How to Make a Video When Your Employees Don’t Want to Be on Camera

It was a full day of filming employees, one after the other, booked in 30 minute blocks.

I was nearing the end when the text came in.

"If you need any more, I guess I could come do one."

The text came from the most reluctant team member, the one who sped away every time the camera showed up in the couple of days of filming before interview day. The one who everyone could definitely be sure would say, "please don't make me do this."

The internal team member - the one who's not customer facing, who likes being behind the scenes.

I immediately took her up on her offer.

And this woman who had been nothing but reluctant, who apologized at every turn for how she looked on camera, who was so unsure of herself, gave me a particular kind of gold that nobody else did.

She said, "This job ... this is my dream job. This is the job I always wanted, I'm doing the job that I wanted to do at the place I wanted to do it since I was a little kid."

Priceless.

And it means something when it's not coming from the polished-up VP who looks like they were made for TV. It just feels so real, because it is.

So if you're sold on story but you're thinking, "We’d love to make a recruiting video. But our people aren’t going to want to do that.”

There are two surprising ways forward.

The first is this: if they don't want to participate, they don't have to. By far the highest performing films I've ever done for a company don't have anyone from the company in the film. (Read up on docu-monials: documentary-style testimonial films.)

But some films: recruiting films, training films, certain kinds of marketing films, company milestone films, succession plannning films - these might just neccessarily require interviewing people from the company.

If you don't read any further, you can just read this line - the line I use all the time on everyone, almost every shoot:

"I'm not asking you to be a spokesperson, and I don't want you to be. I want you to be you. You're great at that. It's what you do all the time."

That's the ask, and the second path forward: can you just be you?

In fact, any time I can record someone being themselves NOT in an interview session, I prefer that. It's so much better on screen. So much more believable.

But being uncomfortable being on camera is a reasonable, or at least common, concern.

You hired your people to build physical things or digital things, or to serve customers or run the business. Being on camera probably wasn’t in the job description, and when it shows up as an "other duties as assigned" it can rightly produce some discomfort.

The good news is that a documentary-style recruiting video (or training video, marketing video, or milestone film) doesn’t require employees to become presenters or professional storytellers.

You can prepare people who want to participate and you can tell a useful story without making everybody do an interview. Most of all, we can make a professional film while letting your employees sound like themselves.

Start with an invitation people can understand

Before asking someone to participate, explain what you’re making and why.

“We’re filming a recruiting video” tells them very little. They may imagine being asked to memorize a paragraph about the company’s commitment to excellence.

Try something more specific:

“We want people considering a job here to understand the work and meet the people they’d work alongside. You know this job. We’d love your help showing someone what to expect.”

Explain where the film will appear, what participating involves and approximately how much time you’re asking for.

Give people a comfortable way to decline. Someone who doesn’t want to speak on camera may still be happy to demonstrate a task or help identify a colleague who would enjoy participating.

Prepare the conversation, without writing their answers

There’s a useful middle ground between giving someone a script and giving them no idea what’s coming.

I like to share the topics and often the questions in advance. Ask them to think about their first week, something they’ve learned, a coworker who helped them or a project they’re proud of.

They don’t need to rehearse the wording. They just need a few memories within reach.

Questions might be less like: “Why do you like to work here?”

“And more like: "Who helped you when you were new, and what did they do?”

Other useful questions might be:

• What surprised you about this job?

• What was difficult at first, and how did you learn it?

• What do you wish you’d known before your first day?

• Can you show me something you’re proud of making or doing?

• What should somebody understand before applying?

Those answers can give a prospective employee something more useful than a list of company adjectives.

Give people something to do

A recruiting video doesn’t have to consist of employees sitting in a chair answering questions.

If I were filming a machinist, I’d want to see the work. What are they checking? What tells them something needs adjusting? What did an experienced coworker teach them to notice?

For a customer-service team, I might look for an appropriate training conversation or a real example they can discuss without revealing customer information.

For a construction company, it might be an experienced employee explaining a task to an apprentice.

People have knowledge they use every day. Letting them explain something familiar gives the conversation a place to begin. It also gives the viewer a clearer picture of the job.

We would plan those scenes around safety, privacy and the work that needs to get done.

Let the interview feel like a conversation

A film interview doesn’t have to happen perfectly in one attempt. I usually use two cameras so we can cut between cameras and I explain to people how that gives them license to just speak freely - editing by cutting between cameras will make the viewer unable to tell when and where we cut.

It always makes people feel more comfortable when they know they'll only be shown onscreen for a short time before we start laying over B-roll; this is another thing that makes the power of documentary so effective.

Make room for an honest picture of the job

A useful recruiting video helps someone decide whether the work fits them. That includes the demanding parts. If the shift starts early, the work requires patience or learning the equipment takes time, there may be value in explaining that. Then show the support, training and working relationships around it.

Ask, “What’s challenging about this job, and what helps you do it well?”

The answer might be more revealing than another polished statement about company culture. And I love story. Humans are a story-centered species, and we make sense of life through story. So I always like to ask questions that lead to stories.

I love working with companies who are brave enough to let people share their stories.

Your employees bring the knowledge. The filmmaker guides the story.

When hiring someone for video production, ask how they prepare and interview people who have never been filmed.

Watch complete films. Listen to the people in them. Do they sound comfortable? Do you learn something specific about the workplace?

At Fascination Films, documentary storytelling is how we approach these company stories. We look for people, work and details that help viewers understand why they'd want to work with or for that company.

Projects like this are amazing retention tools. They make employees feel valued and heard, and when they see and hear themselves in materials like these, it creates a virtuous loop.

If you’re planning a recruiting video or marketing video for your business, let’s talk about your team and what you want the film to accomplish.

There's a fascinating story behind every doors, and so many benefits when you tell yours.