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Picture this: you’ve done your research and you know that video is a powerful tool to build trust, whether it’s for a Zoom meeting, a 1:1 sales video, a full-scale production or a YouTube video. You prepare a script, get in front of the camera, and then all of a sudden, you’re stuck.
“What if I say the wrong thing?”
“Am I really qualified for this?”
So, you try to record, but you just can’t get it right. It feels like a waste of your time when you could be following up with prospects, so away goes your camera, and back to your normal daily activities you go. I’m here to tell you that anyone can be good on camera, and in this article, you’ll learn exactly how you can come across as a respected industry professional in your videos.
Are you considering shooting content for your brand?
Or using 1:1 sales video to close more deals?
While video can be a powerful way to communicate your message to prospects and build trust, there’s a few key things you need to do to make sure you come across as an industry expert.
Missing these things is the difference between embarrassing yourself on camera or making an impact with your audience.
By the end of this article, you’re going to know exactly what you need to do to record videos like a boss, whether it’s for sales or content marketing.
Anyone can be good on camera. So, if you’re ready to stop being intimidated on camera, let’s jump into it.
Getting Past the Doubts and Fears
What would be the consequence of resisting being on camera?
If you want to be the true authority in your space, you need to produce content – and a lot of it. If you don’t, you won’t be able to effectively communicate your message, and your competitors will get in front of you with their own videos.
To build trust, become the industry expert, and close more deals, you need to produce video.
However, you may experience some doubts and fears.
Usually, it goes something like this:
Phase #1: Doubt
- Is this a good use of my time?
- What would it look like?
- Why would i do that?
Phase #2: The Imposter syndrome
- Am I really qualified for this?
- Certainly someone could’ve done better than me
- I didn’t say that right
Phase #3: The “celebrity” perception
Something interesting happens when you produce video content regularly.
Even if you don’t want to, your prospects will start to perceive you as a “celebrity”. The reality is that video content allows prospects to see us before we see them, hear us before we hear them and know us before we know them. This creates a false perception that we are some kind of “celebrity”, which only helps to increase trust and likability.
Ultimately this leads to a level of trust and credibility where people want to work with your business because they know you and trust you.
Why is it a problem if we stay in Phase #1 and #2?
Well, how you think influences you. You might be thinking some of these thoughts:
- I’m not good on camera
- I’m not used to this
- I don’t look good on camera
- I’m not good enough
- People are going to judge me
If you believe this, you ultimately start to exhibit traits based on these thoughts. This is probably more impactful than anything else.
The best way to get over this is to tackle this imposter syndrome.
Our job is simple. Be helpful. Just focus on this! Remind yourself that all you’re trying to do is be helpful and get everything else out of your head. This is the first step to tackling these doubts and fears. The second step is to follow the “no stop” rule.
The “No Stop” Rule
The rule goes like this: you can do as many takes of a video or segment, but you can’t stop in the middle of one.
For example, if you get stuck on a word, you have to keep going. When you’re on camera, you may feel like you need to have a clear-cut video, but that’s just not the reality.
When you keep going despite your mistakes during a recording, you learn to embrace the mess and you practice finishing the message.
If you look at the best videos out there, they are the ones that are human… there are mess ups at times, but because the person on camera embraces the messy, it comes across as more trustworthy and the outcome is better. If you try to get a perfect video, you’ll only make your job (and the outcome) much worse.
Instead, if you follow the no stop rule it will:
- Take less time to record your videos
- Help you become a better communicator over time
- Help you take this ability to other areas of life
Think to a scenario in real life when you’re talking to a prospect.
Do you stop and do a retake in a real conversation because you messed up a word?
No.
The videos that build the most trust are those that embrace the reality of messiness and mistakes.
Winning the 7-second First Impression Test
It takes 7 seconds or less to get an impression if you like the person on camera.
Let’s take a look at it from a psychological perspective. Psychologists break the brain down into two systems.
