Video marketing is an excellent advertising tool to use in order to highlight your company’s products and services. You can show your company’s products during the video, introduce your team, or even interview prior clients or other individuals who know about your products and services.
For the latter inclusion in a marketing video, you want to take steps to build rapport with the people you interview. This is an important step for many reasons. Here are some reasons why you should build rapport with your interviewees both before and during the video shoot, and how to do so.
What Does It Mean to Build Rapport?
When you build rapport with someone, you create a positive connection with that individual and develop a true sense of understanding.
It’s a way to open up the lines of communication between two people and develop meaningful connections. When used in an interview or even just general conversation, building rapport goes above and beyond an answer and question session. A bond is formed, even if for just a short time, and this enables truth and discovery to occur during the conversation. You can often see if you’ve established rapport by looking for nonverbal cues.
Why Is Building Rapport Important?
There are quite a few reasons why building rapport is so important when you speak to another person.
Whether it’s chatting with a new friend or engaging in an interview, you want to build rapport with the other person so that it goes beyond surface-level conversation.
When you take the time and the steps to develop a deeper connection with someone, you’ll find that the conversation becomes more in-depth and has more layers to it. You want the person you’re speaking with to feel comfortable with you, and you should want to feel the same way, too. Building rapport is an essential part of communication skills.
Why Should You Do So for Video Marketing Purposes?
If you’re engaging in video marketing strategies for your company and interviewing clients and other individuals in the same room for the videos, it’s so important to ensure there is a good rapport between the interviewer and the interviewee.
By establishing a connection with the interviewee, you can provide a comfortable environment for the individual to speak about their experience with your company or brand. In addition, building rapport for video marketing purposes may make the individual open up to telling engaging stories, especially if they’re at ease speaking with you on video.
Also, not everyone is comfortable speaking in an interview format during a video shoot. By establishing this rapport with your interview guest, you can help them relax, and they’ll be more comfortable opening up to you.
Steps to Take to Build Rapport
Now that you know why it’s really important to build rapport with interviewees, you might be wondering how to do so as you want to pursue meaningful connections with your interviewees.
As far as video interview tips go, what steps can you take to establish this connection and allow your interview guest to open up and tell their stories?
Here are some steps you can take as you establish this one-on-one connection with your interview guest:
Speak with the Interviewee in Advance
As an initial step before the interview even begins, you want to take some time to speak with your interview guest. Let them know how the video session will go, introduce them to any other individuals taking part in the interview, either behind the scenes or as another interviewee, and chat with them casually to establish rapport and get to know them.
You can even develop rapport by asking casual personal life questions, if appropriate. You may want to show them some pre-recorded interviews if they have questions about how the interview will go.
Also, let them know not to panic should there be technical difficulties. All of this will help the individual to relax even before the interview begins.
Be Authentic
Many people have a sixth sense where they can feel if someone is not being genuine. If your interview guest has this vibe and feels that you’re not being authentic, it may make the interview uncomfortable. You want to be as authentic as possible when speaking with your interview guest. Doing so will help them to relax and the interview will likely be more successful as a result.
Practice Active Listening
It’s important to know what to say during the interview; however, it’s equally as important to listen well. Being a good listener means not just hearing the words coming from the interviewee but knowing how to respond. You don’t just want to listen to them say something and respond with a sentence or two. You want to take their words and expand on them. When you’re a good listener, this will show through body language, and the interviewee will be more likely to share throughout the marketing video session.
Maintain Good Eye Contact As Part of Your Body Language
Good eye contact is vital for rapport building. If someone is speaking to you during the video interview and you’re looking everywhere but at the speaker, you’re not connecting with them and certainly not building rapport along the way. Good eye contact shows that you are present, that you are focused, and that you are interested in what they’re saying. This is beneficial in personal and professional settings. You should also be mindful of facial expressions and other types of positive body language.
Use Empathy to Promote Meaningful Relationships
Empathy is the act of being aware and being sensitive to the feelings and experiences of another person. When you’re empathetic to the thoughts and feelings of another individual, you’re building rapport with them and establishing mutual respect. You’re letting them know that you understand their viewpoint and are living vicariously through their experiences. This will help to develop a mutual understanding.
Ask Important Questions
You want to make your guest feel comfortable and small talk is fine, but it’s also a good idea to keep important questions at the forefront of the conversation. Delve into the meaning behind the video and ask all of the questions on your list that you prepared before the interview. You should always have a set direction of where the video session will go and what you wish to accomplish while you interview the marketing video guest.
Show Interest to Establish Rapport and a Common Ground
As you go through your interview questions, make sure you express interest while doing so as this will establish meaningful relationships. Listen closely to the interviewee’s answers, maintain eye contact, and respond accordingly. When you show interest in what your guest is saying, they’ll appreciate the interest and be more comfortable sharing going forward.
Don’t Be Afraid to Deviate from the Question List
Although it’s a good idea to have a question list created in advance that you can refer to during the interview, don’t be afraid to deviate from the set list of questions. You may want to expand on your interviewee’s responses or think of additional topics to cover during the video. It’s good to have a plan but always fine to pivot when it’s necessary to do so. Asking additional questions in response to your interviewee’s comments can keep the conversation flowing smoothly and naturally, which helps to build rapport throughout the video.
These are some of the top ways to build rapport with the interviewee during the video session. Know that learning to build rapport is an ongoing process. When you have a relaxed conversation, the end result will be a video that is authentic, interesting, and informative.
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