All right, Mr DeMille - I'm ready for my close-up...

 Please CLICK HERE to go to the video)

This week I headed over to Simon Twilley's small studio in Ashford to make a quick video promoting my new business networking group, MyTeam Network. 

I totally understand why people freeze in front of the camera - I used to, but I'm now like Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard' (the cracking black and white 1950 Billy Wilder movie rather than the 1993 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical) - I'm always ready for my close-up!

Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am rarely lost for words, and that when I get onto my favourite topic of networking, I could 'Rabbit' for England... My problem then was keeping it short and sweet, so that the ever-patient Simon didn't have to drag me off screen with a shepherd's crook!

The solution I came up with would work equally well whether you are stuck for what to say or need (like me) to stick to the point, and you can see it in action when you watch the video. I made 4 cue cards with 2 word pairs on each to prompt me - for example, innovative + inclusive. This gave me 8 points to cover, and Simon held up the cue cards behind the camera for me.

It was much easier than trying to read an autocue (especially with my eyesight :0) and also allowed me to speak more naturally than reading a script would have done. I knew that when I covered those two points at a time with a few sentences on each, I would reach a natural break point where we could cut for a pause in filming so I could get my breath back.

Simon then used the cue cards as visuals to segment the video and make editing transitions simpler. Please feel free to copy my idea in your own videos if you think it would help...

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You can watch the MyTeam Network video here on NiS, and contact Simon at Twilmedia if you'd like to have a quick chat about making a low-cost promotional video for your own business...