Hot Seat Humor to Relax the Talent

Humor Can Help Relax Even the Most Nervous Interviewees. 

Robert Blanda being goofy

Admittedly, we’ve done a lot of video shoots. However, some go smoother than others. Some we’re overprepared for with unexpected results. You never know what you’re going to get once you get there. 

On December 2nd, 2021 we faced a challenge with two very nervous interviewees for a project with Networks for Training and Development, Inc.  Nothing new – we’ve been here before. However, this one was going to be more challenging than we expected. Both interviewees have never done a formal video interview, but were provided with the questions prior to the interview. Again, nothing new. We try to prepare them so they can mentally prepare to answer them. 

One thing that most of them don’t realize even after reading our interviewee prep sheet, is that lights, cameras and an audience can be a bit intimidating when they take the chair. Then comes makeup, getting wired for sound and all the other nuances that come with being in the hot seat. If you’ve never been there before, it can be a little nerve-wracking. 

Both “C.J.” and “Teresa” were already prepped but voiced their opinions about being nervous and being “newbies.” When each of them  sat down in the hot seat, we not only sat down with them to talk one-on-one, we continually made fun humor and made them smile. 

Sit them down and make them smile!
Typically we like to sit them down in the hot seat for a while before even rolling film. This gives them a chance to get used to the lighting, the audience and especially the cameras. There’s something about cameras that make people very nervous regardless of what you try to tell them. What’s more, when we run film for the first round, we ask things like, 

• Please say and spell your first and last name (totally warranted for the lower thirds graphics)
• Please tell us what company you work for and your position within that company. (again, need this for lower thirds)
• Please sing the Alphabet Song with the alternative ending (this stumps them every time.)
• Rob’s birthday is coming up, can you sing him “Happy Birthday?” (That’s my favorite – and I fib about my birthday every time)
• Tell us what the 16th letter of the alphabet is (no one ever gets it!) 
• Please tell us if you’ve ever tripped over something while looking at your phone. (Still trying to make them feel comfortable in front of the camera.)

Granted, we’ve switched up this level of questions a million times. We try to shape it to the person we are interviewing. In any case, humor always worked. 

CJ from Community Integrated Services

The Interviewees
In the case of “C.J.,” we had a little time to talk while we were still adjusting lighting. It was nice to hear his stories prior to rolling film – and they verbally flowed. He knew the cameras were not rolling and he was talking very freely. Once the cameras started rolling the story was very different. It almost seemed like he was reading from a script and not having a conversation with his audience. But in no time flat, we had C.J. talking freely and comfortably. At the end of an interview, we always allow the interviewee do a ‘free-form’ conversation with the camera. For some reason, this always fills in the gaps of whatever they missed during the initial interview. During the interview, we made frequent jokes and told funny anecdotes about our past experiences, including when on interviewee passed gas during an interview. Yeah, it happened and so what? Now we have material to tell to our nervous newbies that makes them feel more comfortable. They couldn’t possibly top that, so what do they have to lose? 

Teresa, on the other hand, called ahead to tell us she was nervous. We were expecting the worst, so we prepped before she got there. Lainey Lord, our producer, had a nice long conversation with Teresa, going over the questions and having conversations. Before shooting, Robert Blanda, Creative Director, pulled up a chair, told silly jokes and made her feel even more comfortable. It’s always best to get “on-eye-level” with the talent so it doesn’t feel intimidating to them. I could tell she was ready. And boy, was she. 

C.J. took a little while to get warmed up, but when he did, he was great. Seems as though if we let him talk with his hands, he was much more comfortable. His final ‘freeform’ conversation was incredible and gave us everything we needed to tie up the missing gaps in the interview. 

Teresa from Resources for Human Development, IDEATE

Let’s talk about Teresa. We had absolutely no idea how she was going to be on camera. We were stunned at how well she spoke about her position with the company and she flowed her conversation so naturally that after the first few questions, the audience clapped. Everyone was really happy with her answers. Really happy. We continued the interview and let’s face it – even she didn’t know she was going to do so well. And, boy, she handled it like a pro. Landed 9 questions (with her free-form) in less than an hour. #impressive. 

It’s all about comfort
All-in-all, at the end of the day, Robert and Lainey packed up and drove back to the studio telling great stories about what we did to make the talent feel comfortable to tell their story. 

At the end of the day, we did our job – and perhaps a little more. 

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CaddisArt, Inc. is a digital marketing powerhouse that supports companies, marketing agencies and individuals to handle the mechanics of marketing that most companies cannot afford to maintain. We love what we do and when your company does well, we do well. And, as our mantra says, “Advice is always free.“

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Networks for Training and Development, Inc. is a non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to promoting inclusive communities through quality training, consultation, and practice for individuals with disabilities, families, businesses, neighborhoods, and communities.​ Networks’ vision has evolved as evidenced through our various services, our responsiveness to current realities, and our “push” to birth social change in creating a more just world for everyone: people with disabilities, their families, friends, organizations and communities.​