How to Shoot Your Own Corporate Vlogs

Lockdown and the changes we’ve all faced due to COVID-19 has meant different things to different people. But one thing it’s undoubtedly done, is increased demand for video as a way of personal communication.

In-person interactions have been dramatically reduced (not to say entirely stopped for long periods of time) and so this has pushed more people to create video content themselves to get their message across.  What would previously have been done in-person through a meeting or at an event, can never be communicated with the same impact if you simply put it into written word. Hence the progression to video.

This desire to get a more engaging and personable message across lead lots of people to shoot video blogs – or vlogs – themselves, and this trend continues now.

Previously we’ve all been told that algorithms on platforms like LinkedIn love video content so posting more of it will help you show up, but what happens when everyone else is doing it as well? That’s right – people scroll on by.

So what can you do to make the corporate vlogs you put out stand out a bit?

Well we’re splitting this question in half – one half about filming of the videos, and one half about editing them.

Filming

Here are our tips to consider when filming your own videos, to make them look as clear and engaging as possible.

• Plan. Think about what you want to talk about. Write it down, then read through it, read it again and read it once more.  The more comfortable you are with the messages, the better you will deliver it.
• Landscape not portrait. Film it with your phone horizontal (landscape) not vertical (portrait) and try and stay in the middle of the shot. If you then need to edit it to a square screen, you should still be able to do it, but you can also take advantage of platforms that like landscape.
• Tripod or stand. Using a tripod or stand to put your phone on not only reduces the shakiness of the filming, but it also frees up your hands and arms to gesture with while you’re talking.
• Eye-line – try and position your camera (or phone) so it’s in-line with your eyes. You can do this by putting the tripod or stand on top of books or shelves to get the right height.
• Lighting – make sure the light source is behind the camera, not behind your head.
• Audio – consider buying an external microphone, but if you don’t want to go to this expense, try and film somewhere without too much background noise (and above all else, make sure there’s no music tracks playing in the background – not only does it make it harder to edit, but it can cause automated copyright issues for you as well)
• Delivery – look interested. Smile. Add some variation to your delivery. If you make a mistake, don’t stress it. Pause, and continue – you can trim this bit out later.

Editing

This is the stage we feel can make a real difference to your corporate vlogs, and can help in getting people to stop and watch YOUR video.

• Trim. Try and remove the umms and ahhs if you can. To avoid ‘jump cuts’ you can sometimes zoom in (or ‘punch in’ as some people refer to it) in your editing software to hide the cuts better. Cut out the bits you don’t need.
• Audio – try and reduce the background noise and consider adding some library music, with the right fading up and down between the music and the spoken word to ensure the right bits can be heard.
• Graphics – add text graphics to give names and job titles and to reinforce any key messages in the videos.
• Call to action – try and ensure there’s a written call to action at the end of the video, even if this is just directing someone to a web page, or telling them to get in touch via email or telephone.
• Animated logo – add an animated company logo to the end of your video to make it look even more professional. We can help produce one of these for you at very little cost.

One final thing to think about is the thumbnail for your video. Different platforms have different capabilities for this so look in to what can be done. LinkedIn for example, takes the first frame from your video and turns it into a thumbnail. If you want to make this this stand out, create a still image on something like Canva and drop it into the very start of your video. If it only takes up a few frames, people won’t notice when they play the video.

So that’s it – a few tips to be going on with.

As always, if you need any more help or advice on how to make your corporate vlogs as engaging as possible, just get in touch and we’re always happy to give you suggestions and tips.

Photo by Charis Gegelman on Unsplash