Best Practices for Hosting and Recording Video Sessions

Hi folks. So I've received some requests around best practices on recording videos and being live on video, and so I want to share those with you here. I use three different video services, I use BombBomb, B-O-M-B-B-O-M-B, to record Wednesday Wisdoms and to send video notes to prospects instead of traditional emails. I use QuickTime a lot if I'm recording audio or if I want to record a video and it doesn't have to be embedded in an email, so I just want to record a video clip. But by far the service I use the most is Zoom. And so I use Zoom for two things: to run consulting calls and coaching meetings virtually and also I use it to walk clients through documents.

And so I'm actually going to show you … So a couple things, I'll say the first thing is sign into the Zoom a couple minutes before the attendee or client or whoever's on the other end of the session and just get used to where everything is. So Zoom can be a little bit distracting because when you're talking and after a few minutes, all that you see is the video and you lose that bar at the bottom that shows pause and record. And if you're running a webinar, you lose the piece at the top that shows you attendees and the chat function. And so just be cognizant of where everything is.

The other thing is, people often say they don't know where to look. I would recommend looking directly at yourself. Some people recommend looking into the camera. I find that looking at yourself is easier. You don't get distracted. You have the ability to see where your hands are and the way the office looks behind you. And so look at yourself.

The other thing I'd say is have a notepad right in front of you, but out of view so that if you need to look down at your notes, it's not distracting to the other person, but you can use it as sort of your go-to.

The other thing I'd say, and this is something I say, whether you're on video or not, be cognizant of what your objective is going into the conversation. That's especially true if you're doing conversations virtually and people can see you. When you're on the phone, you have time to sort of think and pivot, but face to face with somebody that's harder, as you all know. And so be clear about your objective. Is your objective just to have a conversation, gauging the client's emotions and thoughts? Is the conversation to try to close a deal? Is that your objective? Is your objective to try to talk a team member off the ledge? Be cognizant of your objective. That'll inform your tone of voice, it will inform the way in which you move your hands, the way in which you look and act, et cetera.

The other thing I'd say is get used to the functionality of Zoom and toggling in and out of things. And so I'm going to share my screen here at the bottom, I'm going to share my desktop, what I often do is I will share my desktop with folks, and so I'm still looking at myself, I'm still looking at the center of the screen, but now I'm also … Perhaps I'm showing a client a proposal and I'm saying, "Hi John, I wanted to walk you through this proposal quickly. You can have a chance to peruse it yourself, but here are a couple things I wanted to point out to you". Here is where you'll see me talking about Thrives' value proposition, et cetera, et cetera. And so actually walking somebody through whatever is I'm showing them. Incredibly useful for advisors to do this with clients with the digital tools that they have. Recording a quick Zoom and sending it via email before review meeting is a great way to engage the client and also keep your tools front and center.

I'm actually on the Zoom site right now. There's two different things that are going to be really important to you. So the meetings, those are the traditional meetings, you can schedule a meeting right in here. Or you can actually link this to your Google account if you use Google, and I believe Microsoft Office, and actually schedule right from your calendar, which makes this even easier.

Now, if you're recording a webinar, which I do recommend advisers do if they have cohorts of clients in very specific niches or professions. Consider hosting a webinar for all of them on an upcoming Friday, talking about specific resources that would be valuable to them during this time. You do that right from here, schedule the webinar and you're going to have options for whether people need to register, you're going to have options for whether you want to record the webinar, and so those are the two things you're primarily going to be using. When you want to get out of this function, again, remember Zoom tends to take away all of our features when we're talking. You just have to bring your cursor up to the front of the screen, to the top of the screen rather, and then you can stop sharing and get right back into your focus.

So those are my quick tips. The other thing I'd say is be yourself. I have had folks tell me early on in my career that, "Don't use your hands too much. It's distracting". Use your hands if you want. Be yourself on camera. Be authentic the same way you would be in person. And the more you do it, the more used to it you get. So I hope that was helpful. If we can help in any other way, feel free to reach out to us. Talk to you soon. Bye.