HOW TO RECORD A VIDEO RECOMMENDATION.

LET’S BEGIN.

WHAT TO WEAR.

tldr; wear what you like! Where what you’d wear to go for a coffee with friends.

It helps the viewer to focus on your words if you wear something plain-ish and avoid wearing something plain black or plain white.

That said, I want you to feel comfortable and like yourself, so you wear what works for you!

Set yourself up for success by getting clear on your kit, your location, and exactly how you’re pressing ‘record.’

Set up in a light, bright room. Lighting is everything so make sure there’s lots of light in front of you.

For example, facing a window is perfect. If you have a ring light and all the kit, that’s great if you’re comfortable using it. But making the most of natural light works just as well.

Make sure you’re not backlit – we want to see your face so we can read your nonverbal cues and lip read your speech.

Set up your phone or computer so that the camera is at about eye level. Check where the camera is so that you can look straight into it while you’re recording.

using your phone?

Using your phone is a great way to capture your video; often we’re used to capturing video or being on facetime calls which can help with being comfortable.

Height is important.

You can use 3-4 books under your phone to get it high enough, and use a stand or something heavy behind your phone to keep it upright and pointing at you. You want the camera to be at around eye level.

CAPTURE A LANDSCAPE VIDEO.

Orient your phone horizontally so that you capture a landscape video.

Choose your camera.

You can do it on selfie mode if you’re comfortable looking at yourself while you’re talking. But not everyone is, so one trick is to secure your phone so that it’s recording you from the back camera – with the screen facing away from you.

Make eye contact.

Remember to look into the camera while you’re talking – imagine you’re talking to a dear friend who is sat listening on the other side of the lens.

using your computer?

Test your software first. Use Quicktime or photobooth (Mac) to capture your video.

It will automatically use landscape – and that’s what we want.

Make sure you know where the camera is so that you can talk directly into it.

Look into the camera as you’re talking – imagine you’re making eye contact with a dear friend behind the lens.

Height is important – try to get the camera on your computer so that it’s about level with your eyes.

WHAT TO SAY.

A lot of people ask me, What do I say? So I’ve included a list of questions to help you with that. It’s a little lower down, after ‘ready to hit record?’ Before you hit the list, here are some tips on how to use it.

If you do use the list, you can work through it quite methodically. You might like to use the questions and think of some short phrases or bullet points for your answers.

You don’t have to answer all the questions! Pick out the ones you’d like to answer the most. And no need to sound rehearsed or read off cards or notes. Use the questions as a jumping off point, and then just share what you feel. Speak from your heart.

This is the important bit; with video we can get hung up on what we look like and setting up the tech. But the most important thing is that you’re comfortable, so that you come across as you.

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

~ Maya Angelou.

USING THE QUESTIONS TO FRAME YOUR RESPONSES.

If you’re using the questions (or a short list from them), you can use them to frame your responses.

Answer one question at a time.

Say the question, and then give your answer looking at the camera.

Rephrase the question at the top of your answer.

Remember to blink!

Here’s an example:

‘What was the problem that inspired you to work with Lou? <pause> The problem I was having was….’

No need for edits.

Record the whole thing, no need to stop and start the video between questions.

READY TO HIT ‘RECORD’?

You’ve got your kit set up, you know where to look, you’ve had a little think about which questions you want to answer and what you want to say. It’s time to hit record.

Here’s the list of questions:

HOW TO SEND YOUR FILE.

Videos are big files – please don’t try to email it to me.

Once you have your video, use WeTransfer to send it to me. This works from your computer or your phone.

WeTransfer will send me a link and I’ll need to download the file within a set amount of time. WeTransfer will let you know when that’s done.

If you get stuck, just send me an email to let me know, and we’ll work through it together.

thank you.

Your words and opinion matter to me – as do your time and energy. I really grateful to you for supporting my work in this way.