Lessons from the frontline: How to embrace the brave new world of live streams and video calls

Mark Jones

Phew, what a week! Talk about an emotional roller coaster. Like most of the professional world, my team at Filtered Media has pivoted within seven short days to embrace a new way of working. 

Goodbye office life and hello to the new big thing: live streams, video calls and webinars.

Today, we stepped further into that journey by celebrating World Storytelling Day and the launch of my first book, Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story (get a copy here!). The dramatic twist in our story was making a decision last Friday to pivot away from a real-world book launch event to a live-stream video production using Zoom (which, unsurprisingly, is watching its stock price zoom!). 

At the same time, we pivoted with client work. Instead of in-person workshops, I led two 90 minute workshops via the Bluejeans platform. Add to this the usual raft of messaging, Google Hangouts and Zoom video meetings and it’s been full-on.

So, what have I learned - and rediscovered - from the frontlines of working with a camera lens every day? 

1. Create an entertaining, engaging experience

Keynote speaker Vinh Giang delivered a video message, appropriately enough, at the Professional Speakers Australia Convention last weekend. He shared this essential tip for anyone presenting to an audience: don’t forget to entertain, and deliver an X-factor! 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a speaker, business leader or the lucky soul nominated to chair a meeting (which today is most likely via webcam), we all need to keep this entertainment idea in mind. Vinh broke down a useful way to think about the relative split of key elements needed in your presentation:

• 30% - Educate with your content
• 30% - Inspire with your instrument (voice, body language) 
• 30% - Entertain with storytelling and humour
• 10% - Use your X-factor. For Vinh, his X-factor is magic skills! 

The first point to note, and a theme I discuss in Beliefonomics, is that in my experience content can soak up 75% of our time and attention when it comes to most corporate presentations. We love the data, the ideas and the message. Entertainment? That's a tricky one.

Reflecting on our live stream today, how did we do? Not bad, if you'll permit a humble brag. We offered a good mix of content, inspiring storytelling and a few attempts at humour. But what about the X-factor?

This time, our X-factor was technical. We set up two cameras and engaged the audience by switching between a close up shot and a wide angle view. Most webinars are a single camera.

Given it was World Storytelling Day and we are living in stressful times, we decided to focus on personal, engaging stories. The standard business success story and a long technical review of the Beliefonomics brand storytelling framework wasn't going to cut it for a Friday afternoon. So, we chose two camera angles - one wide and the other tight on the speaker - to help convey emotion and authenticity, plus keep audience attention.

2.  Live streaming is just like live TV. Are you ready?

Here's the hard lesson. Expect things to fail and be ready to change on the fly. Despite a flawless rehearsal and near-new equipment, our live-stream experienced not one, but three audio hiccups! Gah! Inexplicably, fresh batteries in my lapel mic failed just as I was doing the intro. We didn't see it coming.

Yet my production team handled it like pros, quickly switching to a holding slide before changing batteries again, and finally reverting to a handheld mic. It pays to be prepared!

As a presenter, I just took a deep breath, smiled and carried on. Then later, as a leader, I reminded my team they did a cracking job. A long list of technical things went really well. It’s not the little blip that matters, but how we recover and learn that matters. What will we do better next time? Brand new or freshly charged and checked batteries. Gold stars all round.

3. Be brave and take risks

Our default mode in business is to play it safe. However, Brent Smart, CMO at IAG, recently told me on The CMO Show podcast the better way to grow is test, learn and try new things. 

How's this for super-relevant advice in a fast-changing world:

“Data never tells you what to do. All data tells you is where your business is right now and what is your customer doing,” he said. “But the leap that’s required to create a great piece of creative. The data doesn’t tell you about that leap.” 

Creativity always involves some element of risk. If you're truly being creative, it has to be risky and brave - it's not been done before!

Conversely, I’ve heard some marketers and business leaders advance the counter-narrative: access to the right data means we should rarely consider something risky, or brave. We should know it will work from the outset because the data has narrowed the odds of failure.  

The reality today, however, is much different. The world is literally changing around us on a daily basis. So how reliable are your historical trends now? Practically speaking, this new reality means we have no choice. We must explore new ways of working. And that means bravery and an element of risk is required when you invite workgroup teams and clients to join a video call, webinar presentation or live-streamed event. 

To illustrate the point, the two women joining me on our live-stream today - Kate Elks and Vanessa Birch - bravely shared their personal stories with a global audience. At the same time, my team and I took a risk that our high-speed turnaround would work. Happily, it did work! Was it flawless? No. But have we learnt valuable lessons we can apply immediately? You better believe it.

So, would we call our risk a success? You bet. On a personal level, I’ve launched my first book in spite of the global economic turmoil - a satisfying milestone! We've also received many kind messages from clients, friends and family, many of whom have kindly asked for urgent help with webinars, live streaming and virtual events.

The bottom line when it comes to the question of bravery and risk is this: we no longer have the option of waiting, delaying and lining up our corporate ducks. It’s time to take a leaf from the tech startup playbook: stay agile, pivot when needed, fail fast, learn quickly and share your lessons widely. 

4. Production quality matters

What does every live-stream, camera phone or built-in laptop camera have in common? Interesting backgrounds!

Take a moment to consider what people are looking at behind you. I’ve seen messy book cases, ceilings, people from the neck up, cameras pointed at nostrils and the black silhouette of someone with her back to a light-filled window!

If you’re in a work meeting, we’re quite forgiving - for now. It’s a fluid situation. But, remember that we do still need to stay productive and focused. When we’re distracted by light, sounds and strange backdrops, our attention inevitably wanders. 

In public live-stream situations, remember that the same rules still apply. First impressions count, and you are still judged (consciously and subconsciously) on your appearance. 

Here's a few handy tips: 

• Raise up your camera to normal eye-line with a stand or pile of books. 
• Fix the lighting, clear away distracting mess in the background and always position your face towards the light source. That might mean moving your desk against the window, or pulling down the blinds. 
• Oh, and remember to actually get dressed for work.  Not quite suit-and-tie, but you know what I mean. It’s a good psychological act that focuses the mind and will avoid distracting your colleagues on the other side of the camera. 

5. Get comfortable with video etiquette

Perhaps the most confronting aspect of video conferencing is the focus that’s required to listen, wait for the right moment to speak, and jump in! 

We all know that moment where you’ve jumped in and interrupted someone mid-stream, just like you would during an in-person meeting. Suddenly the flow’s broken and it’s awkward. “Oh, sorry, no, please carry on,” you offer. Another awkward pause, and the speaker resumes talking - unless someone else hasn’t already jumped into the fray! 

That leads to my next point: non-verbal communication. The camera can play havoc with our minds as we try to read the body language of colleagues or clients on the screen. Black faces, faced propped up with hands and elbows on the table, and blank stares off into the distance are interpreted as signals of disinterest, disagreement or boredom. 

Try this instead: offer a gentle nod when you agree, try to show interest in your face with elevated eyebrows or a simple smile. It sounds naff, but demonstrating active interest will make the world of difference as we adjust to life on camera. 

So that’s my take on the week with cameras and live events. What are you discovering?

Mark Jones is the Chief Storyteller and CEO at Filtered Media. He's also an international keynote speaker and author. His first book, Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story, is now available.

#beliefonomics #filteredmedia #brandstorytelling #marketing #cmo #comms #webinar #livestream #zoom #bluejeans