Skill Scout BlogInspiration, tips & stories to help you make awesome videos.
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The smell of old paper and medical grade sterilizer. Friendly faces and stacks of MRI scans. Confidence that I was a valuable addition to the team. That’s what I remember most about my very first internship. I probably wouldn't have made the best intern job video turning physical MRI scans into digital patient records. The experience was formative! I cleared out an entire storage room of old documentation, learned a lot about HIPPA, MRI technology, and got super fast at data entry. But I would wager that the team at Metro MRI could have gotten even more out of my time there. My perspective of the organization was fresh, unique and enthusiastic. There’s always a little buzz on the first day interns arrive. Every department waiting eagerly for their new colleague to arrive. To teach. To help them grow. But how do you capture stories to find another batch of amazing interns next year? To document and share your company culture from a fresh new perspective? Easy: with an intern job video! So, if you're looking for a creative way to engage your interns while creating a job video for promoting future roles, have I got an idea for you… Invite them to be your summer filmmakersThis spring, several of my clients introduced me to the fabulous new talent who will be capturing their workplaces and summer experience on video. It’s not my idea, but it’s brilliant: enlist the next generation of digitally savvy, snapchatters to help create video assets for attracting, hiring and training new employees. Welcome your interns, make them feel like part of the team and give them an important job they’re very well-suited for. Here are 3 ways to do it, and all they need is their phone: 1| Social Media TakeoverThis one is free, and a natural way for interns to dip their toes in creating employer brand content. Enlist your interns to take over your instagram, facebook or snapchat channels to share a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their day. You may already be doing this! Share the video recipe below with them for ideas on what to capture, but encourage them to add their own flair and share other interesting things that aren’t on the list.
2| Event FilmmakerCompany events are exciting and new to your interns. Ask interns to capture footage of community or company events you hold over the summer. You can use the Company Event video recipe below! At the end of the event, you can share raw footage on your social channels, internally with the team, or create an edited video piece. Do this in iMovie, or give us a call for help!
3| Create an Intern Job VideoOne of the hard parts of recruiting interns is that by the time you are looking for interns, your interns from last year have moved into new roles or gone back to school. Use the summer as a way to document this role at your company by having interns capture their own authentic job preview. You guessed it, recipe below!
As our clients are preparing their interns to be video documentarians this summer, they are also sharing video best practices to help make the videos a success. These will vary based on your own company, brand and culture. But here are a few considerations:
Interns infuse your company with an outside perspective, build real skills and using video to capture this - can help build your employer brand. Their videos can leave a lasting mark at your company, even after they have moved into their next big adventure. What are ways you are engaging your interns this summer?
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Guest Blogger | Romy Newman, President/Co-Founder Fairygodboss Female jobseekers want to understand much more about the culture and workplace they’ll be joining. Employers need to think about sharing compelling stories to catch their interest. Just like packaged goods are often marketed differently to men vs. women, employer brand messaging should be segmented and tailored to attract female professionals. Obviously, every medium should be used, but job videos are particularly powerful as it literally shows a female applicant what it might be like to work at the company. Women are particularly motivated by authentic stories that show how women are having good career experiences that also still allow them to manage their responsibilities outside of work. Seeing women who are enjoying success allows women to envision themselves working at the company. Here are 4 tips you should consider when creating job video content that will attract and resonate with female professionals:1| Show a 'Day In The Life' For recruitment specifically, represent the “day in the life.” Female jobseekers really want to understand what their day-to-day experience will be like, and no medium helps represent that better than a job video. This WorkDay video addresses the issue of work-life balance head on. LOVE the part of this video where a woman says, “I was carrying heavy box and someone opened the door for me.” It’s as if someone said to her, “But is there basic courtesy at this workplace.” 2| Showcase Your Managers It’s all about the managers. Use your job videos to bring your managers to life -- and show jobseekers that they can expect to have managers that treat them decently and respectfully, and give them opportunity. This video from Dell shows the amazing ambition and commitment to sustainability at Dell. It also emphasizes career tracking and opportunity. 
4| Represent The Full Breadth of Your Workplace Visuals give important signals -- so be sure to represent the full breadth of your workplace in terms of background, age, race, sexual orientation and more. Too many corporate web pages are walls of white men -- and it’s a huge turn off to women. Use your website to address your commitment to gender diversity head on. Female jobseekers want to know where you stand on this, and our research shows us that women are significantly more likely to want to apply to jobs at companies that support gender diversity. At the end of the day, the top thing that is going to help us achieve greater workplace gender equality is more women in more leadership roles across US Corporations. We are lucky to be in an era where video can be an essential component of helping represent the very best of what workplaces can be. Women tend to be more reluctant jobseekers than men, and it’s clear that, when it comes to attracting female professionals, visualization can really help to encourage them to apply for jobs that they might not have otherwise. I’m excited to see how job videos can be an important tool in the battle for workplace gender equality. About Romy
The thought of being on camera used to make my palms sweat. Let’s be honest, it made my eyebrows sweat. But over 4 years that Elena and I have lead a team of videographers, I've had to appear on camera a lot. So much so, that I can identify some tips that have helped me be more authentic and comfortable on camera. Oh, and bit less awkward (still #awkwardforlife). I'll share these things today, and maybe they'll help you and your team be more at ease when the camera comes on.
