The Video Marketing Blog

Looking for a Speaker? Look for Website Video

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who's involved in running a regional professional organization. His organization hired a speaker based on that speaker's impressive-looking website, testimonial text quotes, and lengthy list of organizations to which he'd presented. Sounds like a good vetting practice -  except that the reason this organization was looking for a speaker was not because he had spoken to other organizations, or because those organizations liked him, or because he had a great-looking website.

All they wanted was an excellent speaker. Unfortunately, said my friend, "You cannot believe how bad he was."

So how is an organization supposed to know if a speaker will be as good as he or she promises? Take a look at this video, of sales expert Peter Dennis of PMD Sales Training and Consulting. If you were looking to hire someone to speak about sales to your organization, Peter's video would give you very good idea of what you'd get if you brought him in.

The speaker's website will help you understand if his or her material is what you're looking for. But that's not enough information. You also need to see the person in action, so you can tell if the presentation is dynamic or a snore, and if the tone is appropriate for your organization. Video allows you to see exactly what you're buying before you buy it. Without video, you're taking a risk that all your assumptions about the speaker may very well be nothing more than marketing hype.

So - if you're looking to book a speaker, look for video on your candidates' websites, and hire only after you've seen what you're buying.

If you're a speaker or presenter, videotape your next presentation and place some good, representative clips on your website. (And make them very easy to find.) Those clips will help you book engagements with groups that are a good match for what you do. Your audiences will be more enthusiastic and receptive, and you'll avoid unhappy audiences who thought they were getting something else.

 

Video Best Practices: What Should You Wear?

Among the projects we're working on right now are two that are similar. In each, we're filming a business man giving a presentation. Each presentation will then be broken up into several short clips for posting to YouTube and to the respective websites.

Before the presentations, we were asked what each speaker should wear: suit jacket with shirt and tie; jacket and shirt but no tie; shirt and tie without a jacket; or an open-collared shirt. In both cases, as in all projects like this, our answer was the same: Who's your audience and what is the image you need to project to them - before you even start speaking?

 

Case #1 - A Technical Speaker

In the first case, the company provides training to technical people. All-day seminars are conducted in person at hotels and conference centers. The people who attend the presentation generally wear jeans or khakis and polo shirts or open-collared shirts. The presenter never wears a tie or jacket because it's important that the people in the audience feel as though he is a tech person like them.

The target audience for this set of videos is the same set of people who would attend the training. In this case, the best choice is an open-collared shirt or a branded polo shirt. A tie, or a jacket and tie, would identify him as not-a-tech-person, which would undermine the message he wants the videos to send - that he's a good fit for delivering the technical training his audience needs.

Case #2 - A CEO

In the second case, the CEO of a small start-up is giving a presentation about his company's product - a complex machine that saves time and money in large manufacturing plants. The audience for this series of videos will primarily be high-level managers and CEOs of mid-sized and larger companies, particularly in the Midwest.  

Though this CEO mostly wears an open-collared shirt to work, our advice was to wear a suit and tie for the filming. Manufacturing executives at the level he's aiming for - and especially in the Midwest - tend to be conservative. To connect with them as a CEO he needs to project an image of being a CEO who is successful - as they identify success. It doesn't matter that he's completely confident and successful as a CEO in khakis. What matters is the judgment his audience will make about him even before he begins to speak.  

What about women?

Women's wardrobe choices are far more varied than men's, but the rules are the same: dress so that what you're wearing conveys the right image to your target audience.

But, while the rules for clothing are the same, women have much more to worry about than men because their hairstyles are more varied, and they tend to wear more jewelry. And both hairstyle and jewelry will contribute to the visial impression that's created.

So choose your jewelry carefully. If your target audience is conservative, simple jewelry usually works best. If you want to project an image of being fashionable, you can wear more and more interesting jewelry.  

Hair also makes a statement. If you use color or highlights and it's been several weeks since your last salon visit, make an appointment for a few days before your shoot. And if at all possible, give yourself extra time before the shoot so that if it's a bad hair day, you can re-do your hairstyle. Not only will you look better - you'll feel much more confident, and that confidence will come across on video.

