036 Confidence and a Positive Attitude in Video Production
In this episode, we dive into how maintaining a positive attitude and building confidence can make a huge difference when you're in front of the camera.
Topics Discussed This Episode:
0:00: Introduction to the importance of confidence and attitude in video production, personal story from 2014 TV series.
4:01: Overcoming challenges in video production and lessons learned, including teamwork and stress management.
8:01: Practical advice on working with crews, managing expectations, and preparing for marketing campaigns.
12:01: Final thoughts on the role of attitude in video production success and encouragement to embrace confidence on camera.
In this episode, we explore the importance of confidence and a positive mindset during video production. From personal stories of stressful shoot days to practical tips on staying calm and professional, you'll learn how to show up your best on camera, even when things go awry.
We explore the often-overlooked impact of a positive attitude on video production, whether you're running a full-scale marketing campaign or recording a quick social media clip. Zoë reflects on her experiences from a high-pressure TV shoot in 2014, sharing valuable lessons about how stress can show on camera and the importance of preparation. She offers practical advice on working with crews, how to stay composed, and the confidence that comes with experience, showing listeners that even if things aren't perfect, they can still produce professional, authentic content.
Listeners will find this episode particularly useful if they're managing video productions, working with teams, or simply trying to overcome their own nervousness in front of the camera. Zoë’s warm and light-hearted approach makes it clear that anyone can build their confidence with practice. Feeling inspired? Head over to vcc.training for more guidance, whether you're launching a major marketing campaign or just need that extra boost to get in front of the camera!
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0:00
G'day and welcome to Video confidence coach, cast with your host, Zoe the video confidence coach. I welcome you to today's podcast and hope you're having a really good week while we chat today for the next 20 minutes in today's podcast, I wanted to chat on the topic of confidence and a positive attitude when doing video production. Now, of course, this may seem quite obvious to anyone who has done marketing or as you've seen, professionals in the limelight, and especially like, for example, daily television
0:35
hosts, you can see that they're always smiling, always professional, always straightforward. But I'm going to tell you now there is, you know, especially when you're doing something every day, there's going to be a chance that you're not happy, that you're not perfect, and you're not always going to be on top of everything as it comes to light, especially in the world of live streaming, or when you're regularly recording podcasts, you're not always going to be 100% all the time, because life happens. So what I mean by having this positive attitude when it comes to video production? I wanted to tell you on a little story. So if you come with me for a moment to the all the way the back end of I want to say 2014 so we are in I want to say,
1:23
October, November of 2014
1:26
and I was producing a series for a local television station down our way called channel 31
1:34
and this was a free to air television show that I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to create a six part television series, so half hour shows, and I was doing this entirely by myself, because, of course, I was Zoe, and this television series was called shortcuts, with a Zed at the end, because I'm cool, and this, essentially it was a TV was a half an hour TV show showcasing short films from around Victoria and showcasing people, because I was very interested at the time of getting into video, getting into television production. I had always seen myself working for the something like the ABC or SBS or one of those larger media companies. And I thought this was a good portfolio example to show myself as a producer. And a producer is essentially someone who is like the overseer of an entire production all the way from start to finish, while, say, for example, a director may be someone behind the camera, and like directing the people in front of the camera, they're not necessarily there for the entire production where a producer usually is. They are coordinating all the people in all the things, as well. As for me, in this case, when running shortcuts, I was also a host as well. So I was learning editing. I was well, by this point, I had been running a business for about five or six years, so I was fairly confident in my video production skills at to a point, of course, but not for video I'm not for television production. So I learned a lot of things in a very short amount of time, and I essentially had this again, the six part series, and I think it ran like, you know, 8pm on a Monday night. So it was fairly not prime time, but fairly decent, you know, showcase of hours. And I hosted it. I sat in front of a green screen, a green screen that I made for five of the episodes, and then the sixth episode was supposed to be this glamorous, glamorous award show, type style episode. And I was producing this episode in November for release in the February of the next year. And we were filming it in my garage, my of my biological parents, house garage with eight people so friends that I was able to cobble on board.
