10 Tips for Video Recording Yourself

Avoid lack of engagement and video viewership when recording yourself. Knowing some simple production tips and what to do when recording will help engage your audience and increase views.

webcastingandvirtualevents.com gathered the following 10 video recording tips to guide you to produce better videos of yourself.

Video Recording Tips

Your videos should be sharp, well-produced, and to the point, whether you are reporting on the quarterly state of your marketing department or producing an informational video as a component of a virtual seminar or convention. Consider the following tips:

1 – Video Location and Background

The location you choose to shoot a video can significantly influence the video’s lighting and sound quality. Use the following when selecting a location:

• Select a place where you won’t be interrupted by family, guests, or pets
• Choose a quiet location with little to no background noise (vehicles, music, people, animals)
• Turn off appliances like fans, air conditioners, and heaters to eliminate fan noise
• The location should be well-lit with sunlight or good indoor lighting
• If you are seated, your chair should be stationary and quiet (no swivels, wheels, or large cushions)

What’s in or missing from your background? Be as deliberate with your background as you are with your other video content:

• Consider using a solid colored background or backdrop
• Remove anything that distracts attention from you and your message
• Eliminate objects that cast shadows
• Avoid shooting your video in front of reflective material (windows, mirrors, etc.). You may end up with a reflection of the camera in your video

Note: A video can be shot anywhere, at any time, and under nearly any circumstances. Be selective and mindful of what makes it into your video.

2 – Video Lighting

Avoid having your video compared to a poor quality home video or cheesy, low-budget commercial by setting up your lighting as follows:

Key Light – Front right at a 45° angle to the camera (the brightest light)

Fill Light – Front left at a 45° angle to the camera (50-75% of the key light intensity)

Back Light – Back right in line with the fill light (low intensity, preferably diffused/soft)

Your video’s primary light is the ‘key light’. It acts like the sun radiating downward and casting shadows. Shadows from the key light are neutralized with the fill light. The back light prevents dark shadows from appearing on your shoulders while creating a natural lighting appearance overall.

Tip: When outside, position your camera so the sun is in position as your key light would be.

3 – Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a principle using a camera’s gridlines (creating a 3-by-3 grid) to assist photographers and videographers frame well-balanced and captivating shots/scenes.

When looking at your camera’s preview window, use the grid’s four intersecting points in the center (where the gridlines intersect) to frame yourself or point of interest. The location of these points corresponds with a person’s line of sight when first looking at a video. Using these points in your video capture will help you captivate and keep the attention of your viewers.

Note: Some cameras offer two options; gridlines and a square overlay. Gridlines help you record videos aligned with horizontal or vertical lines. The square overlay works excellently to frame video footage meant for social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter.

4 – What Not to Wear in Videos

Unless promoting your clothing or jewelry line, avoid the following clothing and accessories:

• Colors that blend or disappear into your background
• Shiny or reflective fabrics and jewelry
• Patterns like plaids and stripes
• Wrinkled or unkempt clothes
• Hats or headwear that obstructs your line of sight with your audience
• Labels, logos, images, and text (unless it is what you are promoting)
• Noisy or clanky accessories that distract your viewers

Tip: Do not cut corners by only dressing yourself from the waist up. Dress as you would if you were presenting your information to a live audience.

5 – Your Camera Presence

How you present yourself on camera will significantly impact your ability to communicate with your audience. If you appear anxious or uncomfortable on camera, your audience will be distracted from your message.

Your camera presence is something you can improve with practice. Here are some ways to build on your camera presence:

• Pay attention to your overall posture. Stand/sit up straight, shoulders back, and muscles relaxed. Avoid crossing your arms or displaying a “closed-off” appearance.
• If you feel anxious or jittery, use props to occupy your hands and divert your focus from the camera.
• Smile. Don’t forget to smile in the beginning and throughout your video. Keep it real though, if you force your smile, you can give off a sense of deception.
• Speak clearly and slow down to avoid jumbling your words and getting lost in your script.
• Practice makes perfect. In fact, record and watch yourself over and over. This gives you the opportunity to fine-tune your delivery and make corrections and/or changes.
• Compare the first few seconds of your video to the last few seconds and see how you change. Sometimes, the difference in appearance is startling.

Tip: Invest the time to practice recording yourself extensively. Even if it takes hundreds of recordings, the more you practice, the better you will be (and the more ‘B’ footage you’ll have).

6 – Answering Questions

One of the secrets to success is how well you can answer your audience’s questions. Whether you are pre-recording a presentation or speaking live at a virtual event, the following will help you answer viewers questions clearly and concisely:

• Start your answer by rephrasing the question instead of jumping straight into your answer.
• Use definitive language to start and end your answers (avoid using “uh,” “um,” and “so.”
• Begin and end your answers with a one-second pause looking straight into the camera. This pause not only provides emphasis to your answer, it creates an editing opportunity.

Note: When you are interrupted by outside noise or objects, start your answer over again.