Whether you're a man or a woman, it's important to plan how you'll look on video very carefully. Get inside the heads of those in your target audience and look at yourself through their eyes. What assumptions do you want them to make about you based on your appearance? Because, before you even start to speak, your viewers will make a judgment about you. And it's your job to make sure that they arrive at the correct judgment.

 

Should Your Business Buy a Video Camera?

Here at Yes! MediaWorks, we generally shoot with Canon XH-A1 cameras.

They have all kinds of useful features, and they let us make great video. When we book a shoot, they (and the big tripods that support them) work very well. But I've been feeling lately that bigger is not always better. That sometimes it would be really handy to have a little camera - small enough to tuck into my purse, easy enough to turn on, point, and shoot. And so this morning I went and ordered the Kodak Zi8.

I've been resisting a small HD video camera because up until now, they haven't had jacks for external microphones. Sure, the Flip HD cameras make nice-looking video, but the audio sounds like a small, inexpensive consumer camcorder, and there's no way to improve it. Good for some situations, but for me that's a serious limitation.

Enter the Zi8. With its HD capability, I can use it for all kinds of quick shots without having to lug around the big XH A1. And with its mic jack, I can also use it for impromptu videotaping at seminars & events - say, a two-minute hallway interview with a great speaker.

So... why do you care?

Because while your company - or nonprofit - may already have a relationship with a media company, you probably have events you don't send a videographer to, like seminars you attend. But video from those events could be very useful, for your blog, to edit into larger projects, etc.

Gathering video from the field - from your trade show booth, from site visits, from places and events that would be interesting to your customers and potential customers - is a really good reason to have a camera like this. Its price is low (on Amazon, about $250 with 16GB Flash memory card, tripod & bag), it shoots HD video, and your media company can handle the cataloging and editing for you. All you need to do is gather the raw video.

Owning a camera like this is such a good idea that I'm going to start recommending that my clients buy one. But wait - that doesn't seem to make sense. Yes! MediaWorks is a company that shoots video professionally. Why would we recommend that our customers buy and use a video camera?

Because the value that smart media companies provide is in creating and managing content, and in helping their clients understand how to use that content. NOT in being the sole content originator. It is in your best interest to market your company (or nonprofit) with lots of video. But unless you have a budget the size of EMC's video budget, it's just not practical to pay a videographer to shoot all your content.

So, when you're looking for a media company to help you understand and use video to market your business/nonprofit, ask this question: What kind of camera would you recommend we buy? If they try to talk you out of buying a camera, they may not be the right media company.  

 

Use video to promote your live presentation

Videotaping your presentation or seminar and posting that video on your website is a great idea. But did you know that you can also use video prior to your event as a promotional tool, to make your topic come alive? Check out these two examples:

 

One reason to use video to promote your presentation is that video allows you to communicate in a different way. Not everyone absorbs information best through text. Video allows you to connect with more people than text alone.

A second reason is that text, no matter how skillfully written, cannot convey 'performance.' Sure, you can write "Bob Smith is a fantastic, world-renowned presenter" but those words really do nothing to convey Bob's style or impact. And they do nothing to convey credibility, because you could write those words about anyone, whether they were a good presenter or not. A short video of Bob, on the other hand, immediately confirms that Bob is the real deal - an excellent communicator, a compelling presenter.  (Of course, if Bob were a lousy presenter, sticking with text alone would be a better plan.)

A third reason is that video gives you the opportunity to pitch your presentation directly to each person who watches. And each of the people who watch it will feel that you're talking directly to them. How did you feel, watching Whit Wales* talk about his presentation while he's looking directly at you? If you're like most people, you knew he was talking to a camera lens but you felt a connection anyway. 

Video creates a personal experience that cannot be duplicated with text. And people who have that personal experience with you are more likely to feel a connection that will cause them to give more consideration to attending your presentation. And when they do attend, they'll feel like they've already met you.

 *Whit Wales is a greater Boston wedding videographer who does brilliant work. Watch a brief clip to see how beautiful a wedding film can be.