7 Steps to Being Camera-Ready
Audio Recording
Introduction
SECTION 1, Karen’s introduction
Hi, everyone. I’m Karen. I’m so excited to be here today. I am a founder of a company called Busy Women. We have over 32,000 members. I actually asked Carole to join us today just because her information and speaking to her was so fierce, I had a bunch of questions, and so I thought maybe there’s some other people in the room who had questions because we all know the importance it is to have a social media presence, a live presence, or a video presence. I certainly wasn’t doing it well. If you look at some of my previous videos, you could just go and audit it. And Carole gave me the guidelines. What about this? Do this. Do that. And I saw an amazing difference so quickly with myself. I said we got to put this for other women. So Carole, she’s one of those people that walks softly and carries a big stick, and what I mean by that is even the conversation we had with her, she didn’t even mention to me initially, truly, that she had TV under her belt. But it’s not just TV; it is she’s had people, and Carole, please correct me if I’m wrong with this. She’s had companies saying we want to purchase what you have produced, and we want you to do another season of it because you’re so good. Is this correct, Carole?
It is. Yes.
And so this is what I mean, like walking softly and carrying a big stick where she has a wealth of information. I said we’ve got to share this with the women because what if social media is one of the reasons you’re holding back because you’re feeling a little bit afraid or uncertain? I know I felt that way, so I’d like to introduce Carole. Please know in the video you can stop and ask her a question anytime you need some support with something, and then we’ll have a question and answer period at the end. So welcome, Carole.
Carole's Opening
Hi. All righty. So thank you so much for that intro, Karen. I hesitate to give background only because I feel like sometimes it’s not relatable to the people that I am trying to help because it feels so distant from what they’re doing. But for the next little while, I’m going to be sharing things that you can do with your phone, and the things that I have done. Why does that matter? Not because I’ve been comfortable on camera ever, because I learned everything and taught myself to move through and just do it anyways. I learned it alone. I learned it the hard way, and I learned it by being generally bad for so many years. I mean, really terrible, and nobody gave me any confidence. I had a shooter, and we call shooters our cameramen, that would grill me on a regular and yell at me. I’m in front of the camera, so honestly, I learned these things so that now the people I can help, they are getting the benefit, and that’s the whole reason I’m here today. Not because this came easily to me, but because it didn’t, and I found my way through it
You Don't Need a Fancy Camera
I do have a camera. I do. I have my own fancy camera. But guess what? You do not need anything like that. You need your own phone. But you need to know how to use it properly, and everybody has one now. And let me help you do that without having to buy something expensive.
Let's Fix What's Costing You
Let’s fix what not doing videos costs you: views, confidence, credibility. Because honestly, video is one of those things that really helps with your credibility and confidence. So let’s get into it.
Don't Make Watchers Wait
All right, the first thing I want to tell you is that when you’re making a video, please do not make the watcher wait for the thing that you want to say. That hook, that first few seconds is the scroll stopper. And there’s three types. There’s movement, there’s sound, and then there’s the talking statement. The movement, the first one, your brain is wired to catch movement before it catches anything else. Nobody knows why, but the leading theory is, it’s kind of kept us alive for a really long time. Either way, it still works on us today. So scrolling a feed, like if you’re scrolling your phone and things come through, and whatever is on the beginning of that video is moving, it makes us stop. So let me give you some examples. So if you’re off frame, and you walk into frame, that’s one simple. Even two steps towards the camera, that is enough for people to stop and their brain to go, oh, something’s happening. What about just pick up your cup, take a sip, put it down. They’ll wait because they’re waiting for something to show up, a mug, a new notebook, your phone. So what I like to do, because sometimes it’s easier to make a motion than to think of something else, is I will look to the side when it starts and then notice the camera, and that’s enough. And it just gets the attention. So point at the camera, just a hand motion, simple, but it draws the eye right to the face.
