How to use Zoom for media interviews during the Coronavirus lockdown
As the world struggles with the coronavirus pandemic, many large and small businesses are working hard to stay afloat and keep their staff connected. From a public relations and communications perspective, staying in the conversation is more essential than ever before, which is why tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are getting so much use and exposure.
Home-working has also made the battle for the headlines even greater. With the media landscape so fragmented, competition for exposure has never been more fierce, especially with many outlets wanting new angles on the impact of the Covid-19 virus.
Before the lockdown, a trip to the TV-studio or a down-the-line interview from the office was seen by many in the c-suite and Government as an opportunity to present and control their own narrative, even if they were on the defensive.
Social distancing has ditched that, forcing many to turn to Zoom and other tools in order to comment or share their insight and stories.
The current standard for a media interview using Zoom or similar is a pixelated feed, with broken audio and a camera angle that gives us too much insight on the inside of far too many people’s nostrils. It really shouldn’t be like this.
Given the kit that we have at our disposal and the affordability of it, a good interview from home doesn’t require a media studio in the office. What’s needed is some basic knowledge on the set-up and understanding of what producers want, which is why I thought I’d share some tips on how to do a good interview from home.
Spoiler alert, SAY NO TO BOOKSHELVES and be FACE ON WITH THE CAMERA AND NOT FACE DOWN!!
GET TO KNOW THE TECHNOLOGY AND KIT
Working from home means that you’re already suffering from Zoom or Skype’itis. You’ll be having too many calls, too many people and, given how video-conferencing works, a slight delay that kills a fluid conversation from ever taking place.
What is usually a 20 minute round the table meeting on Zoom can take double that. With colleagues this is fine, but with the media, you need to make sure that you use the time that you have effectively and present yourself in as a professional manner as ever before.
In fact, not mastering how your kit works or presenting yourself in a bad way might highlight the limitations of your organisations own digital transformation. Remember, digital transformation is less about the digital and tech and more about the adoption and efficient usage of these tools, so make sure that you know how your kit works.
A producer will always want to take a good feed from you to make sure that their broadcast is as high a quality as possible.
While your laptop or tablet will have an inbuilt camera and microphone, these don’t often deliver the best quality video and audio. We won’t rule them out, but there are better options that will help you to present yourself, your client, senior management (or Minister) and organisation in as a better light as possible.
It is easy to build a mini-studio from home using your laptop.
Make sure that you have a good and fast internet connection at home. An ethernet connection will always provide better stability, but wifi is equally good today
Instead of your laptop’s inbuilt camera, connect a camera, such as a DSLR or mirrorless camera, or even a 4k webcam to your laptop and use this for your video capture. To make this work you generally need a capture device like an Elgato 4K camlink, which are rare to find during this lockdown. For a Mac, there is this hack that for me works with my Nikon DSLR. Similar hacks are available for PCs. Canon cameras are the exception in that they provide downloaded software to work with their devices
For high-quality audio use an external microphone and keep it around 10-15 centimetres from your mouth. A Rode VideoMic Pro works just fine and attaches to your DSLR camera saving you from having headphones in the shot during the interview. http://en.rode.com/blog/all/How-To-Get-Better-Sound-Video-Calls
All you need now is to test this with your communications team, to make sure that it is set-up correctly. Just remember, first set-up the video from your external device and then the microphone.
Of course, you shouldn’t just consider your laptop as your sole broadcast device. Smartphones and tablets like iPhones and iPads are used by journalists for remote broadcast. The one caveat of using these is that front-facing cameras are not as higher quality as they could be.
The BBC’s Marc Settle gives shares some great advice on mobile journalism and the kit needed.
PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING
Working from home still means work, and presentation is still everything. Your audience is going to judge how you come across, especially during a crisis. So make sure that you don’t think that a Friday look is ok.
Whatever your industry, look professional.
Learn from Professor Robert Kelly, whose interview on the BBC in 2017 went viral when his kids walked in. This is him talking about working from home during the lockdown in South Korea.
Equally, from Filipino journalist Doris Bigonia who had a literal cat-fight happening behind her.
Keep the background from where you’re going to do the interview simple and neutral. Zoom and others are now giving the functionality to change your background. These are great if you’re chatting with friends, but think twice if it’s the right approach for a down the line interview.
Make sure that there are no distractions, like bookshelves. Yes, they look great and make spokespeople looked learned, but how often do we spend analyse what’s on the shelves?
Unless you want a distraction from what you’re saying just avoid bookshelves as a background!
The BBC’s Senior Video Innovation Journalist Dougal Shaw gives some good tips in this tweet.
LOOK AT THE CAMERA
Now that you have your kit set-up and ready, make sure that the camera and lens is ergonomically level with your eyes. Look straight into the lens and not down at it and your audience. Remember how the cameras are in a broadcast studio, they are at head height for a reason!
At the same time, it is important to get the lighting right. Michael Hession has some good and simple tips for getting this right.
THE CAMERA IS ALWAYS ON
With your kit connected remember that if there’s power then the mic could be on, so be careful with what you say.
Get details of the show and time when you’ll be brought in to speak.
When it’s your time, keep to the point and keep it simple. Use language that relates to the audience of the news outlet. Keep it simple, be human and show some personality.
In times of a crisis, show some empathy.
Your comms team should have done their work and briefed you accordingly. Listen to them.
While social media has connected many, it has made everybody a critic, so remember this.
While we are in lockdown we will want to see spokespeople be more human, so use your opportunity during an interview to gain trust and understanding.
And please, no bookshelves!!
