If you want to create talking head videos (videos of you talking about your product/services/business/thought leadership) to promote your personal or business brand, by yourself, here are some things you must keep in mind.
While I am a huge fan of text, I have been creating video content for the past several years. I’ve realized that this has been a huge contribution to the visibility for my work. As a speaker it has allowed me to put my voice and thoughts across to a larger audience, in a relatable manner and it has also helped me get new business.
People consume more video now, there is no denying that. But the video has to be worth their time otherwise the only people who will watch it are your friends, family and a few loyal customers.
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’d like to start creating videos for your personal or business brand.
The Content
Set a specific OBJECTIVE: Do you want to inform about a sale? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Do you want to build a community? Specifying an objective will help you deliver a sharp message that helps you convert and guide your audience into what you want to achieve. Each video that you create can be aimed at a specific objective. This will also help you put together a strategy around the various messages that you want to convey at different points of times. If you create generic videos everytime, you will soon run out of specific content ideas.
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Create a broad script/FRAMEWORK: It is essential to have some sort of framework to your video script so you don’t go all over the place. Keep your message tight to EXACTLY convey what you want to convey, at the same time keeping it interesting. Ensure a beginning that makes people keep watching and an end that makes them DO something.
I don’t really recommend having a script because that would take away from your natural delivery, but a basic framework prepared beforehand will help you be more confident and also stick to the content plan.
Make it a COMPELLING watch: There’s a huge clutter of content out there. Why should someone watch your video? Is it entertaining, does it add value to someone’s life? Look at your videos critically and show them to a few people to get an honest feedback.
While this should not stop you from making videos till you are perfect, it is also important to remember that the videos have to be watchable.
A good thing to do is to start making them and scrutinize them and maybe start sharing and uploading them after a few videos once you’ve got a grasp of the basics.
The Technology
Camera: If you have a great phone camera, please feel free to use that. Always remember to use the back camera and not the front camera mainly because you will get videos with higher resolution and better quality from the back camera.
Quick tip: For a lot of us being on camera is slightly unnerving, use the front camera to record yourself on selfie mode. It gives immense confidence to look at your own face and speak. Do this for practice till you get better.
In case you do have a DSLR, it is a great idea to use that, you will get high quality videos.
ALWAYS keep the camera at eye level and a light source in front of you. Invest in a basic tripod to hold your phone camera/camera.
Sound: Invest in a basic but good mic. However good your content, people will switch out in case there is a sound disturbance in your video. You’ll be surprised to know that even minute sounds like the fan or Air Conditioner in your room can cause quite a bit of disturbance.
I’m a huge fan of RODE mics in case you’d like to invest in one. I use their Rode Lavalier Go Professional-Grade Wearable Lapel Microphone which I like not just for it’s sound quality but also how reasonably priced it is. You can also check out some cheaper collar mics to begin with. But the voice tonality and sound sometimes changes drastically in these.
EDIT sharp: Keep the videos succinct. Don’t fall in love with the video/your voice/yourself so much that you refuse to edit out the non-required parts. My favourite editing tools are iMovie and Adobe Premier Pro but is you are a beginner you can also use Canva and Kapwing to edit your videos. You’ll get a professional look and you’ll be able to add snippets, music, text, whatever you’d like to do.
Distribution
DISTRIBUTE wide: You’ve made a good video, but what’s the point if no one gets to see it! Your video has to go out on your social media channels, on various social media groups,. Apart from this see if you can get collaborations where you can share the video on others’ platforms. Always remember to repurpose the video.
Repurpose is a technique where you take one piece of content and use it in different formats, variations on the same /other platforms.
e.g.
- Segment the video into many interesting parts and share that.
- Add segments from different videos and create one video.
- Convert the video into an article.
- Take main points from the video and make images with headlines for Instagram.
Anyone can make videos, but to create strategic videos that actually help you grow your business, bring visibility to your personal brand requires a little bit of hard work.
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