May I ask a question with that? So you’re saying to do something deliberate, pick up my coffee, whatever, just to get their attention coming to us. And why is that so important versus me just starting this way? Like, what’s the difference between me picking up my coffee and me just starting?
So when people are scrolling their phone, these days it is just a mindless scroll. You’re just going from one to the other to the other. You don’t engage, but the brain is wanting to go to the next thing because the attention is so little, and we’ve become so accustomed to it being the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, we don’t stop, and it’s not because what you’re going to say is interesting or the message you have is important. It’s because the brain of the watcher is thinking that way, and if they’re not made to stop, if it’s not a calculated intentional thing on your part to make this stop, they won’t, and that’s going to be your efforts wasted. And believe me, video is a lot of effort. It’s going to make them stop. And I’ll tell you, people who start their videos very innocently, like oh hi, how you doing, my name is, don’t start right on the thing that you’re starting with because that few seconds matters.
And I think that’s very fundamental because if we’re trying to do it right, so I’m trying to boil down to what we’re doing right. If we’re trying to get the whole video organized and we fail the first three seconds, they’re going to scroll on. So it’s so important to make sure that those first three seconds matter, so that they watch the rest. Is this correct?
Absolutely. And you’re just distinguishing yourself from the other person. You want to look and sound differently from the person before.
SECTION 4, The hook, sound
So if that is the case, here’s the next one. Sound also catches people off guard. Imagine you’re sitting in a quiet room and something drops behind you. You automatically look back. This is the same thing, the sudden noise your brain will react to. So most videos will start the video without sound. But once people tap on that, make the video worth having sound. So snap your fingers, clap. You can say your first word louder. Those are things that you can very intentionally do. One of the hooks, I threw something and it landed with a slap on the table, and that was enough. That was probably one of the best videos I had. People stop scrolling. Even a short pause, like I said before, just no sound. They’re wondering what’s coming next. So that silence before your first sentence makes them pay attention.
SECTION 5, The hook, phrase
Now phrase hooks work, and by phrase I mean saying certain words so that people are drawn in by curiosity, and it does work. It’s science based. A brain hates an unfinished thought, so if you’re asking a question or saying something that doesn’t quite add up, people can’t help but wait for the answer, like wait, don’t scroll past. And I know it sounds cheesy, but it works. And listen, would you rather it work or sound cheesy? But it really does. And it sets it up for an answer, right? So you can even take a beat, and then deliver the thing, because it’s still your message, right? You’re still making the statement. You’re just putting something in front so that people hear it, and that’s the whole reason we want to do video, so that people hear us.
Sorry, I just want to say, and I think you see that most often. People will say this on videos. I’ve got four tips for business success. Don’t miss number four because you’re going to really, really like it, so that’s their hook, right?
Absolutely, and the funny part is, even with my intentional video making brain, it says, oh man, they’re just doing that, and I watch it anyway because I want to see the fourth one. It’s like, oh, okay, they got me again, but it does work. And if you’re looking for a simple combo, just pick two. Maybe you’re walking in and you’re saying something, but it does make a difference for later on.
Minimize Distraction
The second one is to minimize distraction when you’re doing your videos or preparing to do your videos. I say planning is your best friend when it comes to avoiding distraction, and distraction creates frustration. Frustration will make you stop doing the thing that you’re doing, because you just don’t feel like you can do it anymore. And sometimes it comes in increments. You could be in your office, the windows open. You film, you play it back, and the guy next door was mowing his lawn, or the kids were playing out front. I can’t tell you how many times I have played stuff back, got frustrated, had to do it again, and there’s a reason people do this in their car because they have all the things blocked out. There is nobody asking for anything. If you don’t have the car running and you don’t have the music playing, you literally have a nice little time capsule. You can go to the lake shore or something, sit with the car pointed not at people, and talk to your heart’s content, and it’s got great light. Just saying. But you can either plan a day where distractions are at the lowest, or create a space that you can just shut out the distractions and put a sign on the closed door. So this is a big one, and I would really like to see people try to minimize other things happening while they’re trying to do video because it’s very important.
