The majority of expert videos are not as engaging as they should be. Why?

  1. People don’t want to be lectured
  2. Experts sound scripted
  3. Experts have a hard time showing their confidence on camera
  4. Some experts suffer from impostor syndrome
  5. Their message is too complex
  6. Their message falls flat or doesn’t resonate with their viewers
  7. Their message gets to their viewer at the wrong time
  8. Their message gets to their viewers in the wrong context

So, how can you produce attractive expert videos that move the needle in the right direction?

Here are a few tips:

Before hitting the record button

#1 Don’t script the expert you are interviewing

There are two things there are paramount for an expert to engage the viewer:

  1. Instill confidence
  2. Instill excitement

When your expert talks off a script, none of these two things will happen. –Unless your expert is an expert at acting or hosting TV shows.

If she is a master in her field, give her an outline, then let her speak freely. Speaking freely about her field and passions will make her feel more confident. The more energy and excitement she articulates, the longer your viewers will stick around.

#2 Set the mood to cater to the viewer’s context, not the production set

Most experts walk into a video interview feeling like they need to match the tone of the production set.

But for the final video to be engaging, their tone of voice should cater to the viewer’s environment and point of view.

Have a conversation with your expert. Let her understand and visualize who is going to watch the videos you are producing and what’s their context.

During your interview

#3 Ask the expert some personal background questions and make her feel at home

If the person you are interviewing is a real expert, she is passionate about her field and raves about her mission. Ask her how she got started. What moves her? What kicks her out of her bed every morning? It’s amazing what you can bring to light when you ask the most basic and heartfelt questions at the right time.

#4 Ask basic questions

We produce expert videos to expand awareness around their area of expertise to an audience that is not familiar with it. In most cases, viewers that tend to consume this content are not experts in the subject matter.

For that reason, when I conduct expert interviews, I tend to ask questions from a beginner’s mind perspective.

It’s crucial for me, as the interviewer, to not try to act as an expert, or use too much jargon in my questions. That would most likely generate answers that will give the cue to my general audience that it’s time to tune out.

On the other side, if you ask basic questions, the answers will be relatable, and a higher number of viewers will stick around.

#5 Ask stupid questions

It’s easy to get lost in notes and research and try to produce a big pile of jargon to fit the industry’s expectations.

Asking fundamental relatable real-life questions can help you retain the engagement that you will lose otherwise.

Ask the expert questions like:

  1. What is [field of expertise]?
  2. Why is [field of expertise] relevant?
  3. How does this information apply to your viewers’ life?
  4. If you could give one piece of advice to somebody that is in [blank] condition and is considering [blank], what would you tell them?

#6 Ask more specific questions but always look for simpler answers

An expert who is passionate about her trade could end up inadvertently using jargon, forgetting to gear her statements towards the audience for that specific video. Your job as the interviewer is to find ways to translate those statements. Let her finish and try to understand what she means. Then use your understanding to formulate a new question, geared towards getting a more straightforward answer.

#7 Ask for the latest news and looking for jaw-dropping statements

Experts are always up to date with the most recent researches and discoveries. The facts that they learn daily are great opportunities to get soundbites with jaw-dropping problem statements.

Ask questions like:

  1. What’s the most surprising thing you discovered lately?
  2. What is the most unexpected fact few people know?
  3. Or what is the main misconception about [field of expertise]?

#8 Ask for relatable examples

Ask the expert not only to describe but also to teach her audience how to interpret her information.

Ask questions like:

  1. You said [fill in the blanks here]
  2. Why should I care?
  3. How does this apply to me? (as the audience)

When editing

#9 Start with a staggering fact

The jaw-dropping statements we mentioned before? Look for them and pick the one with the best delivery. Remember that your viewers are scrolling, navigating, in an active state and will only grant you a few seconds before deciding if you are worth their time. Using a staggering fact at the beginning of your video will help you hook them up, raising the chances of them sticking around.

#10 Leave out anything that is there just for your interest

Viewers are choosing to give you their time. It takes one swipe to scroll down, one notification to tune out. Skip the intro logos and the long lower thirds. Show your viewers that you care about their time. If you offer real value, they will want to find out more about you, read about your company, and get in touch.

#11 Break down your content

Give more punch to your content while keeping it more relevant by breaking it down into smaller, easy-to-digest chunks.

As a rule of thumb, each video you put out should have one concept, one idea, one main thing for your viewers to learn, keep, act on. In an expert interview, it’s reasonable to cover many aspects of a topic. Every one of these angles represents a chance to resonate with different audiences, at different times, or in different contexts.

Breaking your content down will give you an opportunity to:

  1. Create quicker, easy-to-understand videos
  2. Leverage the power of Micro-Moments
  3. Deliver your videos more effectively to a variety of specific audiences
  4. Increase the number of keywords and hashtags you will use to attract new audiences
  5. Make each video more easily shareable because of its specificity

And you? How do you produce industry content videos for your organization?