Video presenting is different to live presenting

I picked up a link to a video on Twitter this week. Tom Mucciolo, President of MediaNet, explains the nuances between video presenting and live presenting.

I’ve been doing online videos for a very long time, and yet I find Tim’s pointers useful. Videos are becoming increasingly popular online. The video sharing websites are improving, and our bandwidth speeds are also improving. Video, thus, is one of the best methods to get your message to a wide audience.

Depending on what your goals are will determine the level of professionalism – in terms of editing – you require. The videos of Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Brogan are extremely insightful, but they have no editing at all. They’re just quick on the fly videos. They’re powerful clips, and very short. The videos that we produce are a bit different, they have a bit more editing, and the goal is different.

Tom’s Tips:

1. Feedback is important. When you’re in a room doing a live presentation, the feedback – body language, etc – you get from the audience makes you also give feedback. So your face and your body changes, your eyebrows move, you smile, etc. When you’re speaking into a video camera, do not speak just into the lens. Imagine the feedback of your viewers, and provide corresponding feedback.
2. When people are taller their hands appear bigger on camera. So if you’re tall, do not show your hands, or at least do not show open palms. If you have to gesticulate, then close your fingers and point. If you’re short, then your hands appear normal on camera and this is not an issue for you.
3. When stretching your arms in gesticulation, try to keep them within the camera frame as much as possible.
4. Depending on the nature of the video, the presenter can either speak directly into the camera, or speak to another person as in an interview style. Consider your desired outcome before starting the presentation
5. It’s critical to break the eye contact with the camera. Maintaining eye contact is important, but breaking it is equally important. The same is true off camera. In a live presentation, if you do not break the eye contact at certain times, the audience will feel like you’re grinding down on them.

Have a look at this video of Robynn Burls from Encyclomedia. We covered one of their conferences in 2008, and this is a little clip at the end of the day. Please note that the intro of the clip does not have any sound. We’ve since then added little jingles to all our video intros, and this makes a huge difference. That’s another important tip if you’re producing online videos.

Robynn is a real natural in front of the camera, and she brings her message across clearly and in a very pleasant manner.

Watch the original video of Tom Mucciolo here.