In my daily early morning review of our current situation I came across an interview on USA Today between their reporter, Ken Alltucker and ex. CDC head, Dr. Tom Frieden.
It was a perfect example of what the average dull online experience is vs. a top-notch professional look.
First the reporter on the left. This is the normal run-of-the-mill look. A few things that make this so mediocre by comparison.
- He uses room light. No lighting on his face makes the image dull and unexciting.
- The bright light source from the window behind him puts his face into a shadow.
- The earphones aren’t too bad but they don’t add much to a professional look either.
- This is probably shot using the cheap laptop camera. Dull and uninspiring.
- He was dressed in business casual — not a bad look, but in comparison, it was unremarkable.
- Finally, the most common online sin: he was looking at the image on the screen instead of into the camera. He did this throughout the interview.
In contrast Dr. Frieden, was obviously used to appearing on camera in high-stakes situations so he wanted to be at his best. Here’s what he did in comparison:
- He had professional lighting (not necessarily that expensive) directly on his face.
- He had a subtle, neutral and non-distracting background.
- No earphones or earbuds.
- He used a much better camera. They are not that expensive and you can see the difference in the sharpness, contrast and color.
- He was in a jacket and tie. He looked professional.
- He looked into the camera the entire interview. He spoke directly to the audience.
Little things make a big difference online. Is it time to supercharge your game?
Shoot me an email at Tom@ready2speak.com — we can discuss.
