Interviews are a great tool in corporate video production. They can help tell a story, get an important message across, and give an insight into who is behind the business. But what can you do to get the most from your staff, beat the dreaded nerves and ultimately get a great final video?

WHO SHOULD BE INTERVIEWED?

When you’re planning your video, it’s important to think about who the best people would be to star in your production. Depending on the topic of your video, it could be your CEO, a Head of Department or even someone completely new to the business. It’s important thing to think about is who is relevant to your key message. Do you want an overview or an in depth discussion? Thinking about your key message should help you decide who would be a good fit. It’s always good to include members of your team that are charismatic, and able to put their points across clearly, as the energy and enthusiasm they display will transfer to the feel of the final video. It’s great hearing someone who really loves their work talk passionately about it, and it’s even better if they’re able to express that with clarity and focus.

WHERE TO FILM THE INTERVIEWS?

It can be difficult to decide an ideal place for your interviews to take place. Of course you want somewhere that represents your business and looks smart, and so many people default to choosing a boardroom. For some videos this will be fine, but often the problem with boardrooms is that they’re not usually very interesting or relevant. If you’re taking about a new product, initiative or the great work your staff have done, the viewer will want to see these things in action. Just having someone talking about it will not be enough to grab their attention, instead it’s much better to interview people in the place they actually work – whether that be a lab, a field or even just their desk! These locations are more relevant to the topic being discussed, and tend to look better down the camera lens too. If you do get stuck, your video production company will be full of ideas to make the background of the shot look more interesting. It’s also a good idea to dress in a way that best represents your business, but steer clear of small checks or stripes on ties and shirts, the camera doesn’t like them!

PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW

Although you might think you will need lots of prepared statements or even a script to remember for your interview, we definitely recommend that you keep your planning to a minimum. We usually find that when people have a script or too many points they need to hit, they spend the majority of the interview trying to remember what they need to say – and it looks really unnatural on camera. Instead, it’s much better to give your video production company an idea of the things you’d like to talk about in advance, and they will prepare questions to ask to ensure you discuss each of those points.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

The interview itself should be a painless process. It’s best to ignore the camera, and just talk to your interviewer as though you’re having a chat. This means you come across naturally, which is much more convincing to the viewer. In most corporate videos you won’t hear the questions being asked and so something you may be asked to do is repeat the question in your answer. For example when asked “Tell me about your new training initiative” instead of responding with “It’s to develop skills.”, you might say “Our new training initiative is designed to develop the skills of our employees.”. It’s a very simple way of making sure your video flows smoothly and that the viewer has all the information they need.

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If you are in need of a corporate video interview, get in touch with the Holler Team on 020 7112 8665 or email hello@holler.video.