“Just one more time, ok?’ said the director trying to get his subject to say with conviction the words printed on the cue card. But something snapped inside the young executive…
“You’ve said that twenty times now! I can’t do it anymore!”
Getting your staff (or even your CEO) to say what you want them to say in the way you want them to say it on camera can be tiring, taxing and ultimately useless.
Unless they’re also a talented actor it’s never going to sound as if they mean it, which means your message is never going to fly
Film is an intimate medium – even in a “standard” corporate talking head interview you can see the whites of someone’s eyes and hear their tone of voice – if their heart has disconnected from their mouth you can tell. And if they’re genuinely speaking from the heart there is nothing more engaging or powerful. One Brand Manager was genuinely moved to see how beautifully his colleagues had spontaneously put the company’s mission statement into their own words.
We’ve interviewed hundreds of people from all kinds of organisations helping each person to communicate with passion in their own authentic voice and this is some of what we’ve discovered…
1. Casting
Choose wisely! Forget about the politics of who’s been there the longest, who is the most senior, demographic quotas – who in your organization lives and breathes this message? Who are your natural ambassadors?
2. Passion is infectious
Once you’ve released that you’ll hear thoughts and insights way beyond what you could have scripted.
3. Preparation
If possible – don’t! By all means brief your interviewees but don’t let them take notes into the filming sessions – they’ll only look down. Key facts are better shown in graphics on screen anyway (which also makes them updateable) so that takes the pressure off remembering them.
4. Let them be themselves
One of best corporate interviews for a recruitment film was with a staff member who confessed to being horribly hungover and hadn’t washed her hair. To be honest she didn’t look her best but she spoke with such passion about her role that no-one watching notices.
5. Hold lightly to the message
If you try to control the message in the interview not only will you stifle the passion, but you may miss some extraordinary moments that bubble up once the interview is underway. It’s possible some of your staff are already way beyond your understanding of the message and might have some amazing insights.
