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Posts Tagged ‘video blogging’
Six Tips to Take Your Vlog from Blah to Va-Va-Voom
Guest Post by Wendy Stetson from Babies Gotta Have It, where she blogs and vlogs about must have products for babies. Wendy’s blog is one of the most unique baby product blogs out there, and her video blogs make her site to stand out. See the difference yourself. Would you rather read the text or watch the video?
I haven’t been vlogging for long. Just a couple of months, in fact. I have, however, been standing up in front of people and saying things for small amounts of money for more years than I’d like to say, and on occasion I have been filmed not saying things for larger amounts of money. So I have given some thought to the way in which a person presents herself to the world. What I mean to say is I may be a newbie to vlogging but I’ve got some game.
So here is what I’ve learned about vlogging in the last four months.
1. Shorter is Better. There’s just no way around this. Edit yourself when you speak as rigorously as you would when you write. I struggle with this one on every post because I’m so convinced that what I have to say about bottle cleaners is vital to the nation. But nine times out of ten, I choose the shortest take to publish. Time is money, and in the age of the 60 second sound bite no one wants to listen to you drone on for thirteen minutes about potty training. Which leads me to…
2. Content Matters. You may be terribly charming. You may be drop dead gorgeous. Your friends may even think you are funny. But when you put yourself out there in the world and ask people to listen to you speak, you better have something to say. At least until you’re a celebrity. Then you can talk for hours about very inane things and people will nod their heads earnestly and call you brilliant and insightful.
3. Wear Makeup. Unless you are Rosie O’Donnell or Grace Kelly you need to slap on some lipstick and concealer before you break out the video camera. It takes a lot of product to make it look like you just stepped out of the shower looking like yourself.
4. Pay Attention to Lighting. And setting. And sound. We can’t all have professional lighting and camera equipment. And perhaps that’s part of what we love about vloggers. They look like they just pulled out the camera, held it in front of their faces, and started to rant and roll. But if you the viewer can’t see you, or hear you, or focus on what you are saying because of the cat throwing up a hairball on the sofa behind you, then the viewer will go elsewhere. And there are so many places to go in this big bad internet we’re creating, that you can’t risk giving your viewers one more excuse to leave.
5. I Talk Out of the Side of My Mouth and Squint My Left Eye Weirdly. Especially when I’m not totally relaxed. There is nothing like seeing yourself on camera to make you feel so self-conscious, so inarticulate, and so riddled with bizarre tics that you feel you must commit yourself to some kind of center. Take a breath. Remove hands from in front of face. And look with a generous heart. So you talk out of the side of your mouth? Is it so odd that it makes it difficult for the viewer to concentrate on what you’re saying? Yes? Then work to relax and let it go. Is it just charming and unique and part of what makes you you? Then embrace it. We can’t all be Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s ok. That would be an awfully blonde and boring world.
6. Be Yourself. This is the hardest one. Speak with your voice. Not to get all oogley-boogley and Oprah on you, but say your truth. You know when you watch a TV show or a movie and you think, “dude that guy is such a bad actor. I could do better than that any day of the week, and I haven’t acted since the third grade!” At that moment, your inner truth-meter has gone off. We all have them. It’s why we all are critics of TV and movies but maybe not art or music. We know human truth when we see it. And we know it on the web as well. Vloggers: be yourself. As fully and truthfully as you can. And stop trying so hard.
So there you have it. Six basic tips that will make you more watchable, your vlog posts more compelling, and hopefully increase the number of viewers who “just watch it”. As a vlogging newbie I cannot say that I execute all six of these commandments with any kind of consistency or aplomb. I’d like to work to make all my posts three minutes or less. Okay two minutes or less. I’d like to talk out of my entire mouth and open my left eye on occasion. And I could sure as heck use a lot more concealer and much better lighting. But when all else fails, vlog with an impossibly cute baby on your lap, wiggling her toes and saying “baa.” That’s one way to ensure that no one will be looking at you!
