A Bigger Voice

Online Video, One Year Later

Over a year ago, I decided it was time to learn about online video, not as a consumer but as a creator, to understand how I could make use of this medium. I bought a Flip camcorder because of its portability (it's about the size of a deck of cards) and ease of use, in creating video on the fly and in uploading to the Internet. Photo by ilamont

Since then, my Flip has been a steady companion, stashed away in my purse, ready for action at a moment's notice. Fourteen months later, I've created plenty of video. Here are my top tips for creating and using online video:

To become more natural in front of the camera, tape yourself often.  Forcing myself to use the Flip got me used to being in front of the camera--whether I was on vacation sitting at a restaurant, standing in line to get into a theater, or interviewing my 8-year old nephew about what life was like for him. The more you do it, the easier it gets. You may start out in front of the camera looking like you are under interrogation. If you stick with it, over time, you can expect to see a more relaxed and genuine version of yourself.

Aim for authentic, rather than picture perfect. Along the way, I've watched myself on video and learned that:

• Many days, my hair looks better under a hat
• I do a strange thing with my mouth before I start talking
• My eyes seem to pop out of their sockets when I'm trying to emphasize a point

All of this is to say that almost no one is ever satisfied with the way they look on camera. The good thing about online video is most people don't expect a polished presentation. In fact, oftentimes with online video, there is an assumption that the more "unfinished" it is, the more real and authentic it must be. Think Candid Camera instead of the Oscar awards. Photo by jenny downing.

It's not about you. It's about your message. Whether your message is meant to inform, entertain, persuade, reassure, or illuminate, the message is what's important. You may be the messenger, but the message should still get the spotlight. This will also help you be more natural, when you focus on what it is that you want to communicate, rather than saying it perfectly.

You can edit your way to a focused message. I suppose this is the same with other media--taped audio, written essays. But the point is to not be afraid to shoot more video than you need. And don't be attached to how a particular video will be used in the end. Photo by mobilechina2007

The more you use online video, the more uses you'll find for it. Here are just a few of the ways I've used video: 

• Video helps me record the mundane parts of my life and in the process, have a little fun with it. From showing the mad dash of my teenage sons to get in the car in the morning for school to what my family eats for breakfast. I especially enjoy the wry commentary that can emerge in looking at the routine. This first video is about having a hot breakfast to soothe a nasty cold.....

• Video allows me to share quirky moments, like walking into the Department of Motor Vehicles office with my son to get his learner's permit and finding out that the it could easily be mistaken for a 1950's Russian ministry, complete with plastic chairs in rows and numbers being called. This next video was taken at the Peoria, IL airport at 5:30am on a cold (minus 19 degrees outside) winter day. The only place open at that time in the morning was a stand that sold a microwavable bagel with sausage and cheese.

• Video enables me to introduce myself to others, who I might not otherwise meet in person, as in this clip to welcome new followers on Twitter. You could just as easily do a video to welcome visitors to your website:

• Video is a fabulous way to bring others into the room, when they can't be there. I've done this by taping a few moments with my son on his birthday to upload for grandparents to see. In this next video, I'm visiting a college friend in Chicago, and we are saying hi to a mutual college friend who lives in California.

• Video can capture the energy of an event. The following clip was taken after an event I facilitated with Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and more recently, Drive. We asked participants what they learned....

• And finally, with video, I can share the small moments of life, like this one after a snowstorm, taped on Christmas Eve. I was feeling particularly peaceful and grateful that day:

After a year of playing with online video, it's become another tool in my toolkit, to connect with others and share more of my world. It takes getting used to and it's not for everyone. But if you do take the time to learn it, you'll have a new, technicolor way to engage with others.  I hope you've been able to get to know me better through my online videos. 

Do You Know the Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon?

Most entrepreneurs know they need to be heads down, focused, in order to achieve their goals.  And along the way they see the value of having their ducks in a row---whether it's identifying who they are trying to attract or crafting a compelling message or developing a solid business model. 

The entrepreneur's secret weapon has nothing to do with planning or working hard and everything to do with being in the moment and playing. It's the art of improvisation.

A year ago, I interviewed Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom, for this blog. She's a wisdom entrepreneur intent on bringing the wisdom of improv to help people in their every day lives. Little did I know that I would come back to her book a year later, spurred on by the insight that improv could help me as an entrepreneur.

The story starts about a month ago. Burned out from my recent start-up, My Alumni Link, business was no longer fun. The joy had been squeezed out of this project, in direct correlation to the tightness of my grip on controlling the results.  "Must have X number of registrants for my webinar series."  "Series must be flawlessly executed, from reminder emails for participants to the VOIP technology used to listen to the webinars to visually enticing slides." And on and on it went.

With the encouragement of a friend, I signed up for an improv workshop, one that I had been pining over since I tried to take it three years ago, got sick, and had to cancel. Since then, my Gremlin had kept my creative muse shuttered, believing that there was never a good time to spend an evening and a day, just playing, with others. And especially not during the the weekend before the start of my webinar series. 

That weekend, I found my mojo again. I was like a traveler in the desert who found water, and had forgotten how water was essential to life. I laughed. I cried.  I made quirky sounds and moved my body in odd ways, with a quickness that felt foreign but exhilarating. I was asked to show and embrace intense emotion--joy, frustration, anger, compassion--as a way to expand my emotional range when improvising. It was ten times more than I usually express in my daily life. It felt good to clean off the emotional barnacles that had built up over months and leave with a fresh coat of paint. I tapped into my imagination, the things I couldn't see but which I had to feel my way through. I signed up for another class the following weekend.

More importantly, when I got back in the office, I was calm and refreshed.  I didn't have the need to do, but rather to enjoy what I was doing or not do it. I learned to say "Yes, and" to whatever was showing up.  Improv got me back in the flow of the Universe, instead of trying to control or resist it. Now, I'm the raft riding the river, instead of the rock in the middle, being worn down over time.

Why is this so important as an entrepreneur? Because entrepreneurship is a journey down the river. There will be ups and downs and all kinds of surprises. No matter how well you prepare, things will not go as planned. You think you've got it figured out and here comes another rapid, swirling around you. It threatens to take you into the undertow, unless you stay alert to conditions of the moment, and know how to pop out and get back into the flow of the river. Photo by Rob and Jules

There's a passage from Patricia's book, Improv Wisdom, that I've underlined and marked with a bright pink Post-It note. Here it is:

"A good improviser is someone who is awake, not entirely self-focused, and moved by a desire to do something useful and give something back and who acts upon this impulse."  

Let this be a guidepost for entrepreneurs everywhere. Give yourself the gift of improv and if not that, learn the lessons of improv with Patricia's book, Improv Wisdom.