The thing with live, is that it’s, well – LIVE. Anything can happen, and under normal circumstances that is thrilling, BUT I think we can agree that patience is wearing thin on kids yelling in the background, dogs barking, bad connections and garbage trucks backing up. I know we at Ax3 are starting to crave a little of that professional gloss that us professionals have always been so careful to create for our viewers whether it is live, virtual or recorded. Did you see Global Citizen’s One World | Together at Home? They did their best ..
The greatest advantage of pre recording your speech or presentation is that you can have another take. If you fumble a word, notice that you are in complete silhouette or your dog starts going ballistic, you can try again. Here are some others:
- An editor can take out all the “Ums”, “Uhs” and “Etc”s .. making you sound ever so much more articulate.
- Your editor can also color correct the video so that you don’t look orange or like you’ve been in bed with COVID for two weeks.
- We can also add graphics to your presentation to help illustrate your points.
- Also an editor can adjust the format. Did you record yourself in portrait or worse square when it should have been landscape? Not only can you do it again, but the editor can blow up the footage to fit the correct format.
Another great advantage is that you can be at the webinar or virtual meeting to participate in the chat or answer questions in real time.
If you insist on being live please do the following:
- Brush your hair
- Put on some make-up – yes the men too.. At the very least let your wife put some powder on you so you don’t look pasty and shiny.
- Have a background that is appealing and has some depth, you do not want to look like a hostage, no matter how much you feel like one. (ProTip: The only people who should see your bed are your partner, parent or pet)
- Make sure your face is lit and it is as even as possible. (ProTip: put your camera/phone on a stand in front of a window and face the window straight on so the camera is between you and the window)
- Look directly into the camera, or slightly up. DO NOT look down.. Nothing adds 20years and 20lbs more than having the camera too low. If that means digging out the old camcorder tripod, do it.
- Bribe everyone in your house into absolute silence, even the dog.. Whatever it takes and preferably off the WiFi. Send them out for a walk – respecting social distancing, of course.
- Use your earbuds or headphones. The microphone is much better than the mic on your computer. If presenting virtually is going to become a habit, then buy yourself a professional microphone.
The very important thing as a presenter is to follow the instructions the event producers send you. They know what they need and how they want it to all flow together as an entire event. Also, please rehearse.. the more times you practice the better you will sound.
It’s a brave new world out there and even movie stars are having to fend for themselves when it comes to their appearance on live media. So please thank all those professionals behind the scenes that have been making everyone look so good for so long – we are more essential than you thought.
For more tips on how to look good while presenting virtually reach out to us for a free consultation. http:Ax3Studios.com