Getting started with an interview show

Getting started with an interview show

So actually I’m writing this before releasing the first episode of ian show. I’m away from my editing setup, and it’s too late to be texting people asking them if they want to come on the show, but I figure reflecting on some of my learnings and observations will be helpful for me and maybe for you.

We say “like” more than we think

My grandpa was the one who pointed this out to me. When I’m on camera and nervous, I get terrified of dead air, to the point where I’m afraid to take a single pause. Cue the filler words. In some of the footage I watched I was speaking sentences that were nearly 50% the word “like,” and it makes the content come off as very amateurish.

I always used to have a rough time watching myself on camera. The issue for me was that it never aligned with how I saw myself in my own head. It’s something that I have since gotten over, but I’ve noticed that it is very common for people to feel this way. I think that if you can get over the initial awkwardness there are some great things you can learn that you may have never noticed.

I’ve been making a consious effort to use these filler words less. There’s nothing wrong with taking a second to think about the next thing you want to say or pausing for emphasis. It’s natural, and it makes the words you say more effective, both on camera and off.

Don’t discount the effect of decent audio quality

Good audio can make or break an experience, but the average person rarely talks about it. Sometimes you can’t get into a movie at your friend’s house like you can in an IMAX theater. Makes sense, but it isn’t the size of the screen, it’s the audio quality. That immersive surround sound can just boost your enjoyment without you being able to point to that being the reason why.

Similarly, you’ll have a much better party if you get a big speaker with some bass than if you try to blast the tunes off your phone or some random speaker you got for free.

All this to say that sound really matters, but most people only notice the sound when it’s bad. I used to use the on-camera mic on my DSLR when shooting video and I wondered why it seemed so amateurish. Then I got some mics and put them close to peoples’ mouths and I saw the quality increase drastically. Of course, the best mics might not be in your price range, but there are always options for getting a decent mic closer to the thing you actually want to hear and cutting out some of the background noise and echo. Seriously, it makes a difference.

Don’t overthink it. Have fun and ship it

Though I may be stating the obvious, there are a lot of decisions you have to make before you arrive at a finished product, decisions you probably didn’t think about until you got to them.

Most days that I end up filming myself, I put very little thought into the way that I look until like 5 minutes before I actually start the shoot. I know what you’re saying: “Ian we noticed. You look like you rolled out of bed and hit record.” Okay so that may not be far from the truth. I am an amateur afterall. But in the 5 minutes after I realize, “this look will not work at all,” I could spend so much time thinking about what is the best way to dress or the best way to arrange my hair. Odds are high, though, that it won’t even matter. That’s not what’s important. My show is not a fashion show, not yet at least.

This is all to say that these micro-decisions like what to wear, how many plants to put in the background, or how many minutes of one topic are too many to include in the final cut are all really not that important in the long run. Yes, there are answers to these questions that can improve the final product to a degree, but we’re talking long term here. Sometimes you don’t know the right decision until you make the mistake once, and it’s not worth your time and energy to worry and wonder about these things and it’s better to just send it on a choice. Not only is that more fun, but it’ll also allow you to learn faster. And that’s a win.

Conclusion

As much as we want to think that we can pick something up and be great at it immediately, it’s so unlikely for that to happen that we ought to create with the knowledge that what we produce might totally suck and that that is fine.

So whatever you’re working on, I encourage you to be decisive but also reflective. You can learn a lot from watching yourself in action and taking inspiration from the world around you.

Anyways, I hope this post gives you some more context for what’s going on behind the scenes of ian show. If the show is out and you haven’t watched any of it yet, you really should give it a try. Thanks and hope you enjoy.