How to sound natural on camera
Photo Credit: Sydney Sherman Photography
Ever watched a corporate video and thought, “Yikes. They’re definitely reading off of a teleprompter”?
Maybe you’ve even been that person, standing in front of the camera, knowing you’re losing your audience but with no idea how to get them back.
How do actors sound natural on camera??? Well, years of practice, sure. But they also have a giant toolbox of techniques.
One technique you can implement right now, whether you’re interviewing an exec for a video or preparing for a presentation of your own, is tactics.
In every scene, be it in a movie, television show, or play, a character wants something from someone else, and they use tactics to get what they want.
“I am your father.”
When Darth Vader and Luke have their famous confrontation in Star Wars: Episode V, Vader wants Luke to join the Dark Side. To achieve that goal, he attacks, threatens, encourages, tempts, etc.
Actors distill each tactic down to a single verb, and they never repeat the same tactic twice in a scene.
Importantly, for actors, tactics aren’t rhetorical arguments. Rather, they are what you are doing to your scene partner with your words. (In the case of corporate video, your “scene partner” is the viewer.)
For example, “I am your father,” could be delivered hundreds of different ways. Darth Vader could have used those exact same words to scold Luke or to antagonize him or to chastise him.
Instead, he validates him. Luke has already sensed a strong connection to Darth Vader, now his worst fears are confirmed. James Earl Jones delivers the line gently, not as a villain, but as a parent to a child.
And that’s far more interesting.
How does that look in a “talking head” video?
Perhaps, the CEO wants employees to embrace a platform, like a brand new employee intranet.
Throughout the video the CEO might praise employees or assure them or entertain them.
Comms pros can write a script with the most persuasive arguments in mind, but whoever is delivering that script should think about which tactic will help land each line most effectively.
With a line like, “This is going to completely change how we work,” the CEO on-camera could threaten (bad idea), educate (good idea) or rally (great idea).
When non-actors step in front of the camera, they often tense up and start sounding robotic.
Tactics bring humanity, intention, and variety back into a performance.
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