by Hernan Giraldo, Founder and CEO at iTOi
In 1983, Sony released the first consumer video camcorder and people have been shying away from video cameras ever since. There is something inherently intimidating about talking to a camera knowing that it is recording the way you look and everything you say. All your flaws and blunders are captured for the world to see. It’s called being “camera-shy” and while the rise of the selfie has put many faces in front of the camera lens, recording video is still pretty intimidating and certainly less used.
A lot of videos these days are still created by professionals using camera equipment and editing software. This only adds to the intimidation factor. For example, executives often speak in front of large audiences to give speeches and presentations. They get comfortable doing so because they know the subject matter well and they do it so often. But if you ask a CEO to sit down and deliver a speech into a camera that’s sitting in front of them, they might break out into a sweat or start shaking nervously. The material is the same but the audience has changed. Now, they’re delivering the speech to a camera lens. This often involves other people watching the recording session or they may be more aware of the fact that the permanence of a recording means it could come back to embarrass them someday.
iTOi has given lots of demos to people across many industries. A classic example of intimidation comes from a healthcare company CEO (name withheld to preserve anonymity) who had been trying to make videos using a video production company but was failing. The embarrassment of having people watching every detail and mistake made it impossible. Now, he’s a customer of iTOi and is able to successfully record videos from his office without anyone else knowing how long it took and how many takes he needed. That’s a luxury you don’t get with a production crew that, by the way, is charging you for all those mistakes.
iTOi was designed to make recording videos less intimidating and without someone else watching. It’s a mini video studio that can be placed on a desk or table so that a high quality video can be recorded using just an iPad and it includes a teleprompter so it’s easier to say what you want without fumbling to find the right words (another fear people have about video). It’s already used by business executives, realtors, bloggers, and educators and is an easy way to raise your comfort level in front of the camera.
For more information about iTOi, visit seeitoi.com and, as always, let us know what you think.
This post was originally posted on the iTOi Blog.
