Tips on Creating a High Quality LinkedIn Talking Head Video

Ahh, the age-old talking head video. They’re a staple of video production and have become even more prominent with the rising popularity of video on the web. This rise has been especially true lately on LinkedIn. If you use LinkedIn, chances are you see a lot talking head videos on your news feed. A LinkedIn talking head video is a popular, informative and a great way to tell your story to your following. It is crucial that you put your best foot forward and create the highest quality, most engaging video you can.
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Make the Content Enjoyable

Everyone has a story to tell. Heck, our tagline is “Tell Your Story,” so make sure that you have something enjoyable and useful to share. You can have the best equipment and SEO tactics for your video, but if the content isn’t there, no one is going to watch your video.

Now some topics and industries are more enjoyable than others – it’s just in their nature. As an example, one can assume that people would rather talk about food than it is to talk about plastic manufacturing. There’s a market for each, but let’s be real – it’s easier to describe a delicious burrito than it is to talk about methods surrounding rapid injection molding.

Your job is to make the content/message of your LinkedIn Talking Head video enjoyable. See what makes you different or unique and use that to your advantage. It’ll probably be worth your while.

 

It’s Almost Time To Record

Some businesses will bring on an outside video production company to help with these videos. You may decide to shoot yourself. In that case, here are some tips to make your video look more professional.

 

Lighting Makes a Difference

First, make sure you have decent lighting. If you’ve ever produced video, this is something you’ve heard before. Just like your own eyes, cameras need a fair amount of light to get a clean image. Whether you have a cell phone, DSLR or high-end production camera, they all need light.

Make good use of what you have access to. Whether that be a few lamps or sitting facing a window, you don’t necessarily need a super expensive lighting kit. You can check out this link for some DIY tips and tricks for lighting. If you’re on a tight budget, cheap work lights from Home Depot or Lowes can even do the trick.

Or shoot outside. You can’t beat natural sunlight on a cloudy day.

 

Getting Clean Audio

Next up, you’ll want to make sure that you’re capturing clean audio. From a technical standpoint, clean sound probably one of the most important things to get. But fear not! Even if you don’t have high-end audio gear you can still get clean sound.

A simple solution to get clean sound is to use your smartphone. It might sound weird, but sometimes we forget that smartphones are actually… well, phones. So their microphones are pretty solid. Most smartphones will have a recorder app built in or you can download one. You can try to place your phone in a shirt pocket and hide it slightly out of frame.

The other thing you can do with a smartphone (or even with a pocket voice recorder) is to buy a basic lapel mic and plug it into the microphone jack. This setup will allow you to position the actual microphone closer to you or your subject and get a cleaner sound. Using this method is pretty inexpensive. You can check out this blog post to see how to use a lapel mic with a smartphone.

 

Don’t Forget About Set Direction

Alright, you’re almost ready to go. The story you’d like to share is interesting, your lighting situation is on point, and clean audio is about to roll. Before you hit record, you’ll want to consider what is in the frame of your video. Why? For talking head videos, the setting behind you should strike a balance between being interesting while not being distracting.

Unless you plan to add graphic overlays to your video, try not shoot against a blank wall as your background. That’s a little too boring, and people will start to tune out. Maybe there’s a space with some attractive furniture or plants that look visually appealing. Feel free to move some objects around to create the best frame composition.

You can consider using a setting that ties into the message you’re sharing. For instance, if you’re talking about something in the automotive industry, you can try recording your video at a car dealership.

That said, if you have the ability to add graphics to your video, a blank wall can be ideal. Graphics give you the ability to support your message with graphics or a logo. In this case, your graphics are your added interest, don’t let anything else distract your viewers.

One last tip – don’t stand too close to whatever you choose as your background. This proximity can create harsh (and distracting shadows). Here is a tutorial video on the subject.

 

In Conclusion  

When you first start to produce video, things might seem to be complicated. Over time, however, you’ll find what works for you and be able to become more efficient. The nice thing about creating video content for the web is that it’s easy to adapt and change over time. You can learn about best practices and make changes as needed.

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We hope you learned something new from this blog post about shooting talking head videos for LinkedIn. Maybe we’ll see some of your content in the near future after this.

Neil K Carroll

Neil K Carroll

Owner

I was your average small-town video guy, but when the pandemic hit, everything changed.

I ran a traditional video production agency with exclusively local clientele, a downtown studio, and a busy schedule. My days were long, travel frequent, and life as I knew it revolved around producing video content for my clients.

Then everything changed. Schools and daycares closed, my professional life was disrupted, and I found myself navigating a new path. It was one of uncertainty, with no end in sight and no destination obvious, but it demanded flexibility and resilience.

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neil@vidwheel.com

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