Be it TikTok, SoundCloud, Instagram Live or YouTube, we’d put good money on the fact you’ve listened to and watched your favourite celebrity chef, singer or presenter give you a piece of home-made entertainment over the last few weeks.
In this new socially distanced world, we’ve seen TV show hosts like James Corden move from high tech studios to broadcasting from their own homes (or garage, in Corden’s case). A Live Aid-style concert was reimagined for streaming in Global Citizen’s One World Together At Home eight-hour benefit event. And radio hosts and podcasters are moving to at-home broadcasting, in some cases with little more than a laptop and a microphone.
Organisations can also take advantage of this trend when it comes to engaging with their employees, as Claudi Schneider, Sequel’s Senior Producer and Client Services Manager explains.
Claudi says: “Connecting with your people is vital at a time of crisis, whether you’re sharing pressing information or encouraging a sense of community. Videos and podcasts are an effective way to share open, relevant and authentic messages. And at a time when we might be feeling overwhelmed, they give you an opportunity to take a break while watching or listening.
“Getting a glimpse of senior leaders at home, and seeing colleagues as presenters, interviewees makes a human connection and puts people at ease. You’re putting the employee voice exactly where it should be: at the heart of your communications.”
Of course, producing a professionally shot video or bringing people together into a studio for a podcast recording is logistically tricky in the current climate. That’s why we’ve been supporting clients in producing their own self-shot footage, and using our now remote post-production facilities to create final films, animations and podcasts in the same way as before.
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“Self-shot footage has the benefit of being authentic, giving the speaker and subject a more human edge and hopefully making them more relatable,” explains Claudi. “In fact, almost half of marketing professionals think that content created by customers helps humanise their marketing. The same could surely be said of employees and employee communication?”
But Claudi warns: “It’s not difficult to shoot your own footage these days, especially with the most recent mobile capabilities, but there’s a careful balance to strike between authentic and amateur.”
“We spend a lot of time working with our clients and coaching them to produce the best footage possible. Even if it’s just running through a checklists of do’s and don’ts, finding the best location in your house to film in, or tech tips for recording podcasts.
“Something as simple as checking you’re framed properly so you’re not sitting in the dark with a plant behind your head when you hit record, or knowing how to reduce the chances of background noise, can make a big impact on the finished film or podcast.”
You don’t have to change your employees into professional YouTubers to get things right. A helping hand from an expert in the planning and post-production stages can go a long way to producing a professional film or podcast.
Claudi says: “For many it’s about getting the delivery right. We’re now using video calls to remotely direct interviews with key contributors to ensure they feel confident and their messages are delivered in a more natural and relaxed way.”
We have a whole host of options and ideas for those recording audio or capturing footage themselves to make things as easy as possible.
And in post-production everything still comes together in the same way as before – newly shot or existing footage can be used as cutaways to support interviews, graphics and animation can bring to life facts and processes on screen. Sequel’s production team, editors, animators, designers, strategists and digital teams are working together to deliver all our services.
“Don’t stop your communications because of the situation we find ourselves,” says Claudi. “We can use these new ways of working to create powerful content that will really connect your people, helping them to feel united and motivated – something that is more important now than ever!”
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