Comfort On Camera: Building Trust through Trial and Error

Babies can’t learn to walk without stumbling and falling. But their parents always pick them back up to try again. This is exactly how leaders and directors work together to create great corporate videos. Through a process of trial and error, executives and their production partners create a comfortable on-camera rapport built on a strong foundation of trust.

In Corporate Video, Imperfections Make Us Human

The camera gives off a deceiving air of professionalism. The production crew works hard to make you look great and sound great. But a great performance doesn’t mean polished perfection. In fact, a video message from a CEO that was scripted to a T will likely do more harm than good to their employees’ ability to trust and relate to them.

Many leaders place too much importance on a video and become nervous. And once they’re nervous, they performance becomes strained, which reads as insincere, and can also distract from the intended message. What’s important for executives to remember when they’re onscreen is that the goal is connection; this company video is just a remote interaction.

When watching a corporate communications video, your people want to get to know the elusive figure at the top. And the reality is, flaws and mistakes can be endearing and make us feel more human, which fosters compassion and a feeling of inclusiveness. In person, you don’t sound like an automated robot reading perfectly from a script, so you shouldn’t on camera, either.

The pharmaceutical executives we interviewed in this video for Quest Diagnostics aren’t on-camera professionals. But their performances had us fooled:

 

Practice Makes Perfect when it Comes to Authentic Performances

Remember that being authentic on camera is a journey, and one that you can improve with each video afterward. Over the years, I’ve watched CEOs who had never been on camera before grow into confident video presentation experts. Don’t assume you will do everything perfectly on the first try. Discover what makes you fall down so the each time you step in front of the camera, it’s greater than the last.

Remotely Lead Your Team with Confidence via Video Messaging

Remote communications will continue to be important to the modern corporate workflow. You can use video to routinely connect with your company, whether they’re still working from home or you communicate with offices around the world. It can be a great opportunity to practice staying up after you’ve stumbled. And in no time, you’ll forget you ever fell at all.

 

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“It’s one thing to understand the role of video in business communication, it’s another to know how to use video to solve actual business problems. Vern Oakley gets that.”

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