn’t me talking. It was too artificial.
The more I thought about this situation I realized I could learn from this experience. I started carrying a small Flip camera and just recording my every day conversations. I started making recordings with just family. Then I started recording my conversations with friends. Eventually I got brave enough to start recording my conversations with clients. I told them it was my way of taking notes so I wouldn’t miss anything. At first they were a littel aprehensive but very quickly go over it. As time went on I got more and more comfortable in front of the camera. Eventually it was second nature for me. It was if I was just talking to an old friend about their business.
Try keeping a video camera next to the phone and record yourself when talking with your family and friends. You will be amazed at how fast you learn to become more relaxed and natural in front of the camera. When you are making your Internet videos dump the scripts and just talk about the topic you know and love. Your natural and true personality will carry over and you too will get better at Internet video marketing.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
EXCELLENT example. You could not have explained having that natural voice better. And…you highlight the importance of passion. It’s easy to talk about things you love to do, or things you know a lot about. Passion can be such a key in good video!