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Many people are getting online and doing more video in these days of lockdown. Here’s some tips for avoiding embarrassing mistakes, and rising above the competition with Remote Working and image expert, Jo Baldwin Trott.
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Topics Covered:
1:15 – Why Jo became an expert in how you show up in the world
4:50 – Tip #1 – Be Authentic Because People See So Much More on Camera
7:51 – Tip #2 – Imagine Talking to Someone You Feel Very Comfortable Wtih
13:23 – Tip #3 – Simple Backgrounds
14:35 – Tip #4 – Vocal Do’s and Don’ts
27:05 – Tip #5 – Lighting and Soun
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LINKS
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How to show up on video…with Jo Baldwin Trott
Jo’s podcast show – The Amijo Show – how to cope with Lockdown
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJC-3j1JxKx3Khs0-cVXnongoHSpQx7dI
Jo Baldwin Trott’s website:
https://www.jobaldwintrott.com/
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Connect with Carla Rieger:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/carlarieger
Twitter – https://twitter.com/carlarieger
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlarieger/
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This is episode 51 – SPEAKING ON VIDEO – 5 Mistakes to Avoid (with Jo Baldwin Trott). Many leaders and authority entrepreneurs are getting online and doing video more and more these days. Here’s some tips for avoiding embarrassing mistakes, and rising above the competition. Hi, I’m Carla Rieger and you’re listening to the Mindstory Speaker podcast for influencers who speak live or online to build their business.
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Carla Rieger:
So today on the show we have Jo Baldwin Trott on the show. Jo mentors influential leaders in the business of showing up. She’s an international bestselling author of remote working, which we’re all doing these days. She’s based in London, UK. Her clients are global though. She’s a personal brand and image expert and energy healer. So tell me a little bit about what got you into this area and I know that you’ve been doing a lot to help people sort of pivot into this remote working situation. You’re an expert on that. So tell me what got you into the whole idea of how you show up.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Well, I had a bit of a, an epiphany when did those pivotal moments in my life when my twin girls were a few months old. I went to a color party and someone was putting all these drapes around me of these different colors and I was having this the worst time of it cause I was very tired and grumpy wanted to be anywhere else but looking into a mirror for half an hour. But actually it was one of the best things because I realized that I’d been hiding, wearing black a lot of the time. I’ve been hiding wearing the same old clothes and I’d actually spent my whole life living in a uniform so that I could hide and not be seen. So it really was a momentous time for me to suddenly flip that on its head. And I realized how unhappy I was, not only just with my life, but how I’d been living.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
So I just decided to be different and I decided to be seen and I just started to start wearing green and pink like I’m wearing today, which your viewers won’t see. But, um, just start wearing all these different colors so that I could be more visible and start showing up in my own life. Um, and you know, honestly, that led me to leave my marriage. I was desperately unhappy in my marriage at that point, even though I had led ones. And it led me to change my lifestyle and my location. And I really, I really reflected on, actually I was, I’d been a police officer, a teacher that worked in all different careers but actually spent so much of my time living in a uniform, showing up as average and never showing up as me because I always had been obsessed with color and loved color and love color vibration.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, but it was, um, yeah, it just, it gave me a whole new lease of life. I literally changed my life from that moment on. And I, the people that come to me are the kind of people that actually are ready for that kind of change in their life and say, my business evolved from that moment because I thought I was new. I’m going back to working someone else again. I’m going to work for myself because it’s the most fun. Although it’s challenging, it’s the most fun. And I just hope and believe that I can help other people to stop being average, to stop, you know, worrying about certain parts of their body, you know, they’re coloring and really show up in what they do and really believe in themselves as to come from within. And then exp, it’s expressed on, on the outside. But uh, so that’s, that’s what I’ve been doing for now.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
10 years. Yeah. And I think as you, you and I were discussing before we got on that there’s, everyone’s going into the online space now due to the Corona virus and the lockdown. And so it’s easy to get lost. And so having some uniqueness is really important. So what are some of your tips for, if you are going to get online, what are some things to think about before you go in that direction? Well, the first thing to really give yourself permission to be is different people are really conscious of what someone else is doing and what someone else is saying. And I think actually it’s an opportunity to really give yourself permission to be much more expressive. And rather than wearing the same old clothes or rather than wearing or being, you know, being the person that comes to a meeting or presents with a certain kind of ICOM and a certain kind of voice and really be authentic because the diet side is right now is that we miss nothing on camera.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