Find The Light
Natural light is your friend, so find that natural light as much as you possibly can, and that means a window. And don’t shoot with your back to the window, face the light to avoid shadows. This little guy, this is my grandson. You can see on the left, I shot him with the window in the back. So basically, what it does is creates shadows in the front, and he looks like a silhouette. There’s no color coming through, and honestly, this was not doctored. I just turned around with my back to the window and took his picture in front of the window, and those are the same colors that showed up in the left picture. So he’s glowing. There’s absolutely, I know he’s a baby, they don’t generally get eye bags, and with light coming in onto the face, it diminishes all of those things we don’t want to see. So I want to see you shoot all of your videos this way now. I want to see all your selfies and all your videos facing a window, so you can place your phone with the back to the window and you facing the light. And it’s best if you can have something that is a stabilizer, whether that be a tripod or a cup, anything, but stabilize it and put it to the back.
I think you taught me a great trick because I wasn’t too sure if I was hitting full light. Did you not tell me to go almost like 360, like do a circle where I can make sure I’m in the proper light?
Oh yes, exactly. So if you put your camera to your face and go sit 360 in the room and see when those shadows disappear in your face, that’s the right light. And usually it’s right when you’re facing the light. Now, if you don’t have that light, if it’s night time and you’re indoors, and you don’t have any extra lights like ring lights, use what you have. If you have table lamps, just take off the shades, turn on the room’s overhead lights, I call it the big light, and don’t stand under it. But have it as close to facing you. Again, the 360 really helps. This is my very magical but $40 light, that’s a lamp that has a movable head that I use for anything on my desk and my Zoom, because it is LED. Bathroom lighting is nice because it’s always in front of you.
Would you recommend one of those lights that attach to your phone, that go around the phone itself?
I would not, and I will tell you why. Those are wonderful if you’re right here with it, but they don’t throw light, so if you’re back here, it doesn’t do a lot. If you really want to buy one, if you are wanting to purchase anything, a ring light, so yes, it’s something external, but here’s where it really helps if you get an 18 inch one, notice how big it is, this is the one that you’ll be able to stand as far back as you need to, so that you have dimension in a room. And they also have a stabilizer right on them. I think I got that one for maybe $50 on Amazon. It literally is a game changer, and it didn’t break the bank, and that’s what we want to do. It’s easy to carry, it comes in a carrying case, I can take that anywhere as long as I have a plug. But generally, I don’t like filming in public spaces myself, anyways.
Quick question, does this apply when taking video of a product? So not of yourself, but of products.
Oh, so product? Yes, absolutely. This is something that you’re going to want to check for if you’re doing product shots. I feel like for product shots, this is a little bit different because you want to create dimension. You might want to have two lights, a backlit light that is backlighting on an angle, and one in the front maybe at an angle. So then you have dimension. It just gives better color. It gives a better way to present any products that you have, and by that I mean you’re not in the product with it, it’s just lighting up your product.