The first system is concerned with quick mindless tasks, such as:
- Breathing
- Blinking
- Detecting that one object is more distance than another
- Adding 2+2
- Driving on an empty road
The second system is for complex problem solving, when you’re working on something consciously, such as:
- Doing tax paperwork
- Trying to find someone in a crowd
- Solving a math’s problem
- Writing copy for a sales page
When you’re judging someone for the first term (whether consciously or subconsciously), which system do you think is working in the first 7 seconds?
If you guessed system one, you’d be right.
If this part of the brain doesn’t have enough information in the first 7 seconds, it will create stories about that person to fill the gaps. The problem here is that if it’s not leaning one way or the other, the brain will lead to viewing someone as a foe.
You see, the brain is cautionary by nature. It wants to protect you, so naturally, it will see anyone it doesn’t have enough information about as a foe. If you want to build trust with video, this obviously isn’t the best outcome. You need to make a good impression in the first 7 seconds.
But how can you do this?
Well, it ultimately comes down to how you look, how you sound, and what you say. By controlling these variables, you can win the 7-second first impression test and gain trust from prospects during the first seven seconds.
How to Look on Camera
There’s three elements to looking like a pro on camera:
- Posture
- Gestures
- Facial expressions
Posture
Posture helps command presence and improve the experience your viewer has when they watch your content. It helps you improve engagement with your viewer and influences their perception of you.
In the housing industry, the sales closing rate increases depending on where you first meet the prospect. For example, meeting them in a kitchen or dining room tends to have a higher close rate than meeting them in a loungeroom environment.
Why is this?
In loungerooms people are more likely to slump down because the lounges are comfy and are designed for relaxation.
On the other hand, in a kitchen / dining environment the chairs are designed for conversation, not relaxation, which influences your posture and the way you present yourself.
When it comes to video, we want to be hyperaware of our posture because as the example above illustrates, a more upright posture will help build trust and credibility.
If you’re standing, you want to stand straight, with your shoulders square. You’ll want to lean in as you address your audience.
If you’re sitting (which is fine), just don’t sit on anything that is meant for lounging. Instead sit on something like a stool that does not let you lean back. Also, keep at least one foot on the ground, as putting both feet up will also impact your posture slightly.
The power of gestures
When we write, we have visual aids to help our audience consume information i.e. bold, italics, dot points etc. We can do the same with gestures.
For example, you can:
- Use points to break up your content i.e. number 1, number 2, etc. You’ll want to use hand signals (with your fingers) to demonstrate point number 1, point number 2 and so on.
- Use your hands to show elapsing time in the past, future or present. For example, move your hand to the left to talk about the future, the middle for the present, and the right to refer to the past.
- Use your hands to show receiving or giving something. For example, gesturing your hands towards your chest indicates receiving something, and gesturing them towards the camera indicates giving something.
On top of this, having open body language is a universal sign of trust. Keep your palms open and visible and this will help subconsciously build trust with your audience.
Facial expressions
The facial expression you need to focus on is smiling. Smiling is another trust builder…but, how do you smile more and maintain that smile throughout the video without looking like a weirdo?
The key is starting with a smile BEFORE you start talking.
Start with a smile before you start your message.
If you do this, it’ll be much easier to maintain it throughout your video. Rather than focusing on constantly trying to smile (which is unnatural) you can simply start smiling before you start the video and if there are longer breaks or ends to sections, you can smile after you finish or before you start speaking.
How to Sound on Camera
There’s three key areas to consider to sound like a pro on camera:
- Mood and resonance
- Pacing
- Think words (“umm”, “ahh”)
Mood and resonance
If you want your viewer to feel energised, how must you show up on camera?
You can control your viewer’s emotions and mood by how you show up on camera. By being more energised, charismatic, and enthusiastic, you can elicit the same emotions in your viewer.
This is important because if your viewer feels good while watching your video, it’s likely that they’re going to feel good about whatever message you’re delivering. On top of this, when you increase your energy on camera it affects the resonance of your voice which impacts your command presence.
So is it as simple as acting more enthusiastic and charismatic? No.
The camera subtracts energy and enthusiasm.
When you think you’re cranking it up and being enthusiastic, it won’t translate to camera. You have to do 5x more than what you think will be effective, because the camera naturally subtracts that energy, even if you feel like you’re delivering it.
