We had the pleasure of sitting down with director, documentarian, and actor Nat Swyer to discuss the best tips for getting employees comfortable on camera. You can watch the recording below or read on to find out Nat’s tips.
Video is a crucial element of building your employer brand and it is a vital tool in attracting and connecting with the best candidates. Candidates rarely read the text descriptions of your company’s mission statement or even full job descriptions. You need to show them what your company stands for and what a position will entail. Video is the best way to do that.
But hiring a film crew and bringing in a production company to shoot a formal video for every great aspect of your company is too costly and unrealistic. Instead, you need to utilize the HD cameras we all have in our phones and laptops, and start generating a library of informal video. If your employees are your best asset, don’t hide them until the end of a job application process, bring them to the front. Showcase your employees and why they love your company. This is what candidates truly want to see.
Realistically, though, not everyone in your company will be jumping to be on camera. There will be some who feel uncomfortable and hesitate to generate videos.
Nat helped us cover some of the reasons that some employees don’t feel comfortable on camera.
- They don’t want to come off foolish by making any mistakes
- They think they look or sound weird on camera
- Overthinking what they will say and over-rehearsing it to the point that they freeze up on camera
- Not knowing what to do with their body positioning, this ties into thinking they look weird. They are too aware of what they are doing with their hands, head, etc.
Now, let’s dive into some of the tips that Nat shared so you can help your employees fight their nerves and feel comfortable on camera.
- Move around a little bit to help blood flow
- Walking around, moving their arms, or even doing some jumping jacks will help them get their blood flowing and get them out of their head before they start filming. This doesn’t need to be any extreme form of exercise, even a little bit of moving around can help them to relax.
- Drink some water and warm up their voice
- Staying hydrated will help to reduce anxiety levels and keep them focused on the task at hand. Also, to warm up their vocal chords they can try talking out loud, singing, or attempting tongue twisters.
- Film in a comfortable environment
- Have them try to find a spot in their home or office where they feel comfortable. If they like the natural light in their kitchen and feel relaxed there, film there. If they enjoy the breakroom in your office, as long as it isn’t overly noisy, then film there. Being in a space that is calming to them can help them feel more comfortable on camera.
- Start recording and get them talking about something they have a passion for
- You can always edit out everything you don’t need later. So, if you have an employee who is especially nervous on camera, you or they can start filming while they discuss something that they feel passionate about and have a lot of knowledge on. This will help prevent them from overthinking and freezing up. Talking also forces them to take normal breaths which will help relax them even more.
- Have someone they are comfortable with film them
- You want the videos to be personal and authentic. To help do that, have someone your employee is comfortable with film them. This will enable them to have a casual conversation beforehand which will get them talking and help relax. The person filming can also give the employee feedback while or after they are filming. Positive reinforcements really help to calm the nerves. Remember they don’t need to get this all perfect in one take and having someone remind them of that while they are filming helps greatly.
- Embrace the human errors
- Your employees are not professional actors, and your viewers will know that. What they want to see is someone being authentic about themselves and their job or company. So don’t fret over little slips, pauses, or even if their hair isn’t perfect. Candidates want to see that your employees, like them, are human and relatable.
Keep these tips in mind the next time you are recording a video and they will help you greatly reduce your employees’ stress levels. The more they record, the more comfortable they will be on camera. This is one of the many reasons why video output for employer brand and recruitment marketing has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic. Since we are all used to being on Zoom at this point, we are all a little more comfortable on film and a little more willing to hop on camera to speak about our companies.
If you aren’t already using a video platform, look no further. The SparcStart platform makes creating, storing, and sharing video incredibly easy to do at scale. There are two products that make up the complete platform.
Sparcs enable you to add hiring manager video directly into your job descriptions so you can connect with candidates in a way that text alone cannot do.
Amplify VMS handles all your other video needs for employer brand and recruitment marketing. With Amplify you can easily create, store, and share videos all in one place.
If you are interested in learning more, click here to schedule a demo.