We are all like you and I are now, we’re both doing this on zoom. I’m about six inches away from my camera. You’re probably not too much different. So we are not missing a trick. You’re the people who are looking at you on camera are missing nothing. The downside for people that are faking it is that everything gets seen and sometimes recorded. But the the good side, the good point for people that are genuinely heartfelt, connected with the purpose, connected with ourselves, passionate about what they do, all you need to do is just believe in yourself and let that shine through the camera. And you might not have a new new top or a new kind of, you know, we’ve all got funny hair right now because I’ve been to the addresses. It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. But if you bring yourself to the, to the camera, you put something different on where color, I really recommend not wearing black, not wearing Navy.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
We don’t see these colors. They’re light absorbent, where kind of where patted like you are today. Carla during a lovely pattern top. I’m engaged with that. So not only am I engaged with the way you’re talking to me and you’re looking directly at me through the camera, I’m engaging with how you Dirk your backdrop. You know, that’s something else that I really talk a lot about it. It’s actually really think about what’s behind you. If you’ve got lots of noise, what I call visual noise, like some crazy bookcase, which I have right over here in the corner of my room, but you’re not seeing it. That’s, that’s staying in the corner of my room and it’s not featuring in my, in my, um, shot with you. But stuff like that really matters because it tells your audience that you’ve considered how you look. You’ve considered what they see.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
The more we see, the more confused we get. And actually the more we want to engage with what we see, so every single thing that someone can see through that, they are screen watching you right now. They’re trying to work it out. It’s like, what? What is that? What does that mean? Every time they’re doing that, they’re being distracted away from your message, your voice. So all of those things combined. Um, and also just being really yourself, you know, just, just really be yourself and let your voice come through. Um, and I think actually it’s a very amazing opportunity for the people that may speak quieter. Like I used to, I used to be quite quiet with my voice and it’s actually a time for you to really be more bolder and to be more expressive and to really, um, engage. And, uh, my final tip would just be vested.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Just forget it’s a camera. Just imagine that that person is in the room with you. If you’re doing a recording video, imagine you’re presenting it to your best friend who makes you laugh. Okay? So imagine whoever that is. So, so here’s Mike. All my friend Joe, I’ve got lots of friends called Joe. It’s a bit strange, but there we go. Um, my friend Joe Kali, she’s a writing mentor. She makes me giggle so much. So I do a lot my presenting to. So I talked to her down the camera. She’s not watching but because she’s funny, we make each other laugh. That makes me smile. That makes me relax and it makes me give the best content then cause it’s me being naturally engaging cause I’m imagining her at the end of it. Yeah, that’s really important. I was talking about that too. Imagine someone you really feel comfortable with that you’re talking to.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
And although everyone’s just listening to this on audio, I am going to take a screenshot right now, us and our backgrounds ready? One, two, three. So you can kind of see on the podcast artwork kind of what two possibilities in terms of background. I mean, yeah, I have a painting behind me. You can do zoom back drops. Um, there’s pros and cons to that, but you have a nice, simple, clear background. You’ve got your book behind you, which kind of matches the color here. So it’s good. And yeah, as you say, it’s simple and I’m focused right on you and I always put my computer right kind of at eye level rather than down. Right. So that your eyes aren’t looking down and sure you give that as a tip as well. Yeah, definitely. It’s really important. You know, I’ve had kind of, you know, people that are kind of looking up, looking down or, or, or the lighting is so important as well.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
