Why Develop On-Camera Skills?
If you are a solo/entrepreneur, or you work in a professional or office environment, you should develop good video presentation skills. In the age of COVID-19, where many people work remotely, it's inevitable that you will at least have meetings through Zoom or some other video conferencing software.
If you are striking out on your own with a side hustle or business, you can use strong video skills to help you present and sell your product to your prospective customers. Offering coaching sessions or webinars are great products in themselves, and they can be valuable lead magnets that you can use to build your email list.
I spent decades teaching complex technology classes in front of live audiences ranging from a few students to hundreds. Many of those classes moved to an online format once the Internet could handle the bandwidth required for video. In this article, I share some of the techniques and hints that I developed over the years that helped keep my listeners attentive, engaged, and most importantly, awake.
Do You Need to Show Your Face?
If you are planning to do all of your webinars with screen share and have no intention of getting on camera, then you some of the tips featured in this article won't apply to you. If that’s the case, then you only have to worry about your audio and how you present yourself while speaking. However, bear in mind that you will not be very engaging unless you switch to video once in a while.
People are going to get bored staring at your screen, particularly when you are explaining a long concept and there is nothing going on. Likewise, if you are selling something, then video makes you more of a human being to them and that personal connection translates into more sales.
Eight Tips for Better Video Skills
If you're still reading, then presumably you've agreed that strong on-video skills are important to a successful solo/entrepreneur or professional. So let's take a look at them now.
1. Project Confidence
A lot of how engaging you will be with your audience depends upon how confident you are in yourself and in the material that you are presenting. Have you heard the “Five P’s” adage – Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance? That is very true when it comes to presenting your webinar. If you know your material, and have practiced it relentlessly, then you will have the confidence you need in your presentation. You also need to have confidence in yourself as a presenter, which comes with time and practice.
I remember my very first class for Sun Microsystems. I was understandably nervous, with about twenty students. To make matters worse (for my nerves), there was an experienced instructor sitting in the back to observe and evaluate my week-long performance. These were customers who were paying about $3000 each for a week of training and if I was grossly negligent, the other instructor would step in and take over. I still remember one piece of advice that he gave me, that I took to heart from that day on. He told me that these guys paid a lot and they deserve your best. It doesn't matter what's happening in your personal life, or outside the classroom. When you step to the front, you need to turn it on. You're essentially an actor giving a performance. Block out everything else, focus, and do a great job for them.
You might not be perfect the first time, but with practice, your confidence will grow. And if you're confident, then your listeners will sense that. You want them to perceive you as an expert, as a source of truth, for whatever your subject is. That's true if you're teaching, and it's true if you are selling. Fake it 'till you have it (if you have to).
2. Dress for the Role
How you dress is very importan when you are on camera. You want to exude success and that should be reflected in your speech, your body language, the equipment that you are using, the presentation that you are making and, you guessed it, the clothes that you are wearing.
For most settings, you should wear professional clothing on camera. Wear whatever you would normally wear if you went on a job interview with a big name company. If you don’t normally dress up for work, you may want to get an outfit to wear on your webinars.
If you are going on camera, then how you dress is going to be very important. You want to reek of success and that means it should be reflected in your speech, your body language, the equipment that you are using, the presentation that you are making and, you guessed it, the clothes that you are wearing.
In most cases that means that you should wear professional clothing. Wear whatever you would normally wear if you went on a job interview with a big name company. If you don’t normally dress up for work, you may want to get an outfit to wear on your webinars.
3. Lighting and Backdrop
Again, this will depend whether or not you are planning to go on camera. If so, then you take a look at your backdrop (what is behind you) and your lighting set up.
You want a clean, neutral background for webinars. Your camera work should usually be in a professional setting, a neat and tidy home office, or simply a blank wall. Many people actually build a small set in a corner of their home office specifically for webinars or making YouTube videos, with backdrops that work well on camera. Keep in mind that people will look at whatever is behind or around you on camera. Avoid anything that gives away your address or personal information. Any visible books should be appropriate for work or for your audience.
Lighting can be tricky, but there are some simple things you can do to improve how you look on camera. You want lighting that is positioned properly to put you in the best light possible. One of the easiest choices is to use natural sunlight from a window. Sunlight should not be excessively bright; you can use semi-transparent curtains to diffuse the light if it's too harsh.
