Tips and tricks for making your Vlogs watchable… dare I even say, compelling

First and this may seem simple, you need good sound and good lighting.

Here’s your tips and tricks to have good sound can be accomplished with a wireless lav mic – you can get them here:  If you’re pulling sound directly to your computer.

Or here: if you’re pulling sound to an SD card on your camera.

You need people to SHHH while you’re shooting unless you are going for a – “we are like this here in our office and don’t mind the background chatter” (a legit choice).

Assume you will not have the time or inclination to synch up sound and video later and make sure you choose your sound capture wisely based on your expertise with video and sound editing.

Good lighting can be as easy as facing the giant window in the office or shooting outside in a shaded area (direct sun looks dreadful on camera – think deep shadows and big noses.) But if you’re serious about creating a professional background there are some fun options.

Backgrounds should have depth of field and activity. Don’t stop the world (and melt with me) Let work go one behind you just pull focus to the face of the person talking and have as much space behind them as possible to get a feel for where you are and that there are other live humans around.  Don’t have any live humans nearby? That’s OK.  Still go for depth of field for a much more professional and visually interesting look.

Dress the part

If you’re a renegade, don’t wear a tie and if you’re a buttoned up financial guy, don’t wear a wife beater. Be yourself, whoever that is. If you’re not sure how you should come across, we can help with our brand storytelling session.

Dress in solid colors, bright is good, white and black are bad. When in doubt go with blue, any shade will do regardless of your eye color. Beige is not a great choice for anyone. Jackets are good, stripes jump and make you look fat and checks make you look unkempt. There are exceptions, let’s assume you’re not one of them.

Wing it but set up structure

There’s nothing worse than watching someone struggle to remember their lines… it’s like watching someone else’s 2nd grader in the school play, you don’t care and you just want it to end. So, instead of just getting on camera and talking aimlessly, create a structure.

Here are 4 elements of a good vlog that you can set up in advance:

1. The Big Idea: (what behavior are we addressing?)

What’s your pain point? What problem are you solving IN THIS MOMENT.

2. The Illustrating Story: (Who has been there and can serve as a guide)

Tell a story of a time you solved this problem for a customer/ client

3. The Examples/ Visual Support: (This image gives more information with as few words as possible)

An infographic showing the process that solved the pain point, a picture of a real person, a step by step walk through of the big idea.

4. The Takeaway: (1 or 2 sentences that summarize the Big Idea and the CTA for our viewer)

5. Sentences: declarative sentences you can put on title cards to end your video. Pain Point, Solution, How it works. and your final call to action. What would you like them to do now? Call you, email you, download an ebook, come to your event?

Vlogging can be easy and fun with a little prep.

Once you have your video shot you’ll want to edit it in iMovie, add subtitles in YouTube and post it on your company Youtube page. Then embed it in a blog post and schedule it out for social media posting on all your networks.

If you’re diligent and post one vlog a month you’ll have a really nice cadence to your video content and a strong library built up year over year!

If all else fails. Make a Tic Toc or a Boomerang and post it to your Instagram. You may surprise yourself.