Hold Your Video Horses: Why NOT to Podcast on Camera

Woaaah there partner! You just started podcasting and you want to jump on the video horse right away? Well hold your video horses! Start on the audio pony; not the bucking video bronco.

First off, there is no doubt in my head that video garners more attention than audio-only. YouTube recently added labeling a playlist as a podcast (not within the RSS ecosystem). Many major news organizations began porting their shows over to the platform. According to reports, they found no significant gain of listenership on shows that were an audio-only video with just cover art. However, on shows with video production where you could see the hosts throughout the whole episode, they found much better performance.

Another study found Gen-Zer’s that listen to podcasts are avid listeners. They most often find their new shows through social media. There’s power in the personal recommendation through short form video.

Worth the Extra Work?

However, you have to ask yourselves: are those extra earballs worth the extra cost of money, time, energy, etc. of a larger production? When audio only can have just as much (if not more) long term influence? Let’s consider all that goes into a video interview with two people in the same room…

• Audio: You’ll need two microphones, cables, and a recorder of some sort, whether a field recorder or a USB interface and your laptop. Will a host on camera operate the recorder or do you need another person to operate it? After it’s recorded, who is going to sync the audio to the video? Are you going to add music or sound effects to help keep people’s attention?
• Video: At a minimum, you’d need a single 4K camera for both hosts and post production software to crop and focus on whoever is speaking. At the most, three cameras, one in a wide double getting the full set and the two hosts, then a camera focused on each host with a close up shot. Do you want it to look cinematic at all or flat, everything in focus from the front to the back? What about graphic overlays at all?
• Lighting: Assuming you’re doing this indoors, is there enough light from a window to light the hosts? Do you hosts look like themselves in the light or is does their skin color look off on camera? Let’s bring at least three battery powered LED lights and stands for a key, fill, and hair light for our hosts. Add another light to the list if we want a splash of color behind the hosts to help them stand out.
• Set Design: It doesn’t truly need to be a set but consider what is in the background and in the foreground. Is it distracting from the conversation or does it enhance it?
• Clothing & Make Up: Are you going to dress up or just wear what you’d be wearing as if you got pulled up off the street? With the lights, do you need matte make up so people’s faces don’t look so shiny?

Whether you do a full production with the whole shebang or just sit in front of a sunny widow with your phone, it will be effect how your audience perceives you. In a world of snap decisions of what to view and what not to, it all matters. I want you to be able to offer your best.

Nail the Audio

If you’re just getting into podcasting, nail the audio by its self. Become an expert at storytelling. Master the ability to make guests you’ve never talked to before feel comfortable. Know how to use your mic and record great audio every time. After you’ve ridden in circles in the audio pony ring for a while, then you can slip on your big boots and saddling up to the video bronco.

What do you think? Do you say neigh or yeehaw? Message to let me know your opinion or send me another cowboy pun.