In today’s environment, some organizations are turning to video platforms such as Zoom when face-to-face video production poses challenges. How can you ensure a recorded Zoom interview looks as professional as possible? Here are some tips to make sure you’re doing it right.
- Pick a video conferencing platform allowing you to easily record interviews.
- Practice recording an interview prior to the real thing.
- Provide interviewees tips on choosing on-camera locations without noises, harsh light and distracting backgrounds.
- Encourage interviewees to use virtual backgrounds only as a last resort.
- Get a phone number to ensure you can communicate with them if technical issues prevent the interview from starting smoothly.
- Tell people to feel free to demonstrate something or display props during the interview.
- Record your interviews to an external hard drive to ensure sufficient space for saved video files.
- Get online early to adjust settings and provide yourself sufficient time to handle any technical issues.
- Select the setting to optimize your video for a third-party editing software.
- Decide if you want to record the interview in speaker or gallery view, which includes a split screen of you and the interviewee.
- Don’t forget to follow the tips yourself on choosing on-camera locations if you also will be visible during the interview
- Prior to the interview beginning, check if the interviewee has too much headroom, needs to adjust items around in the background or should close blinds to improve lighting.
- Ask interviewees to ensure their backgrounds don’t include any proprietary information or personal pictures they prefer the public not see.
- Remind people to look at their computers’ camera during the interview.
- If people indicate they plan to reference notes during the interview, explain you prefer they speak from the heart. Viewers often can tell when people are reading on camera.
- Repeat a question if you hear an audio drop or distracting, background noise during an answer.
- Request people send you video and still photography to help ensure the edited videos are as visually compelling as possible.
- Think creatively when shooting and editing. Ask all interviews to appear on screen simultaneously. Request them to hold up signs with key phrases. Include split screens, titles and graphics in the edited video.
