So we know what we're trying to accomplish. We know what our messages are, we have a cheat sheet in a moment, I'm going to ask you to video record yourself so we can start seeing what we have to work with. But first, let's go over some of the technology that you need to think about. And remember, we're not trying to create a TV pilot that NBC is going to put on in primetime, we just want something that's simple and professional looking. That isn't going to distract people too much. So let me tell you the basics, it's perfectly fine to use the webcam that's right in your iPad, or the $10 webcam that you bought at the grocery store and you put it into a laptop.

But there are a few things that are going to make your video much, much better for starters, whatever the camera is on a laptop, cell phone and iPad, elevate it so that the camera is at your eye level. It's going to look so much better because if you have it on an iPad And it's two feet lower, it's going to be shooting up your nose. And it's just that's not a flattering look for anybody, I don't care what you look like. So that's the first step, raise the camera so that it is at eye level. Now a simple technique I use is I just get a stack of books and I put my laptop or the computer screen on top of a stack of books. It's not hard folks, you don't have to go hire a technical crew.

The second big lesson too looking your best on simple videos is don't have a window behind you because there's more light coming in the window. And when that happens, the light is going to mess up the video Your face is going to be so dark people can't see it. You want more light in front of you, shining on your face. So if you normally have a window behind you just change the camera change your computer so that you're facing a wall. I would not spend a lot of time arranging things in a big fancy. What you're not trying to To make a commercial for crest, seen on the Super Bowl, okay, but you don't want light behind you, it really messes up you just want light in front of you.

Now you can just take a lampshade off a lamp in front of you, and that quite often can work well. You need people to see your face. That's the most important thing. Now the final thing that will really make your video much more professional is good audio. Perfect audio is often more important than the video quality. Because if people hear something and it's fuzzy and it's muffled, it's going to be a huge turnoff.

So what I would recommend, don't use the built in microphone on your iPad, your computer, your laptop, go to Radio Shack, go to Amazon comm and buy a $10 lav mic. This is a simple mic here and this plugs into my camera or the computer. This way you can put it right on shirt, a dress a lapel. And now your mouth is only a few inches away from the microphone so the audio is going to be much better. You won't have that echoey sound. And you won't have that tidiness.

So these are the basics to get really basic. You're not going to win Academy Awards with this. But these are the basics you need for how to get the technical aspects. Set up any kind of software on your iPad, your computer to record video is fun. Don't waste time on it. Any camera is fine.

Don't I repeat Do not waste time futzing around obsessing over the best camera. Worrying about the best camera for a simple talking head videos like saying to some what's the best email program if I want to send an email to someone. The best email program is whatever is closer to your on your cell phone. It's the program there. If you're on a computer, it might be Gmail. If you're on an iPad, it's whatever you have there.

Don't worry about the camera. These days, all cameras are so much better than even the most expensive cameras A few years ago, as long as your face is seen, and people can really see you and hear you, that's what's important. If you want to get a little fancier, for example, this is just a TV screen behind me in a video loop. Turning that off, it's just a blank TV screen. Now, you don't have to do that. But if you wanted to get a little bit now see how the lighting looks weird on me.

Now the lighting was adjusted for having that as a backdrop. So I'm not suggesting you do that. But if you have a decent size TV at your home or your office, that's a pretty easy thing to do. So these are the techniques you need to think about in setting up your studio.