You should have received an email with a list of the exact questions for you to answer, including possibly some specific results to make sure that you mention in your answers.

If you haven’t received that list, or have any questions about any question in particular, please let our team know as soon as possible.

There are no right or wrong answers! You are just going to share the truth about your experience. We just want you to be yourself, and be honest and authentic, because that is what will inspire other people to want to try out these products or services.

While you don’t need to be fully scripted, or say things in an exact way, it can be very helpful to think ahead of time about what you want to say, and jot down a few bullet points of what you want to talk about, to make sure you don’t forget anything important.

The goal is that we want you to look comfortable and confident on camera, so just speak from your heart, and share your results or experience from your unique perspective.

What we’ve found that produces the best results is to have you answer the questions that we’ve provided you 1 at a time, each as a separate and complete thought. Don’t worry about recording one long, continuous video where you try to answer all the questions at one time. We’re actually looking for short, succinct and powerful sound bites, rather than any long drawn out answers or lengthy stories.

Feel free to stop between questions, and keep the camera recording while you take a quick peek at your notes, if you’ve made any. However, please DO NOT look at your notes while you’re answering the questions, or while you’re still talking.

Try to keep each of your answers in the 30-60 second range (no longer than 2 mins each).

Our Golden Rule of video: your answers should be long enough to say what you need to say, but short enough to keep your viewer’s attention.

Feel free to do a couple of takes of some of your answers, if you’re not sure that you nailed it, or said it the way you were hoping to say it, the first time. We’d rather have you repeat an answer in a way that’s more usable, than have you assume that since you got through it the first time, that means it’s good enough. Remember, this is all in service to the person who you’re recording the testimonial for.

IMPORTANT TIP: Always incorporate some of the question into your answer, so there is always context for what you are saying. Since the viewer won’t hear or see the questions being asked, you have to let them know what the question is, by incorporating it into your answer. Assume that the viewer doesn’t know what or who you’re talking about.

For example, if the question is “What do you love most about Geffner Productions?”

You could say something like this:

“What I love most about Geffner Productions is…”

OR

“Geffner Productions is an excellent video production company. What I love the most is how they’ve really helped me feel more comfortable and confident on camera.”

OR

“I’ve been working with Steve and Jaime at Geffner Productions for 6 months, and I can honestly say that they are the best at what they do. I love how they make video easy and doable for me.”

IMPORTANT TIP: Don’t refer to something you said earlier, as if we already heard it! Just assume that whatever you’re saying is the first and only time you’ve mentioned it, and the first and only time the viewer is hearing it!

For example, when you’re answering a question, please don’t say “as I mentioned earlier…” or “as I spoke about before…” or “as I said in a previous answer…”

Also, when you’re referring to proper names or people, don’t assume that we know exactly who or what you’re talking about, just because you said it one other time, a few questions ago. We would rather have you err on the side of saying the name of the product, or the company name, or the service provider’s name, more times than you normally might.

IMPORTANT TIP: Talk to the viewer (i.e. other potential customers) NOT to the product/service provider!

When you’re delivering your testimonial on camera, don’t talk TO the person you’re giving the testimonial about. Instead, you’re talking ABOUT the product or service provider, so other people feel like it’s speaking directly to THEM as the customer, and don’t feel like you’re having a private conversation with someone else! It will help the viewer stay more connected to you if you’re addressing them directly.

The biggest tip to make on-camera delivery easier is to focus on talking to one person. You’re not talking to a hundred, a thousand, or a million people. You’re only talking to 1 single viewer, who really needs to hear the words that you are saying. Think about the reason you’re doing this, and who you’re helping. Think about how you felt when you were looking for this solution, and how you feel now that you’ve been introduced to it.

If you’re feeling nervous, get back to the reason you’re doing this, and who you are helping. Remind yourself how you felt when you needed this help, or guidance, or the solution back then, and how you feel now that you have it. What has it done for you and how has it changed your life or business? There may be someone else out there who really needs to hear your words right now, so they can have the opportunity to change their life or business as well.

This is by far the quickest way to eliminate nerves instantly – take yourself out of the equation! Instead, come from a place of service, by thinking: how can my story help others, who may be in a similar situation to where I was before I started working with this company? Shifting the focus off of yourself, and putting others first will allow you to move past the fear and get this task done with less stress and more ease.

In order to connect most powerfully with the people who will be watching your testimonial, try to always look directly into the camera lens, and speak directly to the viewer, as if you’re looking into their eyes.

Again, imagine you are talking to one single person, who is on the other end of that camera lens – someone who really needs this product or service, because of how much it will help them, and transform their business or life, the exact same way it’s done for you.

Our best recommendation to make this as easy for you as possible, and to record in the highest-quality way, is to use your Smartphone (either your iPhone or Android phone).

We definitely recommend that you use a tripod to stabilize your phone.

