Nowadays, how you present yourself on video matters. It has taken over social media channels and since COVID video calls now make up a majority of the working day.
As we rely less on face to face to convey credibility, authenticity and authority, how can you embrace it as a useful tool to enhance your communication skills even further?
We have some hints and tips to share with you.
Why video is our modern stage
If you thought the fame and wealth of YouTube stars was staggering, the stratospheric rise of TikTok has cast the potential of wannabe vloggers into a whole new light.
Whatever your business, catching up with TikTok trends may seem like the last possible priority for you. However, using video to communicate is a trend that is here to stay and it will impact what is expected of every leader.
Why the world has fallen in love with video
Well, as humans we are inherently social animals and we really love to watch other people’s faces! According to a study conducted by Georgia Tech, pictures of faces were shown to perform 38% better on Instagram than pictures that didn’t show a face.
As much of business interaction moves to online, virtual plains, we crave the closest cousin of face to face contact in order to make quicker decisions about who we find most trustworthy and want to do business with. With remote working becoming normalised, this has only accelerated the practice.
Zoom fatigue, anyone?
You may have been coached on presenting to a small room of people or standing on a stage giving a keynote address to a larger audience – but is that sufficient for a time when most day to day interactions are done remotely and the ability to rally your team from behind a camera is more important than ever?
We’re going to hazard a guess and say – not anymore!
Embracing video to build your profile
Besides becoming more comfortable when faced with a camera, communicating through video can be a great way to raise your profile within your industry.
An easy way to get started is to film short clips summarising what you’ve learnt and share these on social channels or perhaps a newsletter. If you visit our resources page or follow Rebecca on LinkedIn, you’ll be able to see some recent examples from Hatching Ideas.
You may find that as well as boosting your charisma, it also forces you to find more succinct and engaging ways to get your point across!
Something to #trytoday
Yes, seeing ourselves on video can feel like the most uncomfortable thing ever, so why would we choose to film ourselves?
Often it can give a helpful indication of the first impression we give when presenting to others. For example, you may come across as much more reserved and monotone than you realise, so it could be a good chance to focus on speaking more expressively to raise your audience’s energy levels from afar!
Here’s a quick exercise to help you do it – trust us, it will get easier with each time you do it!
Dial up your impact on video
- Write down the three words that you want others to associate with you – this is the foundation of your personal brand
- Look ahead to your next meeting and jot down the key messages you want to convey
- Take out your smartphone and try recording yourself presenting your key points
- Watch it back and note down what it is about your delivery that matches your personal brand. What is missing? What can you tune up?
- Repeat this a few times until you’ve mastered the 2 biggest improvement areas. It could be how fast or how loud you talk or how you use expression and gesture for impact. See this post for some examples.
Let us know how you get on if you give this a go.
If any of this has been of interest and you would like further information on how this can be used for your own development, or that of your colleagues, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
