How to prepare for your video shoot with Hunting With Pixels
· BlogSelf care
You look and sound best when your brain is performing well. There are two things that will help you be the best version of yourself on camera.
Enough sleep. Ensure that you get a good night’s sleep the day before.
You’ll look fresher but most importantly your brain will be much better at handling the cognitive workload of being out of your comfort zone while trying to remember your key messages and connecting to the viewer.
Your brain is going to get a major work out; make sure it’s rested.
Stress free. Eliminate any form of stress where possible.
Postpone a difficult phone conversation, ensure that you only have people in the room that you feel comfortable around, don’t cram too many tasks in the day.
Taking direction
Be selective about who you take feedback and direction from. Trust your own instinct; you’re the expert in your field and you look and sound best if you’re ‘just’ you.
If you get mixed messages during the shoot, you probably have too many people in the room.
Only have the absolute key people in the room and ensure everyone prepared well.
Leaders – beware of how you affect your team
As the team leader, business owner or CEO you might want to be around for the interviews, because you want to be across what is being said.
This can backfire. Simply being present in the room can be a real obstacle for some of your team members to be conversational and authentic.
The same counts for marketing directors. You’re an expert on the messaging, but being too hand on or directive can diminish your impact.
Think of your interview as building scaffolding
Editors can rearrange things; you’re just here to provide the raw material. You don’t need to come up with all the clever sound bites.
You do need to have a clear idea of the structure of what you’re communicating.
Note down the key messages in a mind map or list, and talk around those. Your expertise and experience enables you to fill in the blanks. Trust it.
You’re not an actor.
Learning a script by heart and communicating it in a way that connects to the audience is a skill.
Unless you’re a trained actor or presenter, we don’t recommend trying to learn too many lines by heart.
You’re not likely to pull it off, and it shows in how you present.
Don’t ‘present’. Be present.
Great video content feels like a conversation you have with your audience. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
You can rely on editors to make things concise and accurate. You don’t need to present. You need to be present.
Being present is about being in the moment and focussed. This can be achieved by doing two things;
– Give yourself a bit of headspace before you do your shoot. A walk, cup of tea or some focussed work on what you want to talk about
Eliminate distractions. Shoot offsite if you can. Turn off your phone.
Best shoot times
We all have different rhythms, but generally spoken we’re at our best in the late morning till early afternoon.
This is where our brain is rested and at it’s more creative.
Take your time and relax
Key is that you feel in charge when you’re being interviewed.
We’re here to help you tell your story: make sure you own it, take your time and refine if you feel it’s necessary.
What to wear
Here’s a post on what to wear at shoots:
Good luck!