7 – Plan Your Video in Advance

Poor or a lack of planning can leave your audience underwhelmed, even disappointed with your finished product. The following will help you plan your videos and increase the quality of your content:

• Define the purpose of your video
• Clearly define what you want to achieve or communicate
• Define your target audience and how you can best reach them
• Write a script for your video
• Storyboard everything you want to include in the video

Note: You will benefit from rearranging, editing, and deleting parts of your script that don’t work. Long-winded videos will bore your audience, be concise.

8 – Rehearse Your Video Content

The same way actors rehearse for a part in a play or movie, you should rehearse for your video presentation. Here are a few ways you can polish your delivery before recording begins:

• Rehearse your content in front of a mirror. Pay attention to facial expressions and body language, asking yourself continuously if you’d buy what you are selling.
• Enlist a small group of friends to watch you deliver your presentation. Arm your live audience with notepads and pens to critique your delivery.
• Identify areas of your presentation that give you problems and record them. Rearrange and edit these parts as needed.

Note: When you have your material rehearsed from beginning to end, return to tip #5 and further develop your camera presence.

9 – Editing Your Video

Using the tips we’ve given you will get your video off to a great start. However, it is the editing process that can take your video to a far superior level by adding:

• Text
• Subtitles
• Music
• Transitions
• Images
• Testimonials

If you don’t have editing software, you can download the free version of one of the following:

• Beginner video makers may find Filmora9 easy to use. This editing program works best on Mac and is downloaded at filmora.wondershare.com/video-editor/
• For those using a Mac, iMovie is a free editing software you can use to perfect your videos.
• For those using a PC, OpenShot is a free and straightforward editing software found at openshot.org/

Regardless of the editing program you select, run multiple tests determining which features and tools work best for your needs.

10 – Promote Your Video

If your video is a department status report for stakeholders, promoting it is as simple as emailing a link to concerned parties. If it is part of a virtual event, the event organizers will take care of the promotion footwork. However, when promoting videos on your own platform, use these suggestions:

Social Media – Make sure your videos are or can be formatted and resized for most major social media platforms.

Know Your Audience – Upload your videos to channels and platforms your audience uses. Don’t invest your time and resources with platforms your audience doesn’t use.

Video SEO – By writing concise descriptions, using well-searched keywords, and properly tagging your videos, you can significantly increase your videos’ number of views.

Fresh Content – By regularly publishing new content, you are signaling that your channel is active and well-curated. Upload new content weekly, biweekly, even monthly, just make certain that the flow of fresh content is consistent.

Audience Interaction – Let your audience give you feedback. Respond to viewer comments, answer their questions, and thank them for taking the time to watch your videos.

Note: Increasing video viewership is a dynamic collection of strategies intended to reach and appeal to your audience and those who can relate to your purpose.

How to Make Better Quality Videos

In this article, you discovered video recording tips to help you organize, rehearse, produce, and promote better quality videos of yourself.

Increasing your videos’ content quality will lead to better presentations, more satisfied viewers, and significant increases in video views and / or follower engagement.

Producing low-quality videos can hurt your brand and cause you to lose credibility, followers, and opportunities.

Sources:
nyu.edu/employees/resources-and-services/media-and-communications/video-marketing-and-communications/tips-for-recording-yourself-on-video.html
communications.news.columbia.edu/content/tips-recording-video-home
niu.edu/keepteaching/guides/self-recorded-video-tips.shtml
answers.syr.edu/display/whit/Best+Practices+for+Recording+Yourself+on+Video

See https://webcastingandvirtualevents.com/10-tips-for-video-recording-yourself/ for the first version of this content.

Icebreaker Questions and Activities for Better Virtual Meetings

Awkward feelings and anxiety often impact virtual meeting’s participants and can interfere with communication and productivity. Knowing how to create an environment that helps people communicate and participate adds significant value to virtual meetings.

webcastingandvirtualevents.com gathered the following ice-breaking questions and activities to help inspire participants into deeper engagement with your subject matter and meaningful connections with other participants.

What Is an Icebreaker?

The simple definition of an icebreaker is a topic of conversation (often whimsical or humorous) that eases people into talking with one another. An example of an icebreaker is asking everyone in a small group to answer the question, “What superpower would you want for 24 hours?” Then share which and why.

What Are Some Fun Icebreakers to Start a Virtual Meeting?

When it’s time to get your virtual meeting underway, start it off with some fun. Get your participants freed from their inhibitions by setting up one of the following icebreakers:

Showtime – Five minutes or so before your meeting begins, ask everyone to prepare a one-minute presentation. Let your participants know that the funnier, more quirky the presentation, the better it will be. These presentations can be any of the following:

• Sing a short song
• Play an instrument
• Tell a line of jokes
• Tell a short story (fact or fiction)
• Read a poem

Allow each participant to give their presentation before the meeting officially begins. This permits everyone to introduce themselves and (completely) break the ice with each other.

