Use of online video is booming and the trend continues upward!
It’s now really easy for anyone to make a video on their mobile phone or laptop, upload it to a website like YouTube and then share it on a website, blog, Facebook or Twitter.
Reasons to include video in your online marketing program
If you’re promoting a product or service online, more and more often people want to “see who you are” or “see what your product is like” before taking the next step to contact you or make a purchase. And it’s not just the young demographic who are looking; online videos are just as likely to be viewed by people of every age.
And if you need more reasons;
- it’s easier to watch a video than it is to read an article
- YouTube is another place that your target audience can search for and find you.
Following the trend I’m planning to create some videos as part of my online marketing plan for 2010.
But I’m nervous.
The purpose of my video is to promote my web copy writing and Google AdWords services and encourage people to contact me. People buy from people they like so I’m nervous about not appearing natural and about being able to present myself in the right way to make a good impression.
Instead of just diving straight in, I’m working with Christiane from Inspired Speaking. As a skilled speaking coach with 10 years experience in theatre directing, she quickly identifies the common problem areas and explains how to overcome them. This is what I learned.
Top 5 Mistakes When Presenting in an Online Video and How to Avoid Them
Mistake #1 – Losing Your Personality
When you’re not familiar with talking to a camera to make a videos it’s easy to lapse into monotone speech with lots of pauses and “ums” and “ahs”.
To overcome this:
1.Imagine that you’re speaking to a friend, rather than a camera
2.Tap into the passion you feel about whatever you’re talking about.
Like everything, you’ll improve with practice. The more time you spend talking to “nothing” the better you get at it.
Mistake #2 – Letting Your Nerves Show
Nerves are common but instead of going in cold and trying to cover them, write some dot points on what you’re going to speak about and run through the script a few times off camera, until your nerves are gone.
If you’re like me, I had trouble taking the situation seriously. My results improved by imagining I was in a meeting where I genuinely needed to present well to win a new client.
Mistake #3 – High Tone of Voice
When you’re uncertain about something, your tone of voice naturally gets higher and it sounds as though everything is a question. Unfortunately this makes you sound insincere and questionable. Practice lowering your tone and listen to how much more authoritative and credible you sound.
Mistake #4 – Distracting Body Language
Make a trial video and watch your body language, particularly your hand movements. When you make the real video, be conscious of what your hands are doing and don’t let them become a distraction from what you’re saying. Or stick with a head and shoulders camera shot 🙂
Mistake #5 – Speaking Too Fast
Rushing through your script like you’re eager to get it finished is a big mistake! If you have a tendency to speak fast and run your words together, practice slowing down and speaking clearly. Once you’ve made your video, ask a few friends for feedback on your clarity and pace.
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
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