Spent the weekend looking through a viewfinder as the videographer at a friend’s daughter’s wedding. One of the tips I got long ago about videography is to put the camera on the level you want things to be seen at. For kids, especially, this means shooting from ground level or near to it. Kids see from 3 feet or below, so video at 6 feet looking at the top of their heads is not compelling. It’s also fun to watch the different perspective as a video viewer.I also work with kids (as a parent, and in other venues). The response from small children is noticeably more positive when we squat to look them eye-to-eye.And guess what? The same is true about adult listeners. Not the squatting part. But getting on their level. If we’re seen as a speaker from out-of-town with no connection or a boss speaking from on high, we do not connect or elicit a response from equals. Messaging as an equal involves posture (open), position (not behind a desk or stuck on a platform), eye contact, wording (use their vocabulary), and tone, among other things.
Get on the audience’s level.
