Read this before you put the boss in your video

If you want to use your internet presence to communicate anything to your firm’s customers, suppliers or stakeholders, there is no way around the use of video. Today, video streaming IS the internet. According to Cisco, the IT and networking giant, video already accounts for 73 percent of all internet traffic. This share, they predict, will rise to 82 percent as people watch more, and importantly, higher quality video content. This means that when current and future customers visit your website, they will not just want to read about your products and services, they will expect to see them unboxed, unwrapped, and in action.

But what if the thing you want to promote is not a product or a service, but a person? Firms increasingly push key figures in front of the camera when, for instance, they want to introduce a new boss at the helm of the business, when they have some great news to share or, sometimes, when they have done something they have to apologize for. The objective in each of these cases is to get viewers to warm to the firm by warming to the person. The idea is a good one in principle. Audiences find a message from a real employee more authentic than that from a professional actor. Also, the video producers have the possibility to control the environment and the dialogue, which would not be the case with a live TV news appearance. However, there are some essential warnings to heed before you put your boss in front of the camera.

Unboxed, unwrapped, and in action

The viewing figures achieved by some internet video stars is quite simply awesome. For instance, PewDiePie, a Swedish video-game commentator is the YouTube sensation with over 65 million subscribers to his channel.  This easily outpaced those of pop music legends Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran. And Twitch, the online community for video streamers recently notched up record figures for a viewing stream hosted by Lex Veldhuis. Authenticity clearly works. These appearances are loosely scripted and so appear almost amateurish when compared to a slick commercial. Yet, this is precisely the appeal. According to new book about the science of trust, it is the minor flaws that make these personalities likeable. Struggling over an unpronounceable word, uncontrollable laughter, or a prop that refuses to co-operate makes them human, just like you me.

It is also tempting to think that these unlikely online celebrities are so well-liked because they have interesting and novel things to say. However, according to many Facebook video publishers, as much as 85 percent of their 30-second views are without sound. This means that not only do internet audiences have a video habit, they are also prone to gathering their first impressions in silence. Scientists, too, have recognized that onlookers are remarkably skillful at picking up on what is known as ‘residual’ information about people after a very brief exposure. Just by glancing at someone’s working space, for example, most of us are already able to draw a remarkably accurate picture of that person’s major personality traits, notably, their conscientiousness, extraversion and openness.

Get off the pedestal

Finally, bosses, being the most senior people in the enterprise might be tempted to display themselves in powerful positions – the boardroom, the head of the table, or on a pedestal. Yet this too, the book reveals, might make them appear less trustworthy. Simple gestures like keeping the camera above eye level (and so ‘looking up’ to the viewer), smiling, being seen greeting and helping others, or mouthing a ‘thank you’ to a colleague, are all simple and silent tips that will encourage audiences to warm to the individual.

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