Best practices when recording speeches professionally

By Erick Giovanni

Speeches are a wonderful communication practice that we as humans have partaken in for centuries. Having one professionally video recorded requires multiple aspects to be kept top of mind.

Number one, you need to have at least two cameras with two distinct angles. The two staples that you need are a wide angle (24-35mm focal length) and a tight angle (70-200mm focal length). These two staples give you the flexibility that you need to make sure you always have the angle you need, as well as a clean edit. You can employ the use of more cameras, perhaps an extreme closeup for demonstrations, or a camera dedicated to getting reaction shots from the crowd. Having these two additional angles will elevate the production value of your video project.

Number two, Audio is arguably a higher priority than video. In a number of research studies, it was found that audiences would scroll past a video quicker if the audio was bad, even if the video was immaculate. Having a few different sources of audio, with a direct feed from the speakers, as well as a wireless backup, ensures that you will always have a professional level audio feed for your video project.

Number three, failure to prepare is preparing for failure. Do you have power flowing to the cameras? Do you have enough batteries? Do you have enough storage to accommodate the entire program? Are your cameras and accessories in working order? Speeches are considered live events, and any number of things can go wrong, and it’s your producer’s responsibility to make sure that they are prepared for any issue to arise.

There are a number of other factors to consider, and we here at Richie Media have the experience to address them all. Reach out for more questions!