You need to focus on bringing enthusiasm and charisma, but you need to bring more than whatever you think is a lot, otherwise the effect will be minimal.
Pacing
If you want maximum impact with your message, get comfortable with silence.
Let’s take a look at this example:
Proper pacing helps you add emphasis to key parts of your message and helps you deliver your message without having to stop so often.
Sometimes your mouth moves faster than your brain works, so slowing can dramatically improve your delivery, and your comfortability with speaking on camera.
On top of this, if you pace out your message it also makes it easier to receive and understand.
Think words (“umm”, “ahh”)
Think words are the words you might use to fill in the gaps of silence when speaking. Some example include:
- Ummm
- Ahhh
- So
- Now
- …or things like that
The reason you may feel like you need to fill this space is because of how you usually converse with people. If you’re in a conversation with someone and you’re not finished with what you’re saying, you don’t want them to interrupt so you naturally make noise to fill the gap and signal that you want to keep talking. This is natural, however it doesn’t help you on camera.
You don’t need to do that in a video. No one is going to cut you off.
Instead, if you just pause instead of saying “umm” or “ahh”, it is far more effective. If you stop speaking and create silence it creates impact and prevents you from using think words.
Another thing you can do to help with this is to review your video content and write down your think words so that you become conscious of these. As this happens you’ll automatically catch yourself and stop saying them.
What to Say on Camera (and what not to say)
You will want to consider three key points to say the right stuff on camera:
- Scripting
- Setting verbal agendas
- Sounding smart
To script or not to script
The whole purpose of a video is to build trust and credibility. What happens when your audience realises you’re using a script?
You’ll lose trust, credibility, attention, and authority.
So why would you put yourself in that position?
Instead, use a script outline, which is a bulleted list of the things you want to communicate to your viewer. Notice we said communicate, not read.
There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you’re doing long form content, using a teleprompter may make your life easier. But if you’re communicating sales or trying to build trust with a content marketing video, don’t use a word for word script.
Why do people rely on word for word scripts?
Some people rely on word to word scripts because they’re not confident to deliver, or perhaps they need to get it approved by everyone and a script means less work on video production. Ultimately, it’s a control issue.
However, if you work in sales, you need to be able to think on your feet to succeed. What allows you to do this is letting go of control. And the first step you can take to do that in a video is by using script outlines instead of scripts.
How to set a verbal agenda to increase viewer duration
Set expectations of what’s going to happen in your video right at the start – this is called setting a verbal agenda.
When someone starts watching your video, they want to know if they should keep watching.
A verbal agenda tells your viewer exactly what value they’re going to get out of the video and will help them make a decision to stay or leave.
The best verbal agenda is:
“In this video I’m going to give you xyz and if you stick around until the end, I’m going to give you access to xyz”. Something simple like this can improve your viewer duration significantly.
Letting go of the notion of trying to sound smart
Dont try to be something else. Sometimes, people will try to sound smarter on camera because they feel they need to do something extra to deliver that message.
But that’s rarely the case at all.
The moment we try to sound smart on camera is the moment we start to look stupid.
When you try to sound too smart on camera, one of two things ends up happening:
- You sound like you think you’re so smart, so you come across as arrogant
- You sound like you’re doubting yourself so much that you come across as weak and not an authority
What a CEO or prospect respects is when you just say it how it is without any agenda. Most of the people in leadership positions can sift through the real from the fake online, so it doesn’t serve you to be something that you’re not.
In saying this, most of the time this is subconscious and not a conscious error on your part. The key to beating this is to consciously focus on NOT trying too hard. Just relax, and remember that all your goal is to be helpful. Using technical terms and expansive vocabulary won’t help you better communicate your message, it’ll only alienate your audience.
So, what’s next?
Now that you know how to think, look and sound on camera, and most importantly what to say (and what not to say), it’s time to think about exactly what you’re going to deliver.
One of the most effective techniques we see with video is through 1:1 sales videos used by sales reps during the sales cycle. Read our article about six tips to close more deals with video.
