Last night I gave a webinar for the Asia Pacific region where I provided tips for presenters appearing live on webcam during their presentation. Tonight I contributed a guest post on the subject for the Mr. Media Training blog (helmed by Brad Phillips of Phillips Media Relations).
I was honored when Brad asked me to write a piece for him, as I am a long-time follower and fan of his tips for media relations. Our interests intersect when he gives tips on presentation style or talks about the use of web collaboration in press interviews and public statements.
It used to be that media outlets wouldn't think of interviewing someone outside the highly-controlled environment of their own video studio. Then portable technology allowed them to send out mobile video units to the subject's location. Now they are starting to conduct interviews using web-based video conferencing and web conferencing technologies. When they want to get a statement fast, they can't always wait for perfect conditions and physical travel delays.
That can be a double-edged sword for interviewees. It takes much less of your time and lets you stay in your own location. But it also deprives you of the professional gear and experience that media organizations can provide.
Presenting a professional image on camera is damned hard. Audiences now expect everyone they see on TV to have the same polished comfort, ease, and picture quality of a news anchor or talk show host. Looking calm and comfortable to the camera involves anything but calm and comfort on your part.
The post I wrote for Mr. Media contains just a few tactics to consider when talking on a webcam setup. Seasoned video professionals know these intuitively. But if you are just getting started with on-camera presentation, you may be surprised by the number of small details that affect the way you are perceived.
You can use this shortened link to the article for convenience: http://j.mp/mmtwebcam
And if you have ANY interest in how to conduct yourself as a spokesperson or public voice of your organization, you should follow Brad's tweets on #MrMediaTraining and subscribe to his blog.
