Tutorial #11: Where to Look When Using Your iPhone or iPad for a Smartphone Selfie Video

Tutorial #11 By Gerard Braud —

Learning to properly shoot smartphone videos as part of your crisis communications and media relations strategy is a skill every corporate spokesperson, Public Information Officer (PIO), or public relations professional should practice and perfect. You will want to also include training for your emergency manager who heads your emergency operations center. It is crucial to practice where to look and how to hold your device in order to create a professional looking video. This can be extremely difficult during your crisis, and should be practiced on a clear sunny day when you are not under the pressure of a natural disaster, hurricane, or other crisis event.

If you are recording yourself, your eyes are drawn to the screen, because you see yourself. But to produce a great web video or CNN iReport, you have to avoid looking at yourself on the screen and instead, look at the camera.

This is one of the most unnatural experiences you will ever have. The camera is so small… barely a dot on the side of the device. It is so much easier to look at a big video camera lens. With a big lens, you can usually see your reflection. Not so with that little dot of a lens on your iPhone, iPad or computer.

So here is what you must do — you must take out your smart device of choice, then shoot a video of yourself and then watch it.

Take a look at this instructional video hosted on CNN iReports. It will help you understand where to look to create a great news video for iReports, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or any other outlet you may need to assist with your crisis communications needs.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program, Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.