Check Your Background
next, check your background, because I feel like this is something that really catches people off guard after they have shot, so I want you to find, this is how you find it before you shoot your whole video, and then you don’t have to do it over. Find the most uncluttered background you can find, and then take a selfie first to see what that looks like. And here are some of the things I want you to look for. So, clutter and personal items. Look for laundry, dishes, and these aren’t things that you typically look at when you’re doing it. You’re so worried about what you want to do. The things in the background are the things they’re actually looking at, if indeed they are distractible. So laundry, dishes, cords, paper piles, anything that you don’t want people to get distracted with, because the eye goes right to the mess, even a small mess, before it gets to your face. So be also mindful of depth and distance from a wall, you do not want to stand directly against a wall because if you’re pressed up against it, everything looks really flat and a little bit claustrophobic. Even a foot or two with a gap between you and the background adds a dimension and softens shadows at the back. Because standing right there, you’re going to get a full on shadow. So another thing to remember is reflective surfaces. Check for mirrors, glass picture frames or TV screens, because they may get something you don’t want to make public. So you cleaned all your mess, you shoved it to your side, and your mirror just showed everything. This has actually happened to me. It pulls attention away from your face without you even realizing it. I also want you to look for symmetry in framing. I want you to look at what’s left in the background versus what’s right in the background. If there’s a big empty wall on one side and a big massive bookcase on the other one, the frame feels a little bit off balance, and you don’t need it to be perfectly even, but you do want to check anything that’s pulling the eye to one side, even bold colors on one side and then nothing on the other. It really is about trying not to be distracted, and then there’s also the things that might be growing out of your head. This is another thing that typically happens when you’ve got a beautiful plant or flower that you think is a great addition to your background, and then you’re in front of it, and it looks like alfalfa, or a plant, or even a lamp. So that’s why that selfie is really important.
Stop Holding the Phone
Now this is going to be short, but it is really important. Please stop holding your phone. Please stop videoing like this, and the shake, because that is the most thing that people will see. Again, it’s all about distraction. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t trying your hardest, and yes, there are great stabilizers on phones these days. But listen, think about this. You’ve got the best video going. You are on a roll. You’re just about done, and a bug lands on your face, and you’re trying to, oh, and then it’s gone. So frustrating, but honestly, the best thing for you to have is a stabilizer. It could be a tripod, there are very inexpensive ones on Amazon, I saw one for $40. Again, very cost effective, and what you’re looking at when you’re buying are lots of people buying and great reviews. So, if you’re looking to film right now and you don’t have anything, coffee mugs are the best, or a Kleenex box. Kleenex boxes even have the thing inside them to prop it in, so it’s really quite cool.
What Should I Wear
This is the question. This is the most important one. This is the best, most talked about question. What do I wear? What do I wear on my shoot? And here are the things, and here are the things not to, and it is not something that is just my personal opinion. It really is something that I’ve seen over the last 13 years that people, when they don’t do it, they regret it. So first one, wear solid colors. Solid colors feel very clean on camera, again, no distraction. Think about light beiges, blues, browns, green, these are very neutral colors. And choose a color that contrasts with your background. So you don’t want to wear black if it’s a black background. You can almost see how, if my background was any darker, I’d look like a floating head, and you do not want that dimension to go away. So if your wall is light, wear something with depth in it, and vice versa. I want you to please pick necklines and layers that photograph well. A simple crew neck, a V neck, a blazer over top, and you can see blazers give good lines. This is the line that you want to look for, not distracted, cuts up a little bit, but doesn’t create too much of a flat appearance. Layers also let you, especially if you’re having someone else shoot you and you’re going into a room that may be too warm, wear layers that you’re comfortable wearing each of individually in the photograph. That’s really important because if it gets too hot, I get hot flashes, I’ll just say it, and if I’m too hot, I’m done, I’m distracted, I’m frustrated, and I can’t even continue. So I have a lot of clients that have had that, and if they wear something underneath, they can take it off, still be comfortable.
I just want to say something else that Carole helped me with. Make sure that the clothing you’re wearing, it might look great in a different dark area. Make sure it matches with the light. And the reason I share this with you is I was wearing a beige top, looked great in my darker bedroom, and when I went to put it in my video, it was the same skin tone as my body, and so it kind of looked like I was naked. So very good that she said, just pay attention in the right environment as opposed to what you like, make sure it doesn’t change with the lighting.
