Get Reel, Speak Real From the Heart

I research and view many sizzle reels and videos of speakers, it is the tedious part of the work I choose to do for The California Women’s Conference. It is important to me to bring speakers to the conference that will inspire, motivate, educate and bring a fun, positive, fresh spirit to the stage. Researching and finding speakers with relevant topics who can speak from the heart, and have a connection with the audience is not easy to find. I must admit, I often get bored hearing the same thing over and over and if the first 60 seconds does not spark a nerve

or an emotion within me, there is a good chance I will lose interest and discontinue watching their reel. So I guess you could say I have become a hard sell and expect greatness from the speakers who claim they are motivational speakers. I am on the hunt for something original and spoken from a knowing place… the heart.

Now with that being said, I have to mention, I too am walking up the speaker path and have been invited to speak on stages this year, speaking to living with passion and on purpose. The first thing my marketing guru says, “Rose Tafoya, you have to do a sizzle reel and download onto your new website.” I am thinking, easy enough. I have been watching plenty of reels and feel like a sizzle reel pro, I know what and what not to do. I reply out loud, “That will be easy, a two- to three-minute reel, no problem, I can do that.”

Here comes my “aha” moment… I was with my videographer and we chose to shoot out at the zoo to get some great natural back drop scenery. As I began to speak into the camera, my mind was distracted by the noises that surrounded us and I could not say what I wanted to say without rambling or stuttering my words. I was not connecting my language with my heart. What was being filmed was flat, boring and was not heartfelt. It was much manipulated and it just did not feel right. That’s when I realized, this could be what happens for many of the speakers who make a flat sizzle reel when they have a great message to share. What we were missing that morning at the zoo was a live audience and a natural way of being. I took a break, got centered, did some breathing, and wrote out what I wanted to say so it could sink into the brain. Now all I had to do was speak from the heart. Finally, I was able to relax and just speak to what I know and from the heart and that is when my true authentic self was captured and my sizzle reel product had true sizzle and was REAL.

The reason I felt a need to share this story was to shed some advice to speakers or anyone trying to share their message using a video camera to promote story and wisdom. My thoughts are, just be real and when you speak into the camera, just pretend it is your child, spouse, friend or parent, whoever it is that knows you for who you are and what you stand for. Let the words flow out of your brain and through your heart… that’s when your reel will be real.

For more by Rose Tafoya, click here.

For more on success and motivation, click here.