 See this professional cameraman? He won't be shooting you. Not long ago, only world leaders and celebrities would ever be shot on video. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Today, video cameras are about the size of a raisin, and they’re ubiquitous: every phone, tablet, desktop, and laptop computer has one. Factor in the latest coronavirus lockdown and the work-from-home tsunami, and things have changed like never before.
Which means, sooner or later, you’re going to be on camera. This article will help you. To be clear: This is not about making yourself into some backward-ballcap YouTuber. This is about building your business and your brand. Because these days, you’re likely to get interviewed, not by a camera crew coming to visit you, but by the camera that you already have. The interviewer could be a reporter from a trade publication or other news outlet, or a rep from a client, peer, or vendor. Or it could simply be a virtual replacement for what was until recently a local meeting at the office. In any event, all of this is tossing the burden squarely on you to look good, and perform great. There won’t be a cinematographer. There won’t be a director. There won’t be hair-and-makeup. You’ll be flying totally solo. If this makes you nervous, consider yourself healthy. It should. Arm for action If no one’s providing you with a safety net—if no one else is there to ensure that you look great and don’t screw up—you’ll have to do it yourself. We can’t sugar-coat this: Appearing on video is a big deal. Assuming that the final piece will reside on someone else’s computer screen or website (and likely hosted on YouTube or Vimeo), you can’t control it or call it back once it’s out there. It will likely still be out there, after you’ve shuffled off this mortal coil we call life. Sobering, huh? All that said, there are plenty of things you can do to prepare your space, prepare yourself, and perform well. Let’s cover them all. Setting the stage Since we’ll assume that this interview has been booked in advance, you fortunately have some time to play and experiment. Use this to your advantage. Consider the space you’ll be in. Probably your office, right? Here’s the first thing to do: Fire up your computer's camera. And look at the scene it shows. Start with the obvious. Eliminate the clutter. Discard those Starbucks cups. Stow any stray power cords. Straighten those pictures (or better yet, awards) on the wall. Make sure the camera lens is clean; if not, clean it. Look at the lighting. Adjust it as best you can. Phone- and computer-based cameras, despite vendor claims, aren’t the greatest. They can’t handle high-contrast situations well. Play with combinations of room light, lamp light, and sunlight. Avoid backlight. The camera can’t handle it. That is, don’t sit with a window behind you. In fact, the exact opposite is often really helpful: If you can park your computer right up against a window, the big wash of light that will fall upon you will be very flattering, and you can adjust the brightness simply by tweaking the blinds. You can also use the overhead room light, now behind you, as an accent for highlights on your hair. It’s Hollywood without the Hollywood. If you have a choice of a laptop or desktop computer, try both. Shoot test footage of yourself with each; see which comes out better. It’s not just the quality of the embedded camera; it’s also the point of view. A desktop camera will usually shoot down on you as you sit at your desk, making you look smaller, while hiding the deep background (sometimes that’s desirable). A laptop camera, on the other hand, always looks up at you, which makes you look bigger (and possibly imposing); you’re almost always closer to a laptop camera, too, so you get a closeup instead of a wide shot, and you’re also closer to the microphone. Which leads to the issue of sound. Make sure your venue is quiet. You can’t have distracting noises (traffic, sirens, other workers, doorbells, barking dogs) popping up during your interview. If you can’t control these factors, choose another location. Getting ready for your closeup You do phone calls all the time, and never consider how you look. Not long ago, you'd sit in meetings and feel confident about how you looked, because you took the time to prep yourself in the morning. One or two stray hairs, for example, wasn't an issue. No one noticed; no one cared. Video, unfortunately, is different. The person watching the video of you could well be in their underwear. It’s a totally one-way street. You need to look as close to perfect as you can get. Honestly: If you’ve got one wisp of stray hair bouncing across your forehead during the interview, that’s all anyone will watch. Tragic, but true. So fix your makeup. If you’re a guy, you likely don’t do makeup! But a little shave talc will help to take the shine off your face; you don’t want shine. (This is where the expression “Powder your nose” comes from, and why sometimes the restroom is called the “Powder Room.” But we digress.) Lock down your hair. You can use hairspray or gel to death and you’ll be fine. You just don’t want to worry about it. Then dress properly—for the camera. Business casual is good; a blazer and open collar are fine. Wear neutral tones. Avoid black. Avoid white. You may look great in those colors in person, but the camera can’t handle it. It will compensate for what it thinks is a “dark” or “light” scene, and screw up your skin tones accordingly. So stick with neutral tones. Ditto for colors. Stay neutral. If you wear bright blue or yellow, for example, that cheap laptop camera will interpret it as “sunlight” or “incandescent light” respectively, and adjust its colors to compensate—again, screwing up your skin tones. Do wear a neutral top. Don’t let that camera make you look like a member of Blue Man Group or like you’ve got third-degree burns. One other thing to avoid: Busy patterns. Small checks or narrow stripes confuse video cameras (even expensive ones), creating on-screen “noise” that swims and moves and is very distracting. Don’t go there. Shoot test shots, with sound, of yourself. Play them back. And then adjust, adjust, adjust. Fix the sound. Fix the lighting. Fix the background. Fix yourself. And don't forget to mute your phone! Disable email, on-screen notifications, and so on. You don't want them mucking up your interview. A performance primer Ideally, get the interview questions emailed to you in advance. Some reporters will be reluctant do to this; if so, ask them to just send you a list of general topics that will be covered. It’s a lot better than nothing. And if “nothing” is what you get, you can still prepare. Heck, you can accurately guess the kinds of questions you’ll be asked. So jot some down. Consider how you’d answer them. And then practice those answers, on camera. Record it. View the results. Then do it again. All of this repetition not only hones your answers. It improves your performance. The main reason is that it gives you practice. What do military pilots always say when they successfully eject from a burning fighter jet? “It was the training.” You want to de-sensitize yourself to what otherwise would be the unnatural shock of suddenly being on-camera. If you can enlist a colleague, get them to help. Make the training (just as the military does) as realistic as possible. Give them the questions you got in advance, or had guessed at yourself, and have them interview you on a Skype, GoToMeeting, or Zoom call. Record it. View it. Try it again. TV news anchors always look so relaxed on camera. Why? They do it all the time. The novelty is gone. They know what to do. They’re confident in their hair, makeup, wardrobe, lighting, and the set they’re sitting in. You’ll be doing all that, too. Paradoxically, the optimum result of all this preparation is to make it look like you never prepared at all. You want to come across as relaxed, conversational, easygoing, confident, and thoroughly knowledgeable. Follow all these tips, and you will. Need help with that next video interview? Need footage of yourself for social posts or vlogs? We can help. Contact us today to learn more.
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