1. What to wear
Wear an outfit that you feel super comfortable in and that enables you to feel your most confident authentic self. We would advise wearing clothing that is lightweight and non-restrictive because the lights in the studio can get quite hot!
Unfortunately, busy patterns and stripes are an absolute no on video as they can appear to move on screen. We would also recommend avoiding wearing colours such as red and black or colours that are too close to your skin tone.
If you’re not sure what will look best on screen, please feel free to bring a choice of clothes and change if necessary.
2. When being interviewed remember to give context in your answer
Unless you are going for a script-led approach to your corporate video the likelihood is that the video Director or Producer will be asking you questions that lead you to giving a response that is on message and in line with the video objectives. You won't however hear the questions being asked in the final video content so it's super important that you give the audience a full context of the question being asked within your answer.
For example, we may ask a question such as: “What’s your favourite movie?” Instead of just telling us the film title, you need to answer by including parts of the question in your answer. For example: “My favourite film is Back to the Future, because…” This enables the viewer to fully understand what you are talking about so that the overall video makes sense.
3. Sharp, short answers
Attention spans are getting lower and lower and with so much video content available online it’s important to get your message across in a quick and dynamic way. Therefore, we recommend you get cut to the core and get straight to the point focusing on what the viewer needs to hear, learn or act on.
It's important to note that the best corporate videos place their audience at the heart of everything therefore it is important to speak like a human and cut the corporate waffle, always taking an audience-first approach when answering your questions, with sharp, short and concise answers that get their attention and keep them interested.
4. Talk natural when reading a teleprompter
It’ll take a couple of run-throughs for us to set the teleprompter at the right font size and speed for you. We’re here to film you but to also be your audience so we’ll let you know if you’re speaking too fast or too slow.
Sometimes when people read from a teleprompter, they read really well but forget to engage like a human being which can make the overall performance look a bit flat. So as awkward as it may sound, we recommend you imagine the camera to be a person, the CEO you are pitching to, so smile, nod, use hand gestures, eyebrow raises, voice inflexion and pauses when required. Don’t worry about going over the top, if your performance starts to look too much, we’ll suggest bringing it down.
When you’ve finished your piece to the camera, most people will naturally look up at the camera crew to see how they did. Don’t do that, instead, we’d ask you to gently smile and keep looking into the camera lens for around 3-5 seconds as this gives breathing space in the final edit rather than an abrupt cut which looks less natural.
4. Mistakes are cool
The best corporate videos are natural, authentic and compelling to watch. Your audience wants to watch video content that they feel is relevant to them and their needs so it's important that you come across as human in your video and not like you've just memorised a script because it will come across as unnatural and forced. So, whilst we would advise prepping some key points in advance to the questions, we want you to shoot from the hip and answer from your heart. We don’t care if you mess up or stumble over your words or even go blank because we will do a number of takes on each answer on the day. And sometimes these real-life slip-ups or reactions actually end up ‘making’ the video.
5. We are here to make you look good in your corporate video
It’s our job as your video production partner to make you feel comfortable on camera. Don’t take offence if we give you direction or feedback before and after each take – we want you to look and sound great so sometimes we have to be critical to be kind to ensure we get the best camera shot.
MHF Creative - a video production company that will help the human element stand out in your marketing videos.
We are a video production agency that specialises in corporate video and employer branding content. Our goal is to make your video production content less corporate and more human to help you connect and engage with your audience in a more authentic and relatable way. We have made hundreds of corporate video campaigns for clients across a range of industries, from start-up tech to legal chambers, to travel and hospitality and also recruitment.
We are here to take away the stress of video production and come to you with creative solutions that will get you business results. We are one of the top-ranked UK video production agencies for client reviews according to Clutch. If you are thinking of making a corporate video or would like to discuss your video project in more detail, we are here to help.
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