10 Ways To Improve Your Webcam Interviews and Broadcasts
For Interviewers and Those Being Interviewed
In this article I discuss the many ways to improve the webcam interview process for both interviewers and those who are being interviewed. In truth, ultimately who benefits are those watching the actual broadcast – the audience. To that end, if you are being interviewed just once in a while, you may only want to do a few critical things to help ensure you sound good. On the other hand, if you are interviewed on a regular basis or you plan to have your own web show and interview others (or simply broadcast to your audience), then consider implementing most or everything I have listed in this article. And if you want to go pro, do everything I suggest and take a look at my full production list at the end of this blog.
Wondering what I look like and how I sound in actual broadcast? Click here to watch a live stream I did over the summer of 2020 about President Trump.
(ESSENTIALS) If You Are Going To Be Interviewed
1) Restart your computer prior to the interview to clear your RAM / memory and launch ONLY the programs you need for the interview (e.g., SKYPE). This helps to ensure there is enough memory to handle the video and audio feed.
2) Connect your computer to the router via an Ethernet cable and ensure Wi-Fi is turned off to create a better signal strength. If you cannot do this, get as close to the Wi-Fi router as possible.
3) Use a USB headset or ear buds with a microphone to ensure best audio quality. Using the computer microphone and speakers will create a hallow and echo sounding voice for the audience and therefore be difficult to understand.
4) Put your camera at eye level and be sure to turn off any bright lights behind you or close any curtains if there is a bright window behind you. This ensures the auto exposure on the web camera does not expose for the bright light behind you, instead of exposing your face.
These are the most critical things to do to help ensure the audience can see and hear you without image freezing and audio distortion / echo.
The 3 Web Camera Interview Broadcast Categories
When thinking about broadcasting your image and voice to the world, whether as an interviewer or interviewee, the three main elements are: 1) everything surrounding the computer hardware, software and Internet connection and the resultant broadcast capability of these three combined, 2) the audio quality, and 3) the visual quality. If the computer hardware, software and Internet connection are not good enough, there will be sound and/or image freezes or distortions. Poor audio quality makes it difficult for the audience to hear while poor image quality makes it difficult to see. Since a web video interview is simply a “talking head” without much “visual information,” the most important thing you can focus on is audio quality. The actual information / story being discussed is what the audience is most interested in (e.g., what you have to say). Therefore, make audio quality your first priority (which also means streaming quality so that there are not freezes and interruptions in the broadcast).
GO TO MY BLOG AND READ ALL 10 TIPS!
~ Larry Cook
P.S. If you are a medical freedom activist and want help or guidance to set up your own live streaming studio, I will be happy to talk with you on the phone at no charge. Simply email me and give me as much detail as possible and I’ll be happy to chat with you and give you my best advice!
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