The In-House Out-House

If you are a corporate video producer, you can be in-house and still be in the out-house. (Notice I said video producer and not videographer.) The situation arises because you have an entirely different set of skills than the teams you are supporting. You most likely lack the knowledge and empathy needed to help solve communication problems in a structured environment like a corporation or small business. You can feel ’em but you can’t reach ’em.

The reverse is also true. They don’t understand all the capabilities and lack the kind of creative background to provide vision and clarity to a marketing, human resource or executive messaging video production. You can easily overwhelm your clients with terms, options and approaches. Here’s your disconnect with a bow on it.

I’m seeing a lot of ads for in-house video producers lately. The list of qualifications and nice to haves are almost staggering. The jobs seem to be posted as stand alone multi-skilled responsibilities.

I’ve been a corporate video producer for more than 15 yrs. I have produced many corporate, small business and executive communication projects. In that time I have seen the proliferation of video as the go to vehicle for sales, marketing, HR, corporate events and cultural communications. These are certainly amazing times.

What I’m seeing today runs the gamut from high quality, well thought out messaging, to what I call weapons of self destruction. Successful on-camera presentations do not come naturally. To go from credible to cringe worthy is not the outcome you want.

We are approaching the world of Allaboutme.TV. Everyone has access to cameras, accessories and a pathway to an on line audience. You are actually broadcasting yourself if you are using social media in any of its forms..

That being said, there is, and will continue to be, enormous amounts of clutter and eye gouging video content. The state of the art is not good. Attention is the currency we trade in. How you gain it requires strategic, deliberate thinking, most importantly, when it comes to how you present yourself on camera.

In this continuing series, I will be addressing issues that come up time and again in my role as creative evolutionist. I will be sharing many insights on how to approach this critical tool and how to create and star in your own successful video communications.

You want to get through the glass and reach people. You want your audience to feel as though you are imparting valuable information, not trying to force them to pay a ransom.

If you have any questions or need advice, please feel free to reach out to me here.

Bob O’Hearn
508-517-6714
bob@doubleocreative.com