Are you natural in front of the camera? The answer for most of us is no. Not everyone is comfortable when the red light comes on. Still, many companies are taking the video route in their content strategy and are often disappointed with the results. Unfortunately, Professional equipment and a film crew are not a guarantee of success.
It is important to properly prepare the person who is going to speak on camera. It can be the difference between a good video and a bad video. Here are 10 mistakes the subject should not make in your educational videos.
1. A Tense and Nervous Subject
Before you start capturing your video, make sure you are calm and relaxed. A nervous or tense person is easily noticeable on camera. Therefore, it will be more difficult for the listener to build a bond of trust with you.
Tip: Before you start shooting your video, calm your surroundings and play crazy in front of the camera. A few small jumps, funny faces and laughs will help lower your stress level.
2. Don’t Smile
It is much more interesting and captivating to watch a happy person speak than a person in a bad mood. Practice some smiles, then you will appear like a sympathetic and trustworthy person. This way your audience will be more inclined to believe what you are saying.
3. Hands in Pockets
You will look bored if you speak with your hands in your pockets. At the same time, you will probably be bored. On video, it is interesting to see dynamic people who seem to be having fun in front of the camera. So, get your hands out of your pockets and start talking with your hands.
4. Speaking Too Fast
When we are stressed, we tend to speak too fast. Try to keep the flow slow enough when speaking to make yourself understood by your audience. To give you an idea, try speaking just a little more slowly than in your everyday life. Look at yourself and you will see that your speech is probably perfect.
Also, take the time to breathe between sentences. It’s okay to take a little break for a breather or take a sip of water. Anyway, these sequences can be cut during the editing
5. No Intonation in your Voice
Listening to a person speak in a monotonous tone is quite annoying, so having an energetic and dynamic tone of voice is imperative. If you are tired, it is better to postpone the whole thing to the next day, a topic with a monotonous voice will not be interesting for its listener.
6. Improvise in Front of the Camera
Often due to lack of time, some prefer to stand in front of the camera without even preparing themselves. Unless you are an expert and know your subject inside out, this is a mistake. You will not be satisfied with the result, there will be several down times and it is likely that your ideas will not follow through.
Before going in front of the camera, prepare the structure and the script of your presentation. A few days before the shoot, read your script to a colleague and ask his opinion. Then make the necessary corrections so that the text looks as natural as possible. In front of the camera, it's okay if you don't follow your text to the letter. You may well change a few words here and there. The most important thing is that you look natural and comfortable.
7. Not Having Visual Aids
It can take a long time to watch a person speak without pictures or visual aids. Like any good university professor, it is best to use the concept of pictures and words in order to ensure greater retention of information.
A good practice is to prepare slides explaining your topic with some interesting pictures and graphics. These slides can be added in post-production.
8. Have Uninteresting Content
It sounds obvious, but content that sounds interesting to you isn't necessarily interesting to your audience. As in your blog posts, make sure that the content created will be of interest to your personas. You make the videos for them, so choose video topics that are of interest to your ideal clients.
9. Trying to Say Too Much
When preparing your summary, be sure to keep it concise in crafting your text. People prefer short, well-structured summaries. Also, be careful to stay within the confines of your subject. If you have too much to explain, you may want to do more than one summary.
10. Do Not Look at the Camera
When recording an educational video clip, it is important that the subject is looking at the main camera at all times. You want to bond with the person listening, if you look away they will think you are not addressing them. If you are shooting with more than one camera, make sure your subject is always looking at the same camera, the primary one. A change of gaze to another camera will make the editing more complex and is not necessary for this type of video.
So, here are 10 mistakes to avoid when producing your videos. Now we would love to hear about yours, let us know your mistakes and learnings in the comments.
Editing Note: This article was published on January 7th, 2015 and has been edited and updated to provide more accurate information and statistics.
