ASCII Success Summits, D.C.: Ready For Your Close Up?

By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor

If the idea of doing a video to share your business message with the public makes your knees quake, don't despair. A company gaining prominence in the managed services and IT channel community is here to help. Varvid, a video production company geared toward helping clients enhance their online presence through video case studies, testimonials, and more, has been working with industry organizations such as ASCII to help IT business owners get past their fear of the lens.

During the ASCII D.C. event, Drew Graham, business development director at Varvid, shared tips on how to shoot and be shot when it comes to video. Among his suggestions:

• Use a tripod.
• Identify the main light source in the room, then position your subject facing the light and put yourself in the middle (light behind the camera).
• Avoid backlighting your subject no matter how pretty the backdrop is.
• Move the camera closer or farther from your subject; don't zoom.
• Clean up your set/subject. Clean off the flat surfaces, make him tuck in his shirt, and then add a plant off to one side in the background.
• Don't use scripts. When you are recording testimonials, you can ask questions and guide the conversation, but don't let your guest read from notes.
• When you are recording, ask your subjects to wait a few minutes before answering a question or responding to a prompt. Also, ask them to restate the question as part of their answer.
• Lastly, don't forget the audio. The full range of input must be high quality.

If all of this just makes you panic more, take some time at an upcoming show to chat with Varvid about tips, tricks, and more.