Professional speaker video tips
As a marketing coach for professional speakers, I often share the sound bite "No Video Beats A Bad Video." That simply means you want to get a GREAT professional speaker video. But how?
First, watch lots and lots of them. Go to speakers bureau websites, go to top speakers websites – make a list of what you like and what you don’t like. Then look at where you are in the marketplace and ask “What are MOST of the NEXT level speakers doing in their videos?”
Plan out your professional speaker video carefully – you can actually storyboard it shot by shot using something as simple as index cards or Post-It Notes. When you have a VERY clear idea of exactly what you want viewers to experience and how you want to present yourself professionally, go get it done.
The mistake I see a lot of speakers make (and even some top professional speakers openly admit this) is that they made their demo video too early – before they were educated consumers. They didn’t know what they didn’t know and that made it very hard for them to truly collaborate with their video professional.
Understand that most of your money will go into editing and post-production. Don’t skimp on quality and do get the best professional help you can afford with both the shooting and the editing. Your cousin Vinnie’s $500 camera may be good enough for posting short clips on YouTube, but it’s not good enough to represent your professional work when your livelihood depends on it. Do it once and do it right.
Bonus tip: Many meeting planners like to hear a short audio program before hiring you. Record a high-quality 15 or 20-minute audio program, post it on your website and let planners hear a good opening, some solid content, and a strong close. It’s a great way to get yourself 90% booked before the planner even picks up the phone to call you!
Two more quick tips: 1. Record everything you do and then cut the best stuff together. 2. Getting good visual quality is easy; it’s more important to pay attention to the sound quality of your video – meeting planners WILL watch less-than-ideal video with good sound, they definitely WON’T watch good video with bad or garbled sound.
Bonus from my friend Laurie Brown of Be Great on Camera - Get your free copy of The Top 10 Biggest Mistakes in Making a Video
And if you want a great resource for Professional Speaker Video in the Philadelphia area, you can't go wrong with my own video guru, Rob Kates at www.ProfessionalSpeakerVideo.com
What are your thoughts on how to put together a killer professional speaker video? Please share your opinions in the COMMENTS area below...
