If you’re a senior company representative, chances are at some point, you’ll be asked to do an interview on camera, be it for a corporate video or social media explainer video, etc.
Having shot hundreds of interviews, we’d say way more than half of the people we meet experience some form of discomfort when they know they have to be in front of a camera. Their reactions range from being distinctly awkward to actively volunteering another colleague to do the interview instead.
We get it. It’s weird having a camera (or cameras) pointing at you, and a bunch of strangers scrutinising your every gesture. It’s so… set up.
But guess what? We’re here to make the best video possible, which means making you look and sound your best too. So here are 3 tips that we commonly share with our camera-shy clients.
1.Don’t memorise your script word for word.
We strongly recommend that our interviewees prepare by jotting down the key points beforehand. However, you may feel more prepared having an entire script written out. That’s fine, but don’t memorise it word for word. Instead, highlight the key phrases you need to hit, and hand it to us to prompt you when necessary.
Because the fact is, the moment you recite your script word for word on camera, it shows. And unfortunately, it ends up coming across as less genuine.
2. If you must check how you look and sound, do so after the interview.
Unless you’re used to seeing yourself on camera, you’re very likely going to cringe. Don’t panic. This is normal. Most people think they look and sound weird (they don’t).
So, because this is a common reaction, we recommend you not take a look at the footage till you’re done with the interview. If you have a look in between, you’ll likely start having doubts, over-think every gesture, anxiety will amplify, then you will end up looking and sounding stilted. So resist the temptation to sabotage yourself. Do the interview first, then have a look after.
3. Work with us, i.e. the video production company to do up a list of interview questions.
Your boss or communications director will probably have a list of things they want you to say, but do get us to weigh in as well. Why?
Our ‘layman’ status makes us similar to your target audience (unless your audience are industry insiders). The questions we ask are likely to be the same questions your potential new customers want to ask too.
Additionally, though we are not experts in your field, we are experts in interviews, corporate storytelling and video production. So, make full use of us to help you weed out unnecessary jargon and tailor your content to better engage your target customers.
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We’ll be sharing more tips so do follow us at our LinkedIn page or join our mailing list if you’re interested in learning more. And if you have advice to share, please don’t hesitate to let us know so we can pass these gems forward to our next clients. Cheers!