What does success look like when creating a video? How do you know all the work you’re putting into your company’s video will be worth it? What is the return on investment, and how will you measure it? Without identifying the success parameter of your video first, it’s hard to know whether you reached it […]
Why are you making a video? You’ve made it this far—you understand the power of video and have convinced your company that it’s something you need to invest in. So you must be on the right track. But can you define the purpose of your video? What is the goal of the time, money, and […]
Authenticity Expert Vern Oakley, a leading director of corporate videos, offers tips as content transitions to more targeted messages. With the two-year anniversary of the Covid pandemic just months away, and the long-awaited arrival of herd immunity still something of a dream, leaders from major corporations, academic institutions and organizations are continually re-examining the tone […]
Press release originally published on November 10, 2021. Chatham, New Jersey – Nov. 10, 2021 – When Vern Oakley was directing corporate videos as a freelancer back in the 1980s, he felt intuitively that something was missing. “It’s not that the people I was working with weren’t talented,” he explains. “It’s just that I felt […]
When clients take our advice and put time into practicing and preparing for the camera, something magical happens. Because they have learned and absorbed all the key points they want to make on camera, they can redirect their energy toward delivering that information from the heart. Your delivery makes most of the impact Once you […]
When people hear titles like CEO or president, the words conjure up some “suit” sitting in a corner suite on the top floor of a skyscraper. Video is one of the best ways to convey to the majority of employees that there’s a real beating heart under the Brooks Brothers blazer. Video can reach any […]
Jack Welch, former head of GE, suggests that CEOs should think of themselves more as CMOs: Chief Meaning Officers. Along with inspiring their people, Welch believes that keeping people in the loop is an investment well worth the effort. He believes part of the reason for any leader’s existence is “to give purpose to their […]
Amateurs borrow, experts steal. To get great results from your video performances, steal the techniques actors use to come alive on screen. Executives shouldn’t become actors First, let’s establish that performance is not the same as acting. Acting involves taking on the characteristics of a different person. Rather, performing is not embodying someone else, but […]
In “The Art of Business Storytelling,” Oakley reveals how CEOs can drive effective communication by sharing authenticity, candor and compassion on camera. I’ve always loved the observation that ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’… because if its employees aren’t going to support the strategy of the company, you can’t really execute it.” — Vern Oakley CHATHAM, […]
I’ve met hundreds of CEOs and leaders in my career, and most of them are dynamic type-A people. They have no problem standing in front of a crowd and delivering a captivating speech. But that inspiring persona somehow evaporates the minute you put a camera lens near them. Why? You’re relying on the wrong strategy […]