So make sure you’ve got lights being thrown onto your face. Um, I’ve, I’ve was helping someone with, uh, creating some promotional videos of the day and they had this lamp but it was kind of set off to the side there. So actually created more shadow. She, you know, she put it straight in front of her face, literally underneath the camera. Lovely golden light, warm lighting. So yellow lighting is much more flattering and cold white lighting, which is very easy. You can get these ring lights and you can put them in on Amazon, you can grab them on Amazon, which is what I have. Yeah. If you just get any kind of lamp, um, you know, we’ve all got them. Take the, take the shade off and just have it right right in front of you. And then that natural warm light will just lift your face.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, can I just come back to a point about the zoom, the backdrops from zoom, because I really need to share this and get this off my chest cause I’m, I, you know, I think they can work in about, I don’t know, 2% of cases if someone is being really authentic and they’ve got a strong message, um, and they really are, it really matters for them to be really connecting with that audience, which probably arguably is everyone. The zoom backdrops have a huge amount of, um, deficiencies in them. Um, and I, I’ve had number of interviews for my TV show where the, you know, the head moves and the backdrop moves and, and it just distorts, unless you have a green screen. No Eva with a green screen. Oh really? So obviously I’m highly visual based on what my work is, is highly visual. And I, I don’t, I don’t miss anything visually.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
It’s just the way I’m wired. But I must admit I have, I’m yet to see, and I have done so many interviews, I’ve yet to see someone who’s nailed it. All I’m saying is that I think just consider that if you have something that isn’t quite, uh, isn’t quite working quite right and is kind of slightly shimmery or it’s kind of pixelating behind you. Even with the green screens, it just looks, folks, it’s really simple. It looks fake, it looks false and it’s distracting from disappears. That’s the person talk. Honestly, honestly, I’m going to, I was speaking to a coach through the day who’s post, whose whole purpose is authenticity and, and you know, I’ve, I’ve got it. I haven’t told her yet. I need to tell her, but it’s, it just, it just doesn’t fit with her brand message. You’ll, you’ll reoccurring and coaching people to be authentic, but you’re using a fake screen.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
There’s no need folks. Honestly, just keep it simple, boring, plain will, you know, sit back at the sofa. We just are not district. I spent the whole time talking to her, completely distracted by the backdrop. So that brings up a break that some people are in a house where all the kids are home and maybe the grandparents and it’s like trying to find a place where they can be quiet. They’re liking cupboards and hallways and their cars. So do you have any tips for people who don’t have a lot of options? Yeah, the first tip I’d say is get a really good, um, get a tripod as soon as you can because what that enables you to do is create stability in your camera or your device, wherever you’re using, somewhere in the home. So I literally have you on a tripod in my line.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, and so I, you know, I, I can create the stability and also the simplicity behind me, so everyone hopefully will be able to find some kind of quiet corner. I’ve got two children and a dog. I know what it’s like. Um, but some quiet corner with a plain backdrop with light coming onto their face. Um, and then they can just, just, you know, take the tripod or put it onto, I mean, before my tripod arrived, I used to build up books to, you know, and get my kind of camera or just right. You can, you can just make, do the beauty of it is that nobody can see. Um, but I just really recommend finding the quietest possible place that you can create that what I call a work zone and a zone where you can keep it sterile where there’s no noise, where there’s no distraction.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, and yes, it might be in a cupboard, but you know, it will help it really help you. And just remember you might be in a cupboard or you might be surrounded by chaos as long as what the people can see is simple and plain and there’s nothing going on with it. It really doesn’t matter what’s the other side of the camera. Okay. Yeah. And so what are some other tips you have about talking on camera? Some do’s and don’ts. So I really recommend, and again, I’ve seen a lot of this, um, so much video now online right now, obviously the talking too quickly. Um, and it’s very hard as an expert, as someone who’s passionate to slow your voice down. But it’s so important, and I’m overemphasizing this name, but if I spoke this slowly throughout this whole interview, you wouldn’t really notice as long as I’m consistent.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
But people make the mistake because we’re relaxed. I, you know, I’m on my sofa at home. It’s, it’s, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s so comfortable isn’t it? Being at home, working on so many levels, but it’s really important, especially when you’re delivering really, um, really kind of top end kind of content or educational content that you really take your time to speak slowly and give pauses. I mean, we know this is a speakers anyway, don’t we? You know, but I think it’s, there’s a trap you can fall into of being at home and just kind of just chatting. Like you’re chatting to your friends, please remind yourself people are trying to engage. I was watching a phenomenal show the other day, such, it was such an in the moment, it’s about those from fast future.com but they had a speaker on that who was, I think she was Spanish irrelevant. It has an accent, was lovely and fine, but she spoke so quickly, I just couldn’t catch up with the words and it just, I just lost her, you know, I wasn’t used to her accent for starters. And then secondly, uh, her voice was too quick. So I definitely say just bear that in mind.
Carla Rieger:
I sometimes talk too quickly so, I will actually put in a pause in when editing an audio, as long as it ends up sounding natural. I know you need to let something land with people before just going onto the next topic. What are your thoughts about that?
