It is important to start by hiring a professional video company that has experience videotaping keynote speakers. They need to have several cameras to get the best lighting, the right angles and to capture the audience reactions to your presentation. One of the companies we recommend is Running Pony.
Have your presentation taped in front of a live audience. Meeting planners like to see how you present to an audience. Your style, your ability to convey your message, your use of humor, etc. is what they are evaluating and want to see how you relate to your audience.
Make sure you have the right sound and light. Low quality demo videos are hard to hear and it is distracting to the viewer. You want the sound to be clear so the meeting planner can hear exactly what you have to say. Make sure the video is light enough so you can view it on a computer. A good production company will ensure that there is quality lighting when taping. When I get a video that has poor sound or light I usually turn it off immediately. You do not want a meeting planner to do the same.
It is a good idea to have someone introduce you on the video who is also a good speaker. The introduction will give the viewer your background and set the stage for your presentation. This should get the audience excited about your presentation and look forward to it with anticipation.
Your video should be at least 15 – 20 minutes long. You need to have at least 3-5 minutes of consecutive speaking. This will give the meeting planner a good feel for what you address. It is OK to have clips from different speeches, and even helpful, but be sure that your area of expertise is clear so that when the meeting planner is finished watching they clearly know the scope of your message. I have watched countless video demos, never to fully understand what the speaker’s topic was! This is counterproductive for both the speaker and the viewer.
It is good to close your demo video with references. You can do this by interviewing clients on camera or having a rolling screen with comments from clients. Meeting planners like to see where you have spoken in the past. You can also highlight any books you have written.
Having a solid demo video is invaluable for meeting planners and speakers bureaus in evaluating and choosing their speakers. Those keynote speakers with the strongest demo videos are the speakers that get hired most frequently.
For additional information contact us at: Executive Speakers Bureau angela@executivespeakers.com 901-754-9404