And that’s a really good point, Karen. Because the fact that it made it look naked, do you want someone to second guess and miss your message? That is really what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to remove the distraction of the clothes, the jewelry, all of the things, and make your message the biggest thing that people see. If I was wearing big bold flowers, that’s all you’d be seeing. It is so distracting visually, just like auditorially, if there was something going on in the background, people are very distracted by other things and miss your message. First thing is you want them to get your message, and comfort shows on camera. If you feel confident and most like you, that’s why you don’t wear something that you just bought last week. This is the first time you’re wearing it because you bought it for this shoot, and you’ve never worn it before, and it feels like, oh, I don’t know this one, and you pull at it, and honestly, that comes through on the other end of the camera. So what is most like you reads as generally you, which is kind of the whole goal. You’re going to want clothes that don’t feel too tight. I want you to avoid with all your might busy patterns, small tiny stripes, small check patterns, or fine plaids. These things can create a strobing or a vibrating effect on the camera, especially if the camera is not very good quality, webcams or phones. And honestly, it looks like a moving pattern. I want you to skip red. Red never shows up as red when light hits it and the camera interprets it, it becomes another color, and if that red does not look good on you, you’re going to want to shoot that again. Also, skip pure white and pure black. If I have pure black on me, two things happen. If it’s a shiny material, it’s going to shine and become not black anyways, it’s going to be gray, and you could be that floating head, and pure white washes out most people, and can just shine, which again is distracting. So instead, soft whites or charcoals are really nice. Please do not wear big brand logos or text that pulls away from your face and can look unprofessional. You can wear a graphic tee underneath a colored blazer if the design isn’t overwhelming. Please watch your noisy jewelry and accessories. Dangly earrings, things that are kind of making noise as you move, clinking bracelets or anything that’s catching the light or really shiny and sparkly, again, very distracting. And they can, if they’re near a mic, that’s all you’re going to hear is the dangly and jingles. So you can pick jewelry that doesn’t flip around, small earrings or herringbone necklaces. One extra thing would be the linen, that’s for instance something that wrinkles, and you just ironed it, so as soon as you sit down, there’s a wrinkle and the camera picks that up. So if you’ve got anything that wrinkles easily, and the next one, we’re all friends here, right? The ones that make you sweat or the ones that show sweat stains, not fun, after you’ve shot and you loved it, and now you’ve got to do it again because you’ve got large sweat stains.
If They Can't Hear You...
If they can’t hear you, they are going to scroll by, and I will do this very quickly. If you have ever recorded something and afterwards didn’t realize that it was something playing in the background, a noise has come through, whether it be a fan or a lawnmower, because Zoom probably cancels it out, but when you have your phone in front of you, you don’t get that noise canceling thing. If you are going to buy anything, I would say the most inexpensive is a lapel mic that attaches to your phone. They are generally not expensive. I got a two-head mic that attaches to my phone, it just plugs into my phone, and then I have a clip. It removes most of the noise and it works really well. I want to very quickly, if I possibly can, this is what I heard the last time I was trying to record something. Let’s see if I can get it. Tell me if you can hear this. It’s a pack of coyotes that was triggered by the sirens outside because I didn’t have my mic on. I did my whole video with coyotes yelling in the background. I’m like, what is going on? There’s no dogs around here. So those mics literally eliminate even that kind of stuff. Now, yes, you can get one for under $30 on Amazon. Please look for anything that matches your phone, make sure it works with your phone, and it’s got lots of great reviews, and lots of people have bought it.
3 Bonus tips
Because I love you, and honestly, I do want everybody to succeed, this isn’t something that I want to hold anything back on in case it works for you, these are also three more things that I have people telling me that really either work for them, or they’re questions that I’ve heard before.