Whether it's a webinar, training or company branding video, you may have been asked to share something on camera with a professional audience. If you're like me (any many of our peers!), the idea of appearing on video can be anxiety-invoking. The horror!
But video is a powerful way to communicate with your colleagues and customers. Rather than avoiding on-camera appearances, embrace them as an opportunity! In the past 4 years, my team and I have filmed over 1,000 people in a professional setting. In this post, I will share what I have learned about using storytelling to help them communicate and be confident and authentic on video.
First, let’s talk about why video can be so hard. Here are some things that cause video anxiety:
Do any of these sound familiar? They certainly do for me. And you may have a few of your own that aren’t on the list. The good news is that there are ways to get around each of these hangups. Here are 4 tips that have helped me be more authentic and comfortable on camera. Look Great
First thing’s first. If the biggest anxiety you have about appearing on camera is your appearance, there are a few things you can do to feel confident and look your best.
1| Lighting. Natural light is best. Good lighting brightens your face, helps bring out your natural color, your eyes and your smile. Check out this video on how to get beautiful lighting for your video. This applies to webcam video too; face a window!
2 | Angles. Shoot from straight on at eye level, or very slightly above. Don’t get crazy mounting the camera from the ceiling. A slight angle will erase that double chin for you. Whatever you do, don't opt for an angle below your face.
3| Clothing. Pick something you’re totally comfortable in, and opt for jewel tones. They brings out your natural coloring. Our friends at Wistia do an awesome job of covering this topic.
4| Backdrop. One of the things that blows my mind is trying to look professional on video without looking stiff. In the office, that can be easy, but at home? Stage a simple background. Rather than doing a webcam video with your messy bed, closet or bookshelf in view, opt for a simple backdrop.
Brick is beautiful, provides just a little color and texture. White is also clean. You want the audience focused on you, not distracted by what’s behind you. Of course, if you’re featuring a location or work environment, make sure to get plenty of shots of the environment. If you’re going to feature it, show it off without the audience having to look past you. That might involve a little editing with b-roll or simply panning around slowly after you’ve said what you need to say. 
Practice
Repetition is the single biggest thing that helps me be comfortable on camera. Not necessarily practicing the content verbatim, but being confident with the flow of information I’m sharing. Rather than scripting your notes, create an outline. This forces you to speak more naturally rather than reading or reciting from memorization.
Another thing I find helpful is using a video tool, like Loom, to go through my pitch, presentation or training by filming it, and then watching back the video. Once you get over doing this, and practice 2-3 times, appearing on camera will feel much less precious and more achievable. Bonus points if you send to a friend or colleague for real feedback. Tools like Loom or Vimeo Review Pages make it very easy for them to leave time-stamped feedback. Enlist Help
Who doesn’t love a little help from a friend? I had this insight when watching videos with my 5-year-old on YouTube. Kids do not care about how weird they are on camera. It’s beautiful. Just spend 15 minutes on YouTube Kids. You’ll see a 7 year old playing with PlayDoh for 45 minutes. He’s got 7M views. You’ll see adorable twins making unicorn cupcakes. 2.4M views.
In fact, check out this video.
Here we are a couple minutes in and one of the sisters is just hanging with her unicorn while the other cooks. Get yourself a friend who can help carry the video while you hug your unicorn.
It’s so much easier to be comfortable on camera when there’s another person there to distract you from the camera. And even if they can’t appear on camera with you doesn’t mean you have to be solo. Try filming your content interview-style. Having another person there helps to break out of robotic speaking patterns because you’re actually interacting with another human. Which brings me to my next tip… Talk to Your Audience
When I stopped thinking about the “audience” as some anonymous body of people judging me from auditorium seats, my on-camera presence got much better. Instead of thinking of the audience as “they” - whether that’s co-workers, industry peers, company leaders, or customers - think of them as Colette, Nathaniel, Skyler. REAL people.
Because that’s how each individual experiences your video, as themselves, not part of a massive audience. You can bet those kids on YouTube aren’t thinking of all the kids watching. They’re thinking of one kid, a friend, with whom they’re sharing an experience. This re-frame may sound minor but it makes a big difference. And one way to achieve it? See Tip #3 and enlist a friend to actually attend filming with you. BONUS TIP: Use Humor
One last thing I’ve learned about being comfortable on camera is not taking yourself too seriously. Be humorous, share outtakes. People relate to that, even if you stumble or mess up. It’s a reminder that we are all human.
One final thought, one of my mentors, Josh Braun told me something last year that stuck with me and gave me confidence. Remember, you are the gift. You have something special to offer people, knowledge, insight, experience. Video is just a medium to do so. Did I miss anything? What helps you be more authentic and comfortable on camera? Hit me up in the comments! |
AuthorsElena and Abby bring you innovative stories from the workplace. Categories
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