A flight attendant warmly welcomed and greeted me when I boarded a jet. I was pleased and impressed. But when he later used the on-board mic to deliver the standard departure information, he used a fake-sounding announcer voice to deliver his over-practiced message, discrediting his earlier authenticity.
Communication problems occur frequently when we do not know how to best use a medium. For instance, many of us will have to give live video interviews, speeches, and presentations. But we may lack understanding and skills to communicate well in these situations.
How is video different from speaking in person? How can we reduce additional fears caused by having to speak on camera?
I spent decades in television, cohosting and producing segments for a daily international Christian program, helping guests and hosts use the medium well. In this chapter I explain how to use video effectively as a servant speaker. Video has its own capacity for serving audiences, and it can be a powerful means to communicate with just one person or large groups.
Gain Biblical Perspective
Video is an inexpensive way of capturing, recording, and distributing moving images and sound. Even smartphones have cameras, editing software, and external microphone (mic) inputs.
Biblically speaking, video is part of the “opening up” of God’s original creation. When we use video today, we are participating in the “things” that God has made available through Jesus Christ (John 1:3). We humans invent new technologies, but the source of all innovation is the God of all creation.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Common Uses for Video Speaking
Video equips us to love our neighbor in new ways. It enables us to be more present to others in sound and image across geographic space and in record time—streaming in microseconds on the internet. When used well, video can help us get the job we always wanted, teach more effectively, participate in civic discourse, and spread the gospel.
Given our sinful natures, however, we misuse technology for personal gain and control over others. As the popularity of some YouTube channels shows, even previously unknown persons can build cult-like followings and promote anti-biblical ideas.
Identify the Video Situations
Video speaking is complicated because of the many possible contexts and purposes. There are at least three types of video situations, each with its own image, audio, and presentational techniques: personal, meeting room, and stage.
Personal Video
When we prepare to be interviewed online for a job or to give a course or webinar presentation via the internet, we usually employ personal video. Using a single camera from a personal device such as a phone, tablet, or laptop, we present our face and voice to others, perhaps accompanied by some PowerPoint slides or video recordings that temporarily replace our face on the screen.
Personal video is intimate. It captures our face up close, typically from the mid-chest to just above the top of our head. By using an external mic, we can make it sound like we are in the room with our audience.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Personal Video
Since we are speaking through video, we need to maintain strict eye contact with the tiny camera lens (not the device or screen) except when showing slides or video. Eye contact establishes our credibility and builds trust; when we avoid eye contact, it seems like we are unsure of ourselves, hiding something, or maybe even lying. Eye contact is probably more critical in personal video than any other form of public speaking.
We find video eye contact difficult because we naturally want to look at the other person’s image on our device. We want to see if they are responding positively or negatively by reading their nonverbals. So if necessary, we need to minimize their image and avoid looking at it. We can even cover up their image on our screen. When there are multiple small images of people we are presenting to on our screen, we might have to cover up their images to avoid moving our eyes from person to person and not looking directly at our camera lens.
Meeting Video
In many organizations, presentational meetings are recorded and sometimes streamed live for remote locations and telecommuters. Videos focus on one individual or sometimes a panel of presenters at the front of a meeting room.
SERVANT SPEAKING TIP
In all types of video, use an external rather than internal microphone for good sound quality, and do not speak too loudly. A common video problem is speaking as if others cannot hear us—just as some people do on phones in public.
Although it is possible in these situations to use stage video techniques (see below) with multiple cameras, most meeting videos use one camera. The best ones require each speaker to stand at a lectern or a table rather than remain seated. The image can capture the presenter from about the waist up and at eye level—not at an up or down angle.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Meeting Video
Stage Video
The popularity of TED Talks has sparked renewed interest in public lectures as important civic events. Many of these presentations are well made with multiple cameras, professional crews, excellent lighting, and superb sound. They set the standard for stage video. Part of their success has been finding engaging speakers, training them, and keeping speeches relatively short and on time.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Stage Video
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Advantages of Video
Because such multiple-camera situations require professional producers, we must collaborate carefully with them. We are in their hands. They will make us look good or bad, depending on how well we understand what they are doing and how well we follow their directions.
