How To Look Like An Expert On Video

When you're presenting to a camera you know where to look, at the lens, but where do you look with a smartphone?

In the TV world, it's called looking straight down the barrel, that's how you connect with an audience

Have you ever presented a video using your smartphone? You press RECORD. You start speaking and a few seconds later you have a sudden realisation that you don’t know where the lens of the camera is.

You realise that you are looking at the selfie image. You keep recording and your brow furrows slightly. Then your eyeballs start to visibly dart around and you think to yourself, ‘you know, I’ve never stopped to consider where the camera is on a smartphone when I’m using the selfie mode.’

Now translate that scenario into real life. A face to face interaction. Shifty eyes are not a great way to build relationships. You need to learn to locate and lock. Locate where your camera is on your smartphone. Just Google ‘where are the camera lenses on (INSERT PHONE MODEL)’. Once you have identified the location, then mark it on your phone. I use a small wedge of bright tape that is shaped like an arrowhead. It points to the match head size hole that is my camera lens. When I start recording I can locate it easily and then I lock onto it, and stay on it.

That's the first step to looking like an expert on video.