4:10
And I was stressed. It was hot, it was stressful. I had a crew. I had a crew of people who really didn't know what they were doing, and who were really there to help me out. And I'm so grateful that they did. But it was clear that, like I did my absolute best to prepare everyone. But of course, on the day things happen, and I had a I was I had a co host, a professional actor, who was doing really well now, and we were able to record the episode, get it done, beautiful, with not too many mishaps.
4:45
And then I reviewed the footage,
4:50
and I looked angry the entire episode of me and this co host doing our best. And I at the time, I thought I was smiling. I.
5:00
Honestly thought at the time I was smiling, I was not you could see it on my eyes that I was stressed, and even though I had like this smile on my face and doing my best to do what I could in those moments while my co host was speaking, I looked angry. I looked pissed.
5:22
And in the final edit, it definitely came across that way.
5:26
And the reason I tell you this story is because it showed me that maybe, you know, being on camera when I am also doing every other role in a production maybe wasn't the best choice of action for me as an 18 year old, balancing everything else in my life while running a business, while trying to produce a TV show, while also doing school, while also like trying to manage personal matters and family life and all of these other things.
5:57
Yes, maybe that wasn't the best course of action for me, and probably not the best thing to do or the best, brightest idea that I had at the time.
6:07
And I look back and I realize that that experience taught me a lot,
6:11
but it also highlighted for me the importance of having a positive attitude when it comes to video production, because when working in your business, and say, for example, with clients that I run marketing campaigns for. So marketing campaigns are very large scale productions. So you're not just coming away with just a podcast or, for example, just a live stream, which is a tool that can be used within your business and marketing your business, it is a larger campaign. So say, for example, you may have a day on set where you are recording a bunch of videos that are going to say, for example, sit on your website, but also be used in your email campaigns and then eventually filter to your social media.
6:52
That is, for example, you know, a three hour shoot at minimum. And video production is a different beast of its own, in the sense that there was a lot of preparation, pre and post before you even get to the actual production side of things. And
7:09
that's why I do the work that I do. I help people with that
7:14
monumental task, because I've done it so much and do it so often with my clients, and I'm also there to make the experience easier for you, because I take that stress away from you, because I am there for you. I'm there to focus on you, and the videographers are there to do their job. I help communicate between the two. Because a lot of people that I've worked with who had tried doing it themselves and then came to me saying, Zoe, it didn't work. I need, but I need to get this done. I need to do this for whatever, you know, big scale, event, production, product, service, whatever we needed to do. I need your help. So came in and helped them, and I was able to communicate with the videographers fairly susceptively and fairly clearly, because I've been them. I was them. I was working as a videographer for a very long time,
8:04
and when working with videographers, they say the same thing to me. Zoe, awesome. I didn't need I just needed to come in do my job. Awesome. I didn't need to coach the people. I didn't need to try and train them. You came in, did your job, and we left beautiful, awesome. I'm
8:18
not saying this to hype myself up in any way. I'm just saying that when it comes to things that a lot of writing on this, especially when it comes to both money, as in, you need to pay for like, for example, pay for my services, but also pay for videographers, pay for a set, pay for all the other accouterments that come with that. It can be quite overwhelming, because in that moment, you need to step up and step up and perform.
8:42
And if you are not a performer, if you are not media trained, and if you are not someone who's been doing this for a very long time, that pressure can be overwhelming and almost insurmountable, which is why we practice beforehand. We train beforehand. We actively work on okay, this is why we're doing these things. So you're not just figuring out, okay, why do I need to stand in the middle of this the set and just sit there quietly for 30 seconds? You will know why, because you need atmosphere. Essentially, what that means is definitely on sets that are unique, as opposed to just like a basic, say, white or green screen.
9:23
The people who do sound need to be able to establish how a room sounds with no sound. So then in post they can better. In post production, they can better edit the sounds to make it clearer and crisper, because they have a baseline of everything with no sound, how everything should feel and sit. So that's what it's called atmosphere, because they need to record the atmosphere of a room, because every room sounds differently, and that then impacts how everything will sound in the post production and the final product.
9:54
So that can be quite overwhelming for people, especially when you're not sure what is going to happen. I.