The essential idea in stage video is to give video viewers a sense that they are part of the in-person audience—not that they are communicating with us one-on-one, as in personal video. We speak to the in-person audience and let the producers use the technology to engage remote viewers.
Consider Remote-Audience Challenges
Compared with in-person speaking, live or recorded video speaking is complicated by three challenges among remote audiences: distractions, multitasking, and expectations.
Unless a video viewer puts on headphones and sits in a darkened, distraction-free room, ambient sounds and visual distractions are likely (e.g., beeping phones, neighborhood or office noises, or unexpected visitors). It is like watching a movie at home rather than in the theater.
Remote viewers might be multitasking—such as texting, responding to email, or answering the door. We need to graciously give them the freedom to attend to their duties, even though it seems discourteous.
SERVANT SPEAKING TIP
Avoid recording in locations with ambient noise, such as from refrigerators and heating and air-conditioning systems. Record sample video without your voice and then listen to it with the volume turned up to assess room noise. Extraneous sounds can distract listeners and convey unprofessionalism.
Remote video audiences have expectations according to the type of video—personal, meeting, and stage. For instance, if we are speaking in a stage video, we will be compared with TED Talks and other popular examples. If we are giving a job interview, we will be compared with the quality of other interviewees’ personal videos.
If our video communication is not fairly seamless, we will probably fail to meet expectations. We need to communicate without the technology interfering. The more technological hiccups, the worse our communication. In personal video, for instance, video audiences get frustrated with speakers who frequently go off screen, fail to maintain a consistent audio level, look away from the camera lens, and repeatedly adjust the camera or audio.
Record Self
One of the scariest parts of video is also a benefit—being able to prerecord a personal video. For example, organizations increasingly ask job interviewees to create and upload audio or video recordings, often answering specific questions. For most of us, this kind of asynchronous interview—recorded for later listening/viewing—is even more discomforting than synchronous (real-time) video. With a live interview, we can read the other party’s feedback verbally and nonverbally, through facial expressions and perhaps gestures.
Sitting alone in front of a camera can be unnerving, but recording does give us a chance to practice, view ourselves, and improve our communication before submitting the official version. We can even ask knowledgeable friends or colleagues to critique our test performances.
In all public speaking contexts, recording and evaluating our own presentations is essential for growth as servant speakers. It is an intimidating but essential process.
Address Video Fears
For most of us, using a mic and facing a camera seem unnatural. They can even worsen our public speaking fears.
The vast majority of us do not like how we look and sound in recordings. Even many famous television and film actors refuse to watch recordings of their own shows and films. When we think about being on mic or on camera, we might start to feel the physical symptoms of fear and anxiety.
Some professionals who have done live television reporting and hosting for years still experience a rush of adrenaline when the camera is turned on. Their stomachs churn, their palms sweat, and their breathing accelerates. They need to remember to relax their faces and bodies, keep their voices from going high and their words from spilling out rapidly. One simple technique is to breathe slowly and deeply for fifteen seconds before speaking to the camera.
Be Natural
Why does a camera or mic make us feel like we need to perform rather than be our natural selves, like the flight attendant I mentioned earlier? For one thing, we think we need to impress others. For another, we have a concept in our minds about what a video professional sounds like; we think that we have to live up to such seemingly expert expectations. We then overcompensate and turn people off with an artificial style. It is similar to what happens when, during worship, a church member starts praying out loud in an entirely different, unnatural voice.
SERVANT SPEAKING TIP
Be natural. Aim for authenticity and perhaps even vulnerability, not perfection. Imagine you are talking with a friend, but with slightly more emphasis and expressiveness.
Often with video communication we feel like we are not good enough, smart enough, or attractive enough. But trying to be something more or someone better will not help us connect with our audience. Viewers want to relate to a real person, imperfections and all. A few minor slipups can actually make a video speaker more likable and trustworthy.
Conclusion
We all need to learn how to be servant speakers through video, a complicated and sometimes intimidating medium. Video communication needs to be handled carefully because it amplifies our personal speaking strengths and weaknesses.
Moreover, paying attention to how we look and sound can help us become more aware of our good and bad mannerisms in all of our speaking, from job interviews to group presentations Viewing videos of ourselves can help us be more effective servant speakers.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Video Lighting
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Video Attire
FOR DISCUSSION