Know What to Say
One of the biggest complaints is people say I don’t know what to say, and this has been the biggest game changer for me. When I was doing my first, I’ll tell you, you want to talk about a vulnerable moment, I was doing my first hosting gig, my first episode. I showed up, I had all my notes ready to go, which I had on a clipboard that I put in front of me. There was no teleprompter, it was my show, I had to provide all the things, and I forgot my clip part at home, so I had no notes, I had no way of knowing because my brain had turned off, because that’s what happens when fear shows up, brain to mouth capability turns off. So this has been my biggest game changer over the last, I’ll say seven years. Because before that, I’ll tell you, recording was a thing for me. So this is teleprompter software. It is for your phone. It costs $25 a year, and I put my scripts on it now. Whether I follow them verbatim, that’s a different story, I don’t need to say everything that’s on the screen, but it doesn’t let my brain wander, I don’t ramble like I would have if my brain can’t catch again. So I’m telling you, if not knowing what to say is something that you’re afraid of, or you feel like people judge you on the ums, the ahs, practicing with a teleprompter is truly a game changer for people who are stuck on that thing, I can’t say it because I don’t know what to say. And if you don’t want to use a script, and you think that you can’t read from a script and sound natural, this is what’s worked best for the people that I’ve worked with. You memorize the first line, you memorize the last line, so now you have anchors, and this is maybe in a one minute video, and then you have three points that you’ll talk on. Now you know the first thing to say, and you can put your points in front of you on the teleprompter, and then you have the last thing that you want to say, and you can memorize that, it can be a line, it can be a word, it can be anything. But you need an anchor so that there’s no rambling, and you don’t have to edit. And that’s the best thing that has been working for the people that I have worked with, and they say to me, thank you, because it has been a game changer for them too..
Music or Not
The question I get is, should I put music underneath all my videos? Because doesn’t it move it along, and doesn’t it cause more entertainment, and doesn’t it make a trendy video, and it might go viral. No. First of all, viral is not the thing we’re looking at, that is not our goal, we’re not influencers, we don’t want to be influencers. All we want, and it’s not a small thing, is to talk to the people that we want to help, that is not trying to be on millions of screens all at once. Because I’ll tell you, answering a million people that have come into your comment section, not fun. I’ve seen social media managers spend weeks mitigating millions of people talking at the same time, it’s not what you’re looking for. So music is one of those things that doesn’t enhance when you’re talking, you don’t have control on whether it’s low enough. I had one thing that had to go back to edit because the voice was not high enough. So don’t add it, it doesn’t work cross platform either.
Captions
And what if people watch and the sound is off? You know how they’re scrolling, say you’re at a doctor’s office, you’re waiting in line to get your coffee, and you’re scrolling, and you see somebody’s video come up, and it doesn’t have captions, then you’re scrolling past, you can’t hear it, now the message fully gets lost. So turn on your captions. Sometimes I think YouTube does it automatically, but with Instagram and TikTok, you can manually turn those on. And I personally like to embed mine with CapCut, they have the best, coolest captions, and it costs about $13 a month if that’s something you want to do.
Getting Comfortable
Now, the next thing is really important, because you can have the lighting, the background perfect, you can have the things that you want to say, but you still feel really weird about being in front of the camera. So here’s what I do every single time I hit record and get in front of the camera, and I want to share these with you because it helps you get in your body and not in your head, thinking that it’s going to be terrible. Because once you’re comfortable, it’s just you. So here’s what I do: shoulders back, chin level, not tilted up or down, feet a little wider than shoulder width, I want to feel very sturdy, like you’re standing on solid ground, and you’re not going to move for anyone. So you feel solidly planted, and I want you to take one long, slow breath in through your nose for a count of four, hold it for a count of four, and then out your mouth for a count of four, just once, and it sounds like a small thing, but it drops your shoulders down, slows your voice, even before you say anything.