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah, I think even more so because the thing we’re not having, I mean, I believe energy is everything and you can feel my energy right now, even though we’re nowhere near together. But when you’re in the room, people are in the energy of what you’re delivering. But when you’re out as the room even more so, you have to give people more time to process because they’re not experiencing the moment physically. They’re just engaging. And also we are so bombarded with video, you know, we’re all watching more video than ever right now. So if you’re really trying to deliver something really key and really important, it can’t, it can’t ever be to kind of, um, because all you’re doing is considering your audience and that is never, that can, you can never do wrong with that. Right. You know, it’s only as soon as you’re considering them and you’re just giving time, then I think that’s really, that’s really important.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, and also just going back to distractions, I think, you know, as much as you can, try and eliminate the distractions of kids of dogs, you know, and I really rec, I wrote about this in my book, remote working. Yes. Really. Um, be extra communicative with your, working from home with the other people in your house and the dog too. So everyone needs to know where they need to be and when I’m doing a call, like I am with you now Carla, I’ve told the girls, the girls have got the dog. They’re out of the way. They know not to disturb me. They know no, try and be quiet. It’s very easy to forget you, you know, we know what we’re doing. But by telling you know the kids as much as possible and I’ve said, Oh look, I’ve got a call with Carla, she’s in America, you know, I really want this to be good and I’m really excited they, that’d be part, they become part of your kind of business if you like that.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
And they’re like the, the kind of the HR department and you know, chorus getting on with cooking her tea as well. Cause she said, why are you going to have to wait? Just be extra communitive with, with your household I think. And the other thing, don’t worry when things do go wrong, um, because, you know, I do so much live filming that and I do live filming normally when I’m out in the streets and stuff. Um, and, but the thing I really learnt with my TV training was actually when things go wrong, it can be the best thing that happens. Um, and just, just acknowledge it. Never apologize, ever, ever, ever apologize because it’s something that’s happened just because, and the minute you start saying, sorry, you’re taking yourself down a negative path. So it does, it sounds a bit odd, but in the moment it makes sense.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Just acknowledge it, um, make a comment about it and then move on. So, um, for example, the other day, my, my dog Dick out as a girl’s bedroom. She’s a cute little thing though. So she stole the show, but she came running scratched at the door. So lately I had to let her in. So I just made a point of, Oh and here’s my dog Nala. Okay, there you go. Just but so just acknowledge things that go wrong that binds you when you work and make the effort to really dress up and dress well whilst being respectful of your audience, but also respectful of you. Because ultimately, again, like I say, so many of us are on video, but actually we’re recording more than ever. So this is, this is content and if you make good content now you can use it as your marketing, as your social media, as your, you know, educational material later on.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
And you know, there’s no excuses for anyone here. I think everyone really has got to make a point of saying, well, just because I’m at home, I still need to make the effort of what I wear. Because what you’re sending is messages to your audience saying, but you know, I made the effort for each day. And the very easy way of doing that is also by, by wearing color as I mentioned. So wear something bright and engaging because we engage with color, we don’t engage with bland. And also it is worth considering your backdrop. So I’ve got a dog, I’ve got black sofa, I’m settled black leather sofa. If I was wearing something dark blue plain or all black, then you wouldn’t really, I’d be a floating head as I call it, you know when you go. But you just see the floating head and the colors of the clothes and the colors of the backdrop will blend in where we’re all being kind of a three, three inch by two inch right now.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
So, so make the most of that and really be expressive. And like I say, it’s a chance to be extra expressive. It’s a time to be unique and show up as you, and let’s talk about voice just because this is a podcast and and voices a big topic. So our voice and our emotions are held in our kind of core shakra, which is in our gut. Okay. And that’s where the, the voice starts from really. And then it progresses up through the body, comes into the throat and at the back. So if you’re doing some speaking and everyone should be doing the speakers, really, it’s do some vocal exercises, the start low and you gauge the lower part of your body and even look down and then use your stretch up your neck and use your voice as you get higher. And, and really you start using that whole resonance throughout your body because your body is as an instrument.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Your voice is an instrument. Um, and we can use different parts of our bodies to be more expressive. But a lot of people do talk from their throat a lot and it comes across very high. And unfortunately a lot of women do as well. Something I hear a lot on the speaker circuit as I love women, do just talk from the front of the throat. Um, so I really recommend just doing some just some up and down, you know, to get lower and higher and keep going up and down the scales. And don’t worry about being tuneful. It’s not about that. It’s just literally about re recognizing that when we, when we sign lower, we go more into our gut and then we sign higher. We start talking up from our, uh, cheek and our eyes. So just using all of that and letting your true voice come through.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Um, and I’ve been in my video, I just give this great example of a friend of mine is one of the leads is the leasing of iron maiden. And he gave me a great exercise of Haida value that your, your chest and your, your rib cage is actually like, like a Squeezebox or the instrument, a squeeze book, a, an accordion, and you can really use it to get more volume. And yeah, we’re only talking where you and I are talking, but actually when you use your body more as, as something that can, can create richness in your presentations, especially if you’re doing a like an hour presentation, if you’re just talking in your high voice all the time, but that whole time people will really switch off. Um, so, you know, it’s always about different voice, different tone, different volume and pausing and letting moments land. Um, it’s a really kind of helpful way to keep things interesting.
