We, at CETL, are always amazed by professors for the many things that you do. Be it the clarity of expression of ideas, or the inspiration that you provide for students outside of the major, or the ways that you help shape the life goals of so many students. On a very practical level, we are also amazed that you all get up in front of a crowd of students with such confidence. Considering the fact that a majority of Americans find public speaking to be such a major stressor, it’s impressive to see a group of people seemingly unphased by this! How do you do it!?!? Seriously – I can hardly speak a sentence in front of one person without some ums, ahs, and backtracking.
What we have also found, that is more understandable, is that this confidence can at times be harder to hold onto in the novel situation of recording the exact same lecture in front of a camera in our greenscreen studio. We get it. Removing the smiling faces of a crowd (or even disinterested faces in the case of some classrooms) can remove part of the inspiration for a great performance. We are continuously trying to tweak our own process so that you are as confident and comfortable in our studio though as you are in front of your class. As a part of that effort, we hope that the attached PDF showcasing several techniques for getting your best performance on film will help you whether you come in to record a lecture at CETL, or if you record something out and about.
If you have any other pointers that can help out your colleagues, or that you think would make your experience of recording here at CETL more productive, please drop us a line.