The Superman pose and smile energy
And then this is the one people laugh at, I assume the Superman pose, and you can either do that by putting your hands on your hips, like she is doing in the picture, or you can lean back in your chair like you are comfortable, and this opens up your chest for 30 seconds to a minute before you hit record. This comes from research adopted by Amy Cuddy, she was a TEDx speaker, she adopted this science for her talk. But I also know from doing this for the last 13 years, I need that same thing coming back into my body so that I’m not all up in my head. And I’ll tell you, when you feel comfortable and you feel good in your body, the camera picks that up. And the last thing I want to say about this is that Karen actually called this out for me when she saw my video. She said, you know, you really turn on for the camera, and I thought, I do, I do. I change my energy for the camera, and why? Because when I feel something, the camera feels something, and that means you, the person who’s watching, you feel what I feel. So what I call it is my smile energy. First I’ll physically smile, whether I feel like it or not, and even if nobody’s watching, of course. And then I’m going to let myself feel the smile, and I have to do that until it doesn’t feel fake. You can do it for a second or two, but just get that feeling, and then I start speaking, right there, because I’ve kind of achieved how I feel. So that’s the order, body first, breath, and smile energy.
Good Enough! Not Perfect
And the last thing I’m going to leave you with is, I just want this to be for you, good enough to post. That’s the goal. You can do everything right and still not feel comfortable, or feel like you still need to improve. However, for now, you want to make sure you’re not in the cycle of only prepping and then not posting, or just keeping it on your phone, because I know that is a tendency, when I don’t look like I think I should, I get into that cycle. So it’s got to be good enough to post. Is it clear? Can you hear me? Is it succinct? Would you watch it? And I promise you, doing it often will help you get more comfortable, and that’s all I have for you guys.
Questions & Answers
Question
So you taught us how to use our phones, which is great.
Can you just quickly walk me through the steps?
If we can’t right now purchase, let’s assume that we all want to start today. Many of us are a little bit nervous about the process.
We didn’t have the chance yet to get the tripod or the mic. What can we do to start? Is it going into our car and driving somewhere that’s quiet? What are our next steps?
Answer
Absolutely. A really great thing is most people in their car have a stabilizer, so they can use their phone in their car. Use that, that is awesome. And sometimes, if you can position it to your face, if it’s down a little bit, that’s okay, don’t put it up too high, I know people like to do that because they believe it eliminates the under chin things, not necessarily. If you have great light right at your face with that car stabilizer, that will work really well. Or you can have your cup up on a shelf, and your phone stands like this in your cup, you’ll have to press play before you put it in the cup, just so you know, because I’ve done that. Kleenex boxes, yep, those are good. Propped up on pillows, anything that allows the little lens to come out the top, you can start there.
I think one of the things you helped me with is to get a tripod. So I did purchase a tripod. What I found that tripod to be helpful for me wasn’t just a stabilizer, but there was a button on it where I can press start, so I didn’t actually have to press the button. Just know that some of the tripods can have that button, so you can sit there or do whatever you need to do, and click your camera to go on and off without fiddling around with that.
Absolutely. And if you ever want to look it up, iPhones will have an auditory prompt, if you say cheese, it will start recording. I don’t know if Androids do this. You can give it the auditory prompt, and you say it, and it will start recording.
Question
Can I just ask, so I have a lapel mic, but I also have a tripod that has one of the remotes, but they both have to plug into the phone.
Answer
Ah yes, so there are dongles that you can get, double dongles, one plugs in and the other two can plug into it. Amazon does have those, I know this to be true because I’ve had to do it when my mics didn’t directly plug into my phone anymore, I had to be able to charge it and have my mic in there.
The equivalent of an extension cord for both of those.
Question
Let me ask another question. What if we’re still, I think many of the women in the room know the importance of posting, but are unsure of posting, that’s why we’re here today, we’re unsure of what to do. What’s the biggest tip you can offer us today in terms of starting? Do we actually have to take the video of ourselves? Can we do something else as a startup? Maybe it’s a video of our garden where we’re speaking. If we’re doing the full thing, it seems a little too much for some of us. What’s our next step?
