Watching Yourself on Video
A powerful (yet painful) tool for improvement.
I know. It’s tough to watch yourself on video. But it remains, hands down, the best way to accelerate your executive presence as a speaker. When I began my academic career at NYU Stern in 2003, I’d lug a milk crate full of VHS tapes back and forth to class so my students could benefit from seeing their presentations and evaluating their progress. This gave way to jump drives (thank God!) and then quickly to online digital files.
Today, it’s never been easier to tecord and review your meetings, talks, or presentations.
Yet so many speakers don’t go back and watch their presentation videos. Or they watch just a tiny bit and cringe, then turn off the video. Today, I want to urge you to overcome any resistance that you may have. Watch yourself in order to build your skills. In fact, I have a four-step process for self-review, which can increase the effectiveness of this process.
My longtime mentor and friend Irv Schenkler at NYU Stern developed a useful framework for this process, adapted from Lynn Russell’s “Refine Your Delivery.” Irv let me include it in my book, Communicate with Mastery. I’m providing his process here with the hope that you will try it.
Step One: Watch the recording once to get all your “dislikes” out of the way. Many of us find it uncomfortable to watch ourselves on video. As a result, we become distracted by things we wish were otherwise. Take one pass of your video to get over the fact that your sweater doesn’t fit quite right, that you coughed right in the middle of your sentence, or that you wore the wrong outfit. Now that it’s out of the way, let’s move on to Step Two.
Step Two: Listen once with the video off to focus solely on your verbal and vocal communication. How well is your word choice, the order of your content, and your distribution of evidence serving your message? How clear is your enunciation? What is your volume like? What about your vocal variety? Is there a filler word you overuse, like “actually” or “literally?” Take notes about what you notice.
Step Three: Now watch the video once with the audio off to evaluate your non-verbal communication. How are your gestures? Are you planted, or swaying from side to side, or walking in a distracting way? What do your slides or props add or subtract from the presentation? How is your eye contact with the audience?
Step Four: Although this is often the hardest part for many of us, force yourself to identify everything and anything that you like about your presentation and your delivery of it. Consider the verbal, the vocal, and the visual. Perhaps your audience laughed, applauded, or asked questions in a place that signaled good resonance. How was your body language, your vocal quality, your ability to end on time or interact with your slides? Note the times your stance looked solid, or your inflection communicated gravitas. Jot down these positive elements. You may be able to double down on what you’re doing well and use those techniques more in the future.
A great tool for video feedback is GoReact, which I’ve used for years with my students and clients. GoReact takes any format of video input and places it into an easy-to-use platform for feedback. Once the video is loaded, I can begin to review the talk. When I feel compelled to offer a comment, like “Great opening story, work to be more concise,” I can start typing and the video will pause while I type. Once I hit enter, the video continues to play. If you wish to implement this tool more elaborately, you might encourage peers to give one another feedback using GoReact, even simulcasting, so audience members can type live feedback as the talk occurs.
When coaching, I often record the in-the-moment feedback that I offer a leader so that they don’t have to take heavy notes while we’re having a follow-up conversation. With AI summaries readily available, many of my clients can quickly convert this recording into an action plan for improvement.
It’s never been easier to record and review yourself on video.
I invite you to take the first step and commit to watching yourself on video, ideally a few times, and see for yourself the difference it can make. Drop a comment below and let me know what you gain.
Join us on May 31
Seats remain available for the fourth iteration of this soulful speaker series. Saturday, May 31, from 3 to 5 pm, Rugged Elegance Presents…celebrating the rise of Africa.
For several weeks, I’ve been preparing this inspiring group of founders who have launched remarkable firms and movements throughout Africa. Whether you attend in person or online, I truly hope you will experience this free event as it unfolds. Yes, the videos will be available afterwards, but there’s truly magic in seeing this live. Please register at this link to claim your place in our audience.
Talk of the week
Last year, Ken and I attended TED Next in Atlanta and heard scores of great talks. This talk by parenting expert Mathilde Ross poses a provocative question: Is parenting advice leading to more anxious kids? It caused me to pause and think about what inputs on parenting serve me, and which ones may not.
JD’s Recommendations: what I’m reading, hearing, and seeing:
Reading: This week, my client, Telle Whitney, released her first book, Rebooting Tech Culture. The advance copy I read was a compelling and wise look at the women (and, okay, men) who shaped and can reshape the culture of tech.
Hearing: Nic Rouleau’s interpretation of “Go the Distance” from Hercules is a showstopper indeed, from Broadway’s Leading Men Concert. Enjoy.
Viewing: This playful short video from the Atlantic amplifies the research I often share with my clients: How to turn anxiety into excitement.
Wishing you the “nothing but the best,” as my friend and colleague Ryan Harvey likes to say.
I really appreciate this article, a practical system I can use. Thanks so much !
I've often suggested clients record themselves speaking to groups and review the video because as you say, it's the fastest way to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your executive presence. It IS a painful process for many, so much so that I have to remind some of them several times!
I love the four step process you suggest. It's more systematic than my standard "film yourself and send it to me. We'll both review it and see what comes up" approach.