This is always a sticky situation. The company is a thriving start-up. At the helm is the entrepreneur who wears many hats and is the driving force behind the company’s success. Now its time to ramp up the marketing and add video to the website. Should the company use a professional spokesperson or the talented founder?
Well, that depends. The talented founder is probably talented in many ways. Most successful entrepreneurs are. They have to be. But that talent may not extend to on-camera work. The question of “Owner Versus Professional Spokesperson” however goes beyond the simple issue of on-screen talent.
We’ve seen many owners or senior executives who had the ability to be the front man or woman. This can work because it provides a sense of authenticity and customer connection that you don’t always get with a spokesperson.
With a small company, heavily identified with the owner, this may be useful. For example, in the case of a service firm providing support to the local community, having the owner present may help to forge better connections with the community.
On the other hand, if your company is small but growing, having a professional spokesperson can add a bit of depth to the company.
While many owners are “okay” on screen, “okay” doesn’t really cut it. A stilted performance, or worse, can work against the very message of competency and professionalism you are trying to instill with a video.
A “bad” performance doesn’t have to be glaringly bad to miss the mark. There are subtleties that a good performance drives home. These are the intangibles that the camera captures.
We once did a very expensive shoot for a client with the President and founder of the company. He was a sales guy; very personable and outgoing. On camera he was terrible. Stiff. The shoot was a bust. We had to tell the client not to use the video.
There are ways to shoot an owner or senior executive that makes their performance natural and comfortable. These can be used in presentation videos or other projects where the performance is edited along with graphics, images, and background music.
For example, an owner might do a product demonstration video. This provides the authenticity of having the founder in the video, but the format (edited with images) can soften the presentation and have a greater chance of success.
One other consideration is cost. Dragging the owner into the studio every time an update is needed can get expensive and time consuming. Studio expenses are usually higher. If the video is going to be updated with some frequency, use an actor you will save money.
As a general rule, our advice is to use a professional spokesperson. The end result is almost always better. A talented performer can deliver the desired performance regardless of the message and style.
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