I’m sure you’ve seen those videos where it looks like the subject is doing an interview – it’s a quick cut of them saying something profound, and it always hits just right.
And while maybe you don’t have access to professional video and sound equipment, you can still steal this concept and make it your own.
This is how to film a podcast style video and why they’re so great for socials.
If it hasn’t already become abundantly clear for you, your audience loves seeing your face and hearing your voice. There’s a reason that they follow you. So, give them what they want – in the form of a podcast style video.
I’m sure you’re aware of what these are, but let’s just go over my description so we’re on the page. This kind of video includes two industry professionals sitting in a space and having a simple conversation.
The conversation is filmed, and after the fact, it’s cut up and thrown onto socials.
Think about the best conversations that you’ve had with other professionals in your industry. Do you ever wish that they were recorded?
You see, some of the best content we can make is the stuff that’s off the cuff. You know, the real, honest and organic stuff. So that’s how this is to be approached – it’s raw, in the moment and unfiltered.
But it’s not live – so you have full control over what gets released after the fact. This is great marketing material, and it will aid in presenting you as an authority in your industry.
Here’s a step by step guide for you – to make your life a little easier.
1. Choose your partner. Take a look through your digital rolodex and find someone who you’ve always had great conversations with. You want to make sure it’s an individual who you feel comfortable with, and someone who is great at pulling honest and original responses out of you.
Choose wisely. If you’re a contractor, maybe chatting with an interior designer or an architect would be a great idea. If you’re a real estate agent, maybe it would be wise to sit down with a mortgage broker.
2. Choose your space. Pick somewhere that represents your brand. Maybe there’s a nice space in your office with plentiful natural light. Remember, a minimalist and clean background as well as some nice natural light are going to be your best friends. Choose the space based on these requirements.
3. Write out some prompts. This doesn’t need to be a one take wonder type of situation. You’re going to have a candid conversation and be able to split it up after the fact – so in knowing this, it doesn’t matter much if you’re stopping every once and a while to glance at a reminder sheet.
Write down any talking points that you may want to remind yourself to refer to when needed. This isn’t always required – remember we’re aiming for a nice, out of the blue and organic chat – but if the conversation reaches a lull, you can always refer to this cheat sheet to bring things back up to a comfortable pace.
Ask your partner intriguing, thought-provoking questions, and allow them to do the same with you.
4. Film the conversation. For this step you’ll either need a phone tripod, or some kind of object to rest your phone against. You’ll have your phone recording you, and your partner's phone recording them. Remember, we don’t need to be filming both of you in the same frame, as we’re only taking short clips of profound statements that you make.
Don’t worry about context – you can create context afterwards in the post description before it goes online. Remember to film in the vertical orientation. The data has shown time and time again that Instagram and Facebook users are more receptive to vertical videos. Wide videos are for YouTube. Vertical videos are for Instagram and Facebook.
Make sure you have a lot of free space on your phone, and continue to get up every once in a while to check that it’s still recording. Better yet, stop the recording every time there’s a break in the conversation and then start it again. This way, if anything goes wrong, at least you haven’t lost the entire conversation
5. Chop it up. Once the chat is done and you’ve both gone your separate ways, you can start to go through the footage and make separate videos. Please note, these instructions are for iPhone users. Because iPhones are far superior, just saying.
Click edit on the video and start to scrub through your footage. You’re looking for moments in the conversation where you said something worth sharing with the public. You’ll select that part of the video, and save it as a new video clip.
Whatever you do, don’t click “save video”. This will save the video as a whole and you won’t have access to the clip to make separate videos out of it.
The time you’re aiming for with these is anywhere from 15 seconds to 1 minute.
Final touches. Once you have all of your cuts, you can throw them into the captions app (refer back to the blog titled: How to Put Captions on Your Videos – The Best App and a How to Guide.)
Get the captions put onto your videos and export them back to your camera reel. Watch them over as many times as you need in order to familiarize yourself with the subject matter.
You’re going to write post descriptions for all of these clips ahead of time, at the same time. Doing it this way will help to create a streamlined writing style and will help with adding some consistency to your messaging.
6. Share them online. Throw these up regularly. I always recommend posting at least once per day. This will guarantee that you grow at a consistent rate. Put a good song over the chat playing quietly in the background. Tag your partner as a collaborator and share these in your Instagram and Facebook stories as well.
Creating videos like these is such a good way to present your audience – who just so happens to also be your customer base – with the confidence producing information they need to trust you more than other folks in your industry.
Remember, we’re presenting our energy to the internet, for the right people to find, who will inevitably turn into happy customers. Share who you are, win the client, grow your business.
If you need a hand with this, or simply want to chat – reach out today. Or tomorrow. Today’s better though, because why the Hell not?
To Your Success,
Jay Ashcroft
Ashcroft Media Co.
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