Below are links to 2 different inexpensive phone tripods: One is more compact and sits on your desk, and the other one is more of a traditional tripod that can stand on the floor and extend. NOTE: Please make sure that the cradle on the tripod you order will fit your specific phone model and size.

It’s preferable (though not mandatory) that you use an external microphone plugged into your Smartphone, which will dramatically improve the sound quality of the videos you will be recording.

NOTE: This may be a good option for you if you’re a business owner, and you also plan on recording lots of other videos of yourself, since an external microphone will take the quality of all of your videos to the next level.

Below are links to 2 inexpensive, but very good quality lavalier microphones that can plug directly into your Smartphone with an adapter (which we’ll talk about next).

If you’re going to plug an external microphone into your Smartphone, you most likely will also need to get a dongle adapter to be able to plug that microphone into your phone. Please make sure that the one you order will work with your specific phone model, based on the connection port that your phone has, whether that is a lightning port (common on most iPhones), or a USB-C port (common on many Android phones, like the Samsung Galaxy).

Apple Lightning to 3.5mm adapter:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-lightning-to-3-5mm-headphone-adapter-white/5622278.p?skuId=5622278

Samsung USB-C to 3.5mm adapter:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-usb-type-c-to-3-5mm-headphone-jack-adapter-white/6364522.p?skuId=6364522

Google Pixel USB-C to 3.5mm adapter:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/google-usb-c-to-3-5mm-audio-adapter-white/6302897.p?skuId=6302897

If filming with your Smartphone, you can simply use the Camera app on your phone, placed in “video” mode.

Open the camera settings on your phone, and make sure that it’s set to 1080p and 30fps.

If filming with your Smartphone, please film horizontally (landscape mode) NOT vertically, as you may be used to.

Please frame yourself so that we see you from approximately waist up (or chest up).

One REALLY important thing to think about when you’re setting up your camera is properly framing your shot – meaning where are YOU, as the on-camera subject, positioned in the frame? Are you centered? Are you positioned slightly off to one side? And how close is your head to the top of the frame?

First, let’s talk about headroom – or how close your head is to the top of the frame. Ideally, you want there to be a little bit of headroom in your shot. If your head is too close, or even touching the top of the frame, you will look and feel boxed in and cut off. Conversely, if there is too much headroom, then you appear to just be a floating head in the middle, or at the bottom, of the frame.

The best way to control the amount of headroom you leave in the shot, and give a comfortable, pleasing “feel” to the video, is to use what’s known in the industry at the “rule of thirds”. The rule of thirds is a technique that basically divides the visible frame into 9 parts by imagining 2 equally spaced vertical lines, and 2 equally spaced horizontal lines (think of a tic-tac-toe board). The idea is that the most important elements of your shot (in this case, that would be your face/talking head) should be placed along these lines, or at the intersection of these lines.

We personally find that for most direct-to-camera talking-head videos, where there is just 1 subject on camera, we like to position the subject in the center of the frame left and right, and then position their head along the upper horizontal rule of thirds line.

Take a look at a properly framed shot using the rule of thirds, including the rule of thirds grid lines:

Our best recommendation, in order to record in the highest-quality way, is to use an external microphone plugged into your Smartphone

• Plug in the microphone using the correct dongle/adapter for your phone

• Clip the microphone onto your shirt, in the upper part of the chest area

• Hide the microphone wire inside / underneath your shirt, so we can’t see the wire in the shot

We want viewers to be able to see you clearly!

• The goal is to eliminate any harsh shadows on your face – we’re going for EVEN lighting

• Either place yourself in a well-lit space, or if you have windows that provide natural light in your room, position yourself so that the light from the windows is shining ON your face

• Don’t sit directly in front of a window, with your back to the window, as that will provide too much harsh backlight that won’t look good on camera

In general, choose a background that is nice to look at, inspiring, and not cluttered.

You don’t want your background to be distracting or take away from the important words you’re saying, so be aware of clutter, or items you may not want visible, or even having something like a plant coming out of the top of your head.

Below are some examples of some shots that are both appropriate to the subject matter, and inspiring to look at:

In general:

• Solid, rich colors look best on camera. Typically, deep shades of blue, purple, pink and green are usually safe choices for most people.

• Pick a color that looks good with your particular skin tone, hair color, or eye color, or that one color that everyone always compliments you on most whenever you wear it!

• Stay away from patterns like florals, stripes, plaids, and checkers. Some of them just don’t look good on camera at all, and they are just too distracting. But others can actually play tricks with the camera lens.

• Stay away from logos.

• Stay away from anything super bright (like bright, orangey-red), as it can be distracting and draw attention away from you.

• Stay away from anything very dull, as that may wash you out.

Here are some examples of colors that look great on-camera, and were appropriate for the background we were filming in:

Always try to present yourself in an inspiring way on camera. Think about what would be inspiring to the viewers of this video, based on what they are considering buying.

• Put on a nice shirt that isn’t wrinkled

• Women: Do your makeup & hair