Your primary source of light should ideally be angled a bit from one side, with another, lower light source on your "dark" side to ensure that your face is not in shadows. If sunlight doesn't work, you can get small lights that mount on your computer next to your webcam. Here is an example on Amazon.
If you are using a blank wall as your backdrop, then you can position a light on the floor behind you, pointed up at the wall. The light can wash out the wall which is a great way to hide imperfections, scuff marks from your kids, and so on.
Finally, some people swear by ring lights. I've never been a fan of them since I think it flattens or washes out your features on camera. They are better than overhead room lights and they are inexpensive, so it doesn't hurt to try one out. I prefer ring lights with their own tripod, phone holder, and so on, like this one on Amazon.
4. Facial Expression
As with your clothing, your facial expressions are important facets of your presentation. Verbal communication is only one of the ways that we communicate. As thinking beings, we are trained to look for the meanings behind words reflected in our facial expressions, body language and much more. Your facial expressions will be telegraphing a message to your attendees, so what do you want them to say?
One of the most important parts of using facial expressions correctly in a webinar is to smile. Make sure that you smile a lot as you are giving your presentation. It will make you more pleasant to watch and put your attendees at ease. Smiling naturally is a skill that takes practice to master. You don't want to come across as a lunatic with a giant, toothy smile while you're talking. Imagine you are talking to a close friend with whom you are comfortable and your smile will reflect your friendship.
5. Body Language
In many webinars or online situations, only your face or head will be visible. Nevertheless, your body language is just as important as your facial expressions.
Mostly, you are going to have to worry about your hands.
Many people wave their hands about while they are talking or move their head. You don’t want to distract your audience from what you are saying, so try to limit your movement as much as possible.
Spend most of your time looking directly at your camera or screen so that they know they have your full attention. Try to avoid watching your cat playing on the floor, or staring at the cars driving by on the street outside your house or office.
6. Diction and Tone
Your diction – how you pronounce words and your enunciation of them – is an important factor in webinars. Speak clearly and slowly enough for people to follow, but not so slowly that you leave them waiting for your next thought. A natural cadence and a friendly tone will help a great deal.
On a webinar, speak slightly louder than you would in a conversation. Use your abdominal muscles and speak with your diaphragm so that your words come out with power and confidence.
One of my favorite suggestions to give to people who are thinking about doing webinars or any other sort of public speaking is to take acting classes. Acting classes are actually really good about teaching you how to talk properly and you would be surprised how the principles you’ll learn will apply in situations like presenting a webinar.
One final thought on diction: almost everyone has their go-to verbal fillers. "Um" is the most common, but there are many others.
Fillers are words or phrases that you use to fill the void while your brain works out what you're going to say next. These fillers are distracting and diminish you in your audience's eyes because they make you look like you don't know have expertise in your topic. I once sat through a colleague's week-long class and had to listen to him repeatedly say, "You with me there?" He really did know his subject, but once you notice them, they're impossible to un-hear, and the filler becomes a serious distraction from your content.
Practice thinking ahead in your brain, even while you are speaking your current sentence or thought. You want your brain to be one step ahead of your mouth. It takes practice, but you can eliminate most fillers with practice.
7. Ask (and Answer) Questions
The biggest risk factor in an online webinar is that your audience gets bored and drops off. You don't want to lose potential customers before you even reach your sales pitch so you need to keep them interested and engaged.
A great way to keep people focused is to ask questions throughout your presentation. Avoid bland, zero-information questions like, "Does this make sense?" Instead, ask participatory questions like, "Who thinks X will happen, and who thinks Y will happen?" while you are doing a live demo for example.
Or, "Put a 'yes' in the chat window if you think this is something you want to do." These kinds of questions start people on the commitment road, without forcing their hand yet.
8. Switch Things Up
Make sure to change things up to keep your audience from getting bored: Switching from one speaker to another, adding multimedia into the presentation or just taking a break for a ten minute question-and-answer session will break up the monotony and keep your attendees engaged. Use live demonstrations to show how easy something is. Of course, make sure that you have practiced the demo multiple times to ensure it goes smoothly.
Next Steps
Practice. Then, practice some more. You might not feel comfortable the first few times you appear on camera, but with practice, your confidence and skills will grow. Before your next presentation, do a run-through on camera and then play it back and look for the tips we talked about in this article. Look at it from your attendees perspective and then you can identify areas where you can improve.
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Good luck, and above all, have fun!