It’s key to find the right people – the right characters.
When working on video production projects for your company or organization, one of the first objectives is often to decide the key messages. However, almost equally as important, is deciding who will deliver those messages. No matter the value of what you’re saying, people aren’t going to watch and listen if the video isn’t interesting. It’s key to find the right people – the right characters – to appear on screen.
So how do you do that?
Decide who’s available. Before you shout “Duh!”, our experience shows it can be difficult to find people who are readily available or willing to take part. The video may be a high priority to you and your department. However, others may see it as just another meeting on their schedule. When people see it that way, it becomes an issue.
You need to find people who understand that this is about more than interviewing them for a few minutes behind their desks. You want to work with people who realize that they may need to move to another location that includes a suitable background for the topic. They need to realize there’s setup time involved. Not everyone is willing to invest that time and effort into the project. Even when you find the perfect people to deliver your key messages, they might despise seeing themselves on camera and will provide any excuse to avoid participating.
You certainly don’t want to show up at a location and just pick whoever is available. We’ve seen that before. In that scenario, you’re finding people who may not truly provide the expertise you’re looking for. As the person asking the questions, you begin a fishing expedition and struggle to get the sound bites you actually seek. So create a short list of who is available and willing to take part. They need to be more than willing. They need to be enthusiastic.
Consider choosing your frontline employees. We’ve seen a lot of people at companies who essentially believe it’s the chief executive’s birthright to be in videos. There seems to be this fear that if you don’t ask the top executives to be in the video, you’re going to get dinged on how leadership views you.
An exaggeration of this once was when the CEO of a major company took part in a video shoot. He showed up on location with an extremely hoarse voice. It was clear to us that this would be such a distraction that whatever he said would not get through to whoever was listening. Yet, none of his subordinates in the room were willing to tell him that we needed to reschedule. They tried to somehow rationalize and work with him to continue delivering his message despite how he sounded. We had to be the ones to step up and say that this would not work. That is one example of the lengths people will go to include top leadership in a video.
But you can’t always be in that mindset. For one, leaders might be good at leading and overseeing a company’s bottom line. However, they don’t always have engaging personalities. Despite how many brownie points you think you might be earning by asking the top executive to appear in your video, the project might not be as effective. It won’t always be a very interesting video to watch.
Some of the most compelling, interesting and relatable people, people who will resonate with your various target audiences, are your frontline employees. We’ve heard the concern about the possibility of an employee leaving, requiring a company to reshoot the video. But executives leave, too. In fact, we recently had to reshoot a portion of a new hire orientation video because the CEO left the company. We didn’t have to reshoot the whole video, but we had to reshoot the part that included the executive. So that shouldn’t be an excuse not to include your frontline employees.
Your frontline employees are going to be some of the most relatable people. If your goal is to get people to watch, share and discuss the video, sometimes those on the frontline are your best advocates and brand ambassadors. So don’t be afraid to find people in the trenches to share important messages that, otherwise, some people only think the boss can deliver
Keep your message concise and understandable. You not only need to find someone who is an expert on the topic but someone who can explain that topic in simple terms. Many times we will meet people who are the Wikipedia of their industry. However, they may have a very difficult time sharing the message in a way anyone outside their department or industry will understand. So it’s an important skill to be able to explain what it is you do, what you’re trying to get across in a way that others will actually comprehend. So if you happen to have someone who is professorial-like, that’s great. But they have to be able to explain it in a way so people actually get it.
Charisma is key. You want to find people who are characters and have interesting personalities. Because, after all, you’re not writing a story – you’re shooting a video. Not everyone who can deliver the information (and deliver it in a simple way) can also deliver it in an interesting way. They’re not interesting to watch, or they’re not comfortable on camera. It can become awkward. It’s a detriment to the video, and people will just stop watching.
So who are the personalities in the office? Who are the people who are enthusiastic about the work and what you are trying to relay? Who can successfully provide this information without looking awkward in front of a lens?
Try your best. You may be looking at all these suggestions to choose the right people and feel overwhelmed. You may think hardly anyone will fit all this criteria. And that’s fine. It’s not like you’re trying to find an actor or going to a casting agency and they’re going to find the right person. Do your best to check some of the boxes – if not all of them. Often the people who are in your video and the way they deliver those key messages are crucial to the success of it. They determine whether your audience will actually pay attention to what you have to say.
To learn more about The Flip Side’s video production services, click here.
