Technical aspects for video

Basic lighting and shadow avoidance

In the audiovisual environment, light is not just aesthetics, it is information. Poor lighting can sabotage the credibility of the brightest message.

If the speaker's face is dim, pixelated or covered by harsh shadows, much of the facial nonverbal communication is lost, generating unconscious distrust in the viewer.

The most common mistake is backlighting: standing in front of a bright window, which turns the person into a dark silhouette.

The ideal setting looks for soft, frontal lighting that "cleans" the face.

No film equipment is necessary; simply stand in front of a natural light source (a window) or use a lamp placed behind the camera, slightly above the eye line. This eliminates "eye shadow" and brings out the expression.

The audience needs to see the communicator's eyes and mouth clearly to process the empathy and intent of the message.

The critical importance of audio over image

There is an unwritten rule in video production: the viewer will tolerate a mediocre image, but will never forgive bad audio.

If the video looks a little fuzzy, the brain can compensate; but if the sound is tinny, echoey, clipped, or saturated with ambient noise, the experience becomes physically annoying and causes immediate abandonment.

The built-in microphone in most computers or cell phones is often of poor quality and picks up too much room noise.

To professionalize virtual public speaking, it is imperative to bring the sound capture source closer to the mouth (using headphones with a mic) or invest in an external USB microphone.

In addition, the acoustic environment should be controlled: close windows, avoid empty rooms with a lot of echo and mute notifications.

A message that is heard clearly and warmly has twice the persuasive