Video Presentations

[General_Johnson]

I'm thinking about having a video presentation integrated into my website for prospective clients to get to know me and the business.

I am not a confident person at all and my presentation skills are somewhat questionable :D what would your advise be on this area???

Has any forum member actually got a self made video presentation on their website? How does this video actually help your business?

Cheers

The General

[Matt1959]

I think this is a great idea but only if you come across well. I've tried it and made a couple of 15 minute videos showing me at work at my niche trade with me giving a running commentary on what I'm doing. Its not as easy as it seems and apparently I'm very monotone when I'm talking. Not sure how to improve on this apart from some kind of voice coaching. I think you've either "got it" or you havnt and depending on how much "you havnt" will determine how bad the video is;)

[General_Johnson]

based on that reply my video would be good for a laugh on you tube :-)

[Matt1959]

well if its make people laugh that can be a good thing, the danger is being dull!

[General_Johnson]

Or being too unprofessional?

[no118.co.uk]

well if its make people laugh that can be a good thing, the danger is being dull!


I guess having the presentation short and to the point is the best way.

[Calibre Designs]

It all depends on your line of work. Some businesses will need more visual help to sell their services than others. We often meet many customers who think they will need one (digital and viral advertising being the hype) actually will do just as well without one. :)

Hope this helps.

[INeedAHolidayToo]

We have put videos on youtube rather than the website, but we asked a customer to be star of the show! Lots of people look at it and often comment on it.

I like you felt a bit self conscious of the "lets be the star of our video" routine, so although I in essence did a script of the salient points he had to mention, we let the customer do the talking.

It works well, he comes across quite natural, knows what he is talking about and yea, I know not completely "professional", shirt and tie and all of that but it has really worked for us, in ensuring our customers can really see what we offer.

[jules]

you may have an ok voice but aren't great on screen, then consider just using your voice and integrating text and graphics/photos over it so you don't appear in vision
or someone else may have a great voice in your company

you may not be great talking to camera but may be better if interviewed news style

or could your message be from satisfied customers, you could ask them questions and then eidt together the answers so it covers all the bases, including basics like what is the service they get from you

if you need any more video help pm me, i am a tv/video director

jules

[Adman]

You could always hire a professional presenter to do the talking, documenatry style. Let me know if you need any help, we're only in Leeds.

Adman

[lucy*tenable]

We have one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWsSNrKh0Ko) !

[Snap Executive]

Hi there

My brother runs a production company specialising in this sort of thing, short promo videos to go on your own website or embedded via youtube, etc.

Funnily enough, he is coming up to Yorkshire to shoot mine in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, if you want to speak to sound him about about it and find out more, PM me and I'll pass on his details.

Cheers
Jim

[bigmouth241]

As has been said prior to my comment, it is always a consideration to get a professional presenter in to either talk on your behalf, or lead the video - maybe even cut in a documentary style following "a day in the life".

We do quite a bit of this kind of thing for small & large business alike, depending on how it fits with your timescales, indeed we have something very similar to do across 3 days of a trade show in July.

If you'd like some pointers (& who knows, maybe a quote?!) let me know via PM. You've had some very good advice so far on this thread!

[Mobius]

Video used properly is the most powerful medium we have available to us. It can communicate values, emotions and sometimes even difficult concepts to viewers.

The problem is, in the corporate arena, very often video is used badly.

A case in point would be Lucy's (above) video. I mean no offense or disrespect to Lucy and her business, but her video presentation is one among many that show a misunderstanding about what video can do well and what it can't.

Lucy's video is essentially a block of bullet text (which is nearly impossible to read due to its small size) and a presenter delivering what amounts to another block of text. Text is an excellent medium for delivering large amounts of information that can be rapidly interrogated and prioritised by your customer. Text, in its traditional forms, truly works. However when presented in a video, it can very often hinder a viewer from getting the information they seek as they're forced to watch from beginning to end.

Used in conjunction with printed/web based information, video is extremely powerful.

Video is most effective as a persuasive medium. Consider how often you've seen an advert that gives you technical specification of a product beyond one or two key values. In fact some of the most effective advertising tells us nothing at all about the product itself (consider the recent Cadburys Dairy Milk ads for example).

One further thing - never underestimate your potential customers' ability to smell the cheese. We are all constantly surrounded by advertising, on TV, on billboards, in magazines, on the internet, on packaging, on our clothes etc. etc. Media has reached an extraordinary level of sophistication and your viewers are instinctively attuned to this level of sophistication. People are not easily fooled by video, should it fail to reach their expectations they are likely to be at best dismissive and at worst suspicious.

My advice to General Johnson would be to first consider what it is that you want your video to do, then consider whether you feel a video is truly the best means of achieving this.

As for presenting it yourself - I'd strongly recommend against anyone trying to deliver to camera. Despite the fact we'd all love to give it a go, TV presenting is extremely difficult to do well. There are however some very effective alternatives: Consider having a professional come and interview you. Interviews create a much more natural experience for both you (the contributor) and the viewer, as you're not pretending to be something you're not. The interview could be intercut with footage of your business activities and edited into a documentary style format that would be interesting and engaging for your viewers. Customer testimonial interviews are especially effective when done well.

Hope that helps.

[lucy*tenable]

A case in point would be Lucy's (above) video. I mean no offense or disrespect to Lucy and her business, but her video presentation is one among many that show a misunderstanding about what video can do well and what it can't.

Lucy's video is essentially a block of bullet text (which is nearly impossible to read due to its small size) and a presenter delivering what amounts to another block of text. Text is an excellent medium for delivering large amounts of information that can be rapidly interrogated and prioritised by your customer. Text, in its traditional forms, truly works. However when presented in a video, it can very often hinder a viewer from getting the information they seek as they're forced to watch from beginning to end.



Great first post ;)

I don't take offence at criticism, although i would be interested to know your background as you seem so knowledgable in this area.

Lucy

[Mobius]

Thanks Lucy - I'm grateful you received my point in the spirit it was meant!

I'm a professional filmmaker. I create PR, marketing and advertising media along with documentary films.

[loubycee]

Hi

love this idea, and Matt is right - the issue is sounding too dull or not being 'interesting enough' to a wide range of people

One of my clients does this day after day, video's all over the place, but he is ultra confident and can make them interesting, funny, serious or totally off topic

Perhaps paying someone else for a series of video recordings might be an idea for now?

L

[3cellhosting]

I would agree with the majority of posts on this subject. As a professional trainer (in a previous career) one thing I learned very early on is that there are various approaches to caturing attention. Video is just one aspect and it can turn off 1/3rd of your audience as it primarily appeals to people with visual or auditory preferences. This is why so many corporate videos include subtitling and slide insertion as these appeal to theorists.

I have made several client videos but fortunately they were pc training videos with voice over so my ugly mug was kept under wraps ;)

And please remember, even voice overs need planning if the screen shot is going to match the message. I have found Camtasia to be a blessing when doing tutorials.

Hope this helps.