Video Content Marketing: Talking Out Loud

Or….Say It To The Camera

[You will find a link to the video near the bottom of this post, but I’d like to convince you to please the time to read this before you watch. It’ll be worth it.]

There’s evidence of a shared phenomenon and it’s almost as if we’re all waking up at the same time with the same clock in the same time zone to the importance of learning from each other and how interconnected we are. We’ve got a helpful common thread and if we pay attention, we each have a lot of serendipitous (and willing) cheerleaders out there. Thankfully! (I’ll take it.)

This video content marketing project is one I’ve been gearing towards for months. It’s been progressing in bits and pieces, small and tentative steps until I finally reached the ramp-it-up stage in the last couple of weeks or so. In fact, I found myself being a bit preoccupied (read: fixated) when I turned up the heat and began focusing on it as much as time has allowed lately because it’s been so compelling. Lights, camera, and a little bit of action.

As this has been going on, I’ve been thrilled by the uncanny nature of how many people are talking about the ideas I’ve also been concentrating on within the trajectory of this project and dare I say…. issues I have been up against that brought me to this ultimate conclusion: I can and ought to make videos as an element of our content marketing strategy.

How Do We Get Past Our Obstacles?

We are so often faced with new challenges, obstacles. Sometimes, it seems that the moment we conquer one, the next is waiting (not very patiently) in line to be tackled. We can barely catch our breath. It appears to be unavoidable with the ever-insistently growing list of to-do’s in a small business owner’s daily routine. But happily, we do stand to gain, each of us in our own corners of risk taking, courage building, new levels of discipline and evolution.

I’ll Show You Mine [the big disclosure]

Truth is, I’ve had some discomfort about being interviewed live and participating in HOAs (Google Plus Hangouts On Air) so I decided to take a detour in the hopes that it would offer me a more amenable avenue. A road that will lead me to the comfort zone. It’s not that I’ve exactly been saying ‘no’ but I have been doing some dodging, hiding and postponing amidst legitimate scheduling conflicts. That is not an enviable position to find yourself in.

Curiosity

In my unenviable discomfort, I started to notice a thin trickle, a seeping bit of curiosity creeping into my bones. “What if” “Maybe there’s a way” “Maybe I can”. And truthfully, that’s what really got me going. Not a ‘should’ or a ‘must’, but rather a tickling itch of wonder. Turns out, it’s a great motivator.

I can still remember vividly my first (and only because I was a chicken) museum talk standing in front of some of my paintings and a large, fancy group of people at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. I seriously considered leaving town and simply disappearing that day; I was so terrified I felt sick. I don’t know how I got myself there, but I do know that almost the moment I opened my mouth I began to have fun and the fear dissipated. But it came back. And I promised myself I didn’t ever have to do that again.

So how do we get to a point where we can learn to avoid the sick part of the story? Because frankly, that’s the part that has governed me most in the years since then. Not the fun part. Only a dim memory of that remains, sadly.

My Intentional Detour

We each have some kind of a detour gently waiting, a creative back door or sideways approach to where we’re headed. And that’s okay. Detours can be useful and even advisable as long as they eventually lead us somewhere we hope to go. We can give ourselves permission to find a way to desensitize or even habituate to the things that we want to get more easy-going with, to change.

It’s not unusual to find myself seeking a way to get cozy with discomfort. What I’ve found in this instance is that I’ve been learning how to take it in stages and work my way towards the scary thing becoming kind of a natural occurrence (eventually). Find ways to make it organic for myself.

I’m revealing my plan now. The thing that I know will help me through the so-called (in my mind) closed gate.

So now – here’s the first step I’d like to share with you; the introduction to my new series of short videos called “Talking Out Loud”. That seemed like a fitting title because while I’m very talkative with my keyboard, this will be a venture into using my other voice, the one you can hear and watch me use, that I speak out loud with. I’m ready to let you get to know me better.

Unscripted and casual with plenty of adventurous learning ahead. I hope you have a few minutes (4:18 to be exact) to take a look because there’s a small story and other things I have to say.

TO WATCH THE VIDEO, PLEASE CLICK HERE

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For the curious, here are some of the tech particulars:

It’s amazing how much preparation, how many components, things to manage, details and choices there are to making and publishing even a small, simple a video like this and I was a little surprised by that. Luckily, I have my old Adobe Premiere days still lingering in my bones so I was able to pick up most things up fairly quickly, but I am sure that as I get more practice under my belt, the process will become easier and more streamlined. And truthfully, this has been a lot of fun!

~ Logitech 910 webcam for Mac (the 920 is newer & higher rated, but I was told it wasn’t Mac compatible, which I now don’t believe…)
~ Built-in camera mic
~ Webcam Settings software by Mactaris (for enhanced camera control)
~ RPS Studio Softbox Light Kit: fluorescent, even daylight balanced, 2-20″ square with 2 – 70 W daylight plus 1- 50W daylight each
~ WonderShare Video Editor for recording (this is not necessary, but I like the features and some of the editing options)
~ VideoPad Video Editor, a more sophisticated program I used for editing, effects, title placement and output.
~ Photoshop for title creation

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Photo Credit: Gina Fiedel