10:00
So when it comes to these productions, being able to rely on the people that you've hired and rely on the crew that you've hired to do the work for you, to have that confidence of they're doing their job. They know what they need to do. I just need to do my job. I'm talking about something that I'm passionate about, that I've rehearsed, that I have practiced, and that I've actively thought about, okay, at the end of the day, how are people seeing this? They're going to see this on their phone, and hopefully I'm going to say something that clearly resonates with them, and you should, because we would have done the pre production work to figure out what you're going to say at the end of the
10:37
day. And that can give you some confidence, but that doesn't necessarily give you the positive attitude that will help carry you through a shoot day, for example.
10:49
And when you are doing something this monumental for your business, especially if you haven't done something like this before, I understand that it can be overwhelming, but to be able to give yourself that positive attitude, because you've already done the practice. You've already built up the confidence, which is essentially practice, to be able to be here that day. And of course, things are different when things actually happen for real. But when you're there, you have a supportive crew around you. You have people who are there to make you look the best that you can and give yourselves a couple of runs and goes at things so you can practice a couple of times. And when a director or me or whoever is behind the camera asks you to to and do another take, it's not because the first take was bad. I
11:35
want to stress that it's not because the first thing or the thing that you just did was terrible. It was because they want to have more options when they go to the editing room or when they hand it over to the editor. They want to give as many options as they can to be able to make this thing look as professional as possible. For you,
11:53
you didn't do a bad job. They're just getting as many texts as they can with the time that they have available.
12:01
So I want you to come into, hopefully working in a marketing campaign or even just recording a simple video for your social media using a phone, just getting it, for example, picking it up, and just
12:16
talking to your phone like it is another human being. Requires practice, and that's where the confidence comes in,
12:24
and to give yourself that knowledge of you are there to serve people. You are there to help people, and you're doing it the best, and hopefully the way that you have learnt to do so,
12:37
effectively and as easily as possible.
12:41
And hopefully you have that opportunity to do so as you grow your market, as you grow your business, and you grow your community, and you hopefully market to that community,
12:52
because when it comes to business, you are there, yes, to make money so that you can support yourself and your family and your livelihood,
13:00
but you're also there to serve. And if that means you standing in front of a camera and telling people that they are not alone, that you are here you've experienced what they've experienced, and you're here in front of the camera to tell them that they can do it too.
13:16
Now, sometimes that's just what people need.
13:19
And if it's coming out in an ad, awesome, some people may, and arguably, most people will skip on through but if we've got that key nugget within that first three seconds that really resonates with the people who you want to be working with, then it does its job.
13:36
The money that you should put into marketing should be able to give you a return on investment minimum three fold, usually five,
13:45
because you want people to know who you are and what you stand for. So then when the time comes, they can come to you when they need their help, when they need that support, or when they need that product from you.
13:57
So giving yourself that opportunity to have that positive attitude when you're in front of the camera again. It doesn't even have to be a very like big set. It doesn't have to be on a full production. It can just be something as simple as being in your office, picking up your phone and looking directly at the camera lens and talking as straightforwardly as you can, maybe even having a couple of trial runs, warming yourself up and then going for it.
14:27
But you can do that. You have the power to do that,
14:31
and
14:32
it's achievable, I believe, at least. And of
14:36
course, that's coming from someone who has been doing this for
14:41
almost 15 years now, or a little over, I think,
14:46
and I'm still, you know, seen as a kid, as a young woman,
14:53
and it took me a long time to realize that, oh, it's because they don't take me seriously because I'm a woman, not really just because of the young part.
15:00
Yeah,
15:02
but when you find a group and community that are excited to see what you can do and excited to see how you can grow your business, then that's who you should focus on, the people that you bring on board and the people that you bring into your community are the people that you should ultimately focus on, and
15:21
hopefully that should give you the positive attitude that you can to being confident on the camera.
15:26
I think we've wrapped this up quite nicely. Zoe, so if you are interested in starting your own marketing campaign again, something really big, or even something as small as just needing some confidence to get in front of the camera yourself, why not check me out at Vcc dot training. I'm always happy to help people out and point them in the right direction.
15:47
Hope you enjoyed today's podcast episode, and I look forward to seeing you on the next one. Bye.
The above episode description and transcript were generated with ai.
Who is your host?
Zoë Wood, your Video Confidence Coach connects the dots between personal branding and video marketing. Helping women and non-binary folk in small business, find their way in the world of marketing their passion without the energy drain.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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