“I have been a fan of your work for more than 10 years. I have a collection of your books and audio programs and subscribe to your weekly newsletter. 

I love your “tell it like it is”, no-nonsense straight talk – it’s a very attractive quality. That is why I know you will appreciate me giving you some straight talk about your video presentations:

You are a talented presenter on stage. You know your material and your delivery is energetic and passionate. You have a great message and you deliver it with emotion and authority. However, these qualities do not come across in your video presentations. In my opinion your YouTube videos really let you down!

Yes, your videos are produced well. They are filmed professionally, with great lighting and framing. However, the problem is your use of a teleprompter (Autocue) when you are presenting on camera. This reduces your screen-presence and credibility in several ways:

• I can see your eyes moving from side to side as you read your script
• Your pauses seem unnatural and out of place
• Strange eye-contact intensity with the lens (folks we call this “bug-eyes”  which Bree is demonstrating in the image above – creepy, scary!)
• It makes me feel like you are “talking at me” rather than “connecting with me” through the lens

The only people who need to use an autocue are newsreaders and politicians – and only because they need to get their facts correct. Even then, research has shown that the ‘unusual intensity’ of their eye contact with the camera tends to diminish their credibility and impact¹.

It is almost impossible to make effective eye contact when you are reading from a script. It puts a psychological barrier between you and your viewer.  If you want your viewers to engage with you and connect with you – it will help greatly if you make warm, friendly eye contact with the camera lens.  However, when you are reading from a script, your glazed-over eye contact with the camera tells your audience that you are not really feeling your message. You are faking it!

If a picture says a thousand words, then a video presentation says ten thousand. You can convey so much more on video than you can with words and pictures alone.  With video presentations you give your audience the chance to experience and engage with the real you – your “best self”. Don’t blow it by using an Autocue.  Please speak to me; don’t “read at” me.  If I want to be “read at” I wouldn’t watch a video!

I have a list of recommendations to enhance your video presentations, but my #1 recommendation by far is to please stop using an Autocue! Learn your material, soften your eyes, and speak from the heart.”

^{1(Baggaley 1980, Psychology of the TV Image – Autocue and Eye Contact pg: 62)}