Answer
I had this conversation, I believe it was with Diana. We were talking about her bees, and she is like a lot of us, hesitant to be on camera, so talking while filming, but not filming yourself. So filming your bees, talking while this is happening, describing what they’re doing. If you’re going to do this, plan it before you start. I am the intricate planner, so if you feel like you can talk about the thing in front of you on the spot, by all means, but write something out, and make it an intention, first of all, why are you posting? Do you want people to understand who you are, what you do, and in the video, what is the message? So I want you to think about those things. But yes, you don’t have to appear on camera. In fact, you can narrate a picture if you want, take a picture of something and create a narration by talking to your phone. And you can mix those two things, I think it’s called Edits in Instagram, and TikTok has its own editing software. You can do those things too if you don’t want to appear on camera.
Question
So I think what you’ve taught us today is, if we’re going to go for free right now, we don’t have our supplies, we’ve got the systems and strategies, whether it’s a tissue box, whether it’s being in the car, whether it’s the natural lighting, minimizing noise distraction, color distraction, clothing distraction, to have better confident images. If we choose to use something like, I took notes, like CapCut, or getting a lapel mic, we can do that for under 100 bucks or so, roughly, to get to the next level, to have better quality. If we decide that, is that correct?
That is absolutely correct.
Wonderful. And just to let you know, I did Facebook Marketplace, I was really excited to get my stuff, and I know Amazon Prime is next day, I didn’t want to wait that long, so I just went and made a deal and got all the stuff next day, and Carole was able to help me with all that. So the ladies, the reason I want to share this, I hope that this was enough content for you to take it and run. For those of you that were looking for more, I was speaking to Carole and she does have a package where she can actually be that person for you, just like she was for professional TV. She can help you with the design, the layout, the editing, ensuring that she’s with you when you’re taking those pictures to make sure you’ve got all of those details. The reason I find that so beneficial is I will do that for myself, and she will catch things that I missed so that I can be better and more efficient with my process. So if this is of interest to you, connect with Carole, I think you might have a system or strategy for that too, Carole, if you’re looking to build something more lucrative.
Thanks so much, Karen. I am so glad that you guys came today, sometimes it’s really tough to get all of these tips to people when I’m talking to them, I feel like it overwhelms people when they haven’t actually asked that question. So I want you to be as good as you possibly can be, and still sometimes it can be overwhelming. So I’m glad that you’re going to have the recording, so you can write some stuff down, get what you need. Just know that you’re not alone in the things that stop you from doing it.
Question
Would you recommend doing five videos at once because we know that the colors match, or should we keep changing things out to make it look different?
Answer
That’s a good question. Change your clothes, I could have five clothing changes just with changing what’s over top of me, or change the angle, just go over here, different video. So especially if you’re doing outside, there could be 10 different things in different ways. So absolutely, you can, but do five, so that the effort that you’ve taken to do the day, got your hair done, got your stuff ready, because when you’re ready, that’s when you do it. And then having five could be like five weeks of video.
Question
Is it good to post the same video at the same time on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, do a mass platform, three platforms with the same video content, or is it good to mix it up a little?
Answer
So I do that, I will put them cross platform, however, I would change the copy, the thing that I’m saying above it. What I would suggest you not do is post it on the same day, because you want to be available for any comments that will happen during the time. So be available once you post, and that means stagger them. One day put it on Thursday, one day put it on LinkedIn on Monday, and if you want to put it on Instagram, put it on the other day, because you want to be able to give your attention, posting and ghosting is a big thing, you really want to talk to these people, that’s the whole point.
Almost like running a cycle, so Mondays I’m hitting Instagram, Tuesday I’m hitting TikTok, LinkedIn, and on each of those days, if I run five videos, that’s a month worth of content essentially.
Yes, but I know for my week that’s where I’m posting to, I’ve been successful in getting it out there.
Exactly that. And generally, what I will do with my videos is make it a theme, I’ll make a video, and then two static content pieces that support that, either a statement, an entertainment piece, anything that goes around the theme of the video, so now you don’t even have to think about what else to post that week, it’s a plan.
That’s great, I really appreciate that, thank you.