Carla Rieger:
Yeah. And when you edit your own stuff, you kind of see when your voice sounds nice to listen to and when it’s sort of like, Oh, and so I try to pay attention. If I’m stressed, I notice I talk more nasally, right? It gets up here and people don’t like that. So I have to feel the energy of my voice in my chest, which is kind of what you’re saying. And when I do, when I feel it down here, it’s nicer for me to listen to me. So that’s another,
Jo Baldwin Trott:
yeah. Yeah, definitely. And actually, you know, sadly this is just the fact that we actually find it easier to listen to lower voices for longer. Yeah. And it’s, it’s to do with our hair and it’s to do with the pitch. Um, the picture of literally cause voices of musical notes just like anything. Um, so we find it easier to listen to low voices for longer. Um, and unfortunately this is where some women really have a problem because they have a naturally high voice and if they’re not tuning back into that lower part and using the other parts, they’re going down and not going down into the chest, not being under the gut. The people will tune off more quickly. Um, and it’s, you know, it’s quite a challenge for some women to learn how to do that. I recommend a vocal coach, you know, just get a bit vocal coach training to really, and I’ve had singing coaching for my, cause I’m in a band just for a bit firmer, but that’s where I’ve had singing coaching. That really helps.
Carla Rieger:
So is there anything else you’d like to add in terms of how you show up in a remote work situation?
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Just use this time to, to be quite creative with your video and actually just give yourself permission to be original. There’s a lot of video of how to do video, but actually give, give yourself permission to think rash. You what, what would I love to do? Some video or know that you’re passionate about and you want to, you feel like you could communicate to the world cause everyone loves originality right now. Um, you can easily set up a YouTube channel and just Chuck some stuff on there and just do some videos. Something that you feel passionate about this within aligned with your brand that you’ll be proud of after this, this time. Um, but actually might end up taking you down a road, which is phenomenally exciting, innovative. Um, you know, I’m progressive with you, with your business and your speaking. So I’d say just think a bit outside the box and think, okay, just practice.
Jo Baldwin Trott:
You know, LinkedIn likes less than 10 minute videos. Create some video about what you do. Uh, and just think, okay, what, what, what, what would work within my brand, within my message, um, that I’m passionate about. Cause when we’re passionate about something, it comes across in how we speak. So, um, and, and just record it and have fun with it. Just don’t take it too seriously. Just have fun with it and just see where that takes you. And before you know it, you know, you might end up, you know, just creating some kind of TV show or some kind of content that gets, gets taken up and people are like, wow, that’s just amazing. Just do the basics when it comes to how to think about the same sign is always so key with video because pure sound is better. So try not to have any distraction on the side. You can always create a mini tent. Um, so put a blanket over your to dampen the sound. Lots of tricks you can do.
Carla Rieger:
Yeah. We used to live in this place near a hospital and they’re always the sirens. So we actually had this big walking closet and we went in there to do the podcast. Obviously not a video podcast. And yeah, had the blanket over the head
Jo Baldwin Trott:
pictures online of some, uh, some TV ads or radio presenters that literally have made like week rounds in their lounge just to have blankets and sheets and pillows just to, you know, cause they live somewhere a little noisy.
Carla Rieger:
Okay, good. And if people want to learn more about you, Joe, where should they go?
Jo Baldwin Trott:
Sure. So my website is [inaudible] dot com and I’ve got a YouTube channel [inaudible], which has got loads of videos because I’ve been running at a show called the immediate show. So these are all friends of mine, uh, people in my circle that are top of their game and they’ve been giving some inspiring stories and advice for people right now. So I’d love people to go on there and watch these videos and, uh, and, and just have, some of them are hysterically funny. The DIY haircut is hysterical. BBC presenter, I interviewed and he has a thing about toilet rolls and I won’t go there, but it’s very funny. But I’ll give Leah also have some great content there for, um, people that got some really good advice about mindfulness and wellbeing. So, um, so yeah, and obviously LinkedIn, anything business wise, just connect with me there. But, um, yeah, I’m thrilled to be on the show, especially on the day of my new release. But my books come out, second books come out today, which is really exciting. So that’s a fit purpose leadership six, if any would like to buy that and read my season name again. It’s good fit for purpose leadership. Uh, number six, fit for purpose. Leadership number six. And it’s a global twenty-five authors from around the world have submitted their best advice for leaders right now, which I’m really thrilled to be part of that project.
Carla Rieger:
Okay, great. Well, we’ll put links to all that in the show notes and thank you so much for being on the show today. Lots of really useful tips that people can implement right away, so I really appreciate it.
Jo Baldwin Trott: Oh, no pleasure, Carla. Thank you for having me on the joy.
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So that’s it for today…I hope that was helpful. Until next time, I’m Carla Rieger, thanks for listening.
