making the video... a new challenge

                         About a month ago I decided that it might be a good idea to make a video for this site.  I thought it would be nice for potential clients to be able to sort of "get a feel for who I am" if they didn't already know me.  Well I had NO idea what I was getting into - ha.... It seemed real simple at first.... just write down what I wanted to say.... then record it....that's it... right?
                    Well it turns out it wasn't so simple after all.  It's really surprising once you consider all of the things that impact making a video... sound quality -  (be loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that I sound annoying or like I'm SHOUTING --- plus make sure no phone rings/dog barks/person talks/etc. in the background!)..... the lighting.... finding the right place to do the recording (since I was using my laptop camera, I was a one-man show --- and it was tricky getting the computer just the right height, too)  .... enunciating without sounding silly (trying to make sure I'm understood and that I don't have toooooo much of a Southern twang - harder than I thought!).... making sure the background looked ok (had to hide all the dog toys).... and the hardest part was trying to face the camera as much as possible without constantly looking at my notes (now I really understand the concept of how helpful that whole teleprompter thing must be....)
                  Once I had practiced some and had gotten everything set up, I recorded..... and recorded....and recorded....  it turned out to be really tricky to record the whole thing all the way through, smile, look at the camera, enunciate, speak with expression, not stutter, and not stumble over any of the words.... yikes - who knew?!  Well I do know one thing for sure now... I have a new appreciation for all those people who video-blog --- they are brave and determined souls!
                The video is certainly nothing professional - ha, but hopefully I did get my points across.  If you can't access it on here for some reason, I just uploaded it to youtube (another first for me!) ----- here's the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJ3D8VAmhE&feature=youtu.be
                
                Making this video was a real challenge for me --- it's pretty hard to put yourself "out there" and open yourself up for possible negativity or criticism ~ however, I'm working to face my fears and conquer some challenges in 2013 ~ hopefully you are, too!  Well, Happy New Year to you and yours ~ Hoping 2013 will be your most rewarding and prosperous year yet!