What Am I Doing Here? – This pre-meeting icebreaker will help your audience familiarize themselves with each other on a more professional level. Each participant should get 45 seconds to a minute to:

• Introduce who they are and what they do
• How long they’ve been in the business/field
• What they believe they can contribute
• Tell one success story

Once again, there is no such thing as too silly, frivolous, or nonsensical. The whole idea of this exercise is to break the ice and free up everyone’s conversational acumen.

My __________ Is A Rock Star! – In this icebreaker, you’ll have 1 minute to tell everyone about someone or something inspiring to you, that motivates you, or makes you want to do/be better at what you do. For example:

• A parent
• A sibling
• A school friend
• Wife/husband
• Your pet
• Your child

Icebreakers like this offer a brief glimpse into your more personable side, showing how you may see and relate to others.

Honor A Colleague or Mentor – This icebreaker can be fun (humorously seeing someone off to retirement), a bit more serious (paying tribute to someone’s passing), or completely whimsical (revealing a hilarious blooper).

What Are Some Good Icebreaker Questions for Virtual Meetings?

Icebreaker questions are a perfect complement to virtual team building for remote teams. When you begin a video call with a quick round of icebreaker questions for work, you give your team an opportunity to connect on a personal level.

The following questions will help your meeting participants share their “remote” settings and potentially learn to better cope with a virtual environment from each other:

Your Virtual Setting Icebreakers

• Do you prefer working in the office or remotely? What do you consider a good balance?
• What hours or schedule do you adhere to when working remotely?
• How do you take time for breaks?
• What “outside” activities do you participate in?
• Do you prefer working early in the day or late at night?
• How do you tune out distractions when working remotely?
• Do you have a uniform or dedicated attire for working remotely?
• How do you get ready for your day (shower, coffee, breakfast)?
• How do you get your exercise?
• What does your remote “office” consist of?

• If you had to sing karaoke, What’s your song?
• If your life were made into a movie, what would the title be?
• If you were a professional wrestler, what would your name be?
• Who was your childhood “famous” crush?
• Who would you like to leave stranded on a deserted island?
• What is your favorite food?
• What food do you least like but eat anyway?
• If you were famous, what would it be for?
• If you could star in any movie remake, which would it be?

Work-Related Icebreaker Questions

• What was your first job?
• What is the most unusual job you’ve had?
• What is your preferred meal for lunch?
• What is your favorite work holiday?
• Do you prefer working from the office or remotely?
• When you were a child, what did you want to be?
• Do you remember how much your very first paycheck was?
• In your opinion, what work holidays should be added to the calendar?
• Have you been recognized at work for exemplary performance?
• What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

Random Icebreaker Questions

• What is your most prized possession?
• If you were only permitted to keep one app on your phone, which would it be?
• You’re going sailing for six months, what is your boat’s name?
• Can you describe your dream home?
• What is your dream job?
• If you came into money and longer needed to work, what would you do with your time?
• Would you trade places with your favorite cartoon hero or heroine?
• What is your favorite television/cable show or network?
• What national monument should you be included on/in?

“Would You Rather” Icebreakers

• Would you rather live without social media or air conditioning?
• Would you rather have a compact car or an SUV?
• Would you rather lose all of your money or your family photos?
• Would you rather collect coffee mugs or commemorative plates?
• Would you rather have the power of flight or mind-reading?

“If You Could” Icebreakers

• If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
• If you could grant yourself one wish, what would it be?
• If you could choose one historical personality to learn from, who would it be?
• If you could star in your own show, what would it be?
• If you could change your profession, what would you select?

More Random Icebreakers

• Could you survive 48 hours without an internet connection?
• What was your favorite childhood game?
• What is your favorite game as an adult?
• What is your favorite vacation destination?
• What year are you traveling to in your time machine?
• What is your favorite restaurant?
• What is one thing no one knows about you?
• What are three items on your bucket list?
• What languages can you speak?
• Are you a cat or dog person?

Note: Using icebreakers will help you get familiarized with an audience, visitors, or new coworkers and help everyone ease into an interactive online experience.

Virtual Icebreakers and Team Building-Activities

In this article, you discovered several icebreaking questions and activities that promote more open and natural conversation in your virtual meetings, adding more significance and value.

Adding icebreakers and team-building activities to your virtual event will help your audience better communicate, increase production, and remain engaged longer.

Assuming that your virtual audience will interact like a live audience is highly risky. Apprehension and social disconnect can make your audience resistant to virtual interaction when it is needed most.

Sources:
conferences.ucla.edu/make-virtual-meetings-fun-five-great-ice-breakers-and-game-ideas/
canr.msu.edu/news/65-icebreaker-questions-for-online-meetings
fonddulac.extension.wisc.edu/files/2012/12/Icebreakers_and_Mixers_that_Promote_Inclusion-WebVersion.pdf

See https://webcastingandvirtualevents.com/icebreaker-questions-activities-virtual-meetings/ for the first version of this content.