I recall a specific moment in 2003 when the use of small digital cameras was proliferating rapidly. Incorporating cameras into phones was just upon us. I was admittedly slow to appreciate where the technology was moving. “Who would need a camera embedded in their phone?” I asked rhetorically.

Today, the recollection is comical. However, I wasn’t the only one to miss the emerging transition that digital imaging would allow – remember Kodak?  They were an inventor of the digital camera, and they missed it too! After filing bankruptcy in 2009, they sputter along as a shadow of their former self.

Flash forward not quite 20 years to today. The pandemic forced us all onto videoconferencing supporting remote work to a degree we had not imagined. This environmental “threat” (from our SWOT exercises) likely accelerated the adoption of remote work by ten years, whether we like it or not.

Several of the biggest brand names will remain nearly 100 percent remote through the year, and many now signal a larger percentage of remote work is here to stay.

Regardless of your personal feelings about remote work and connection by video links, this is a permanent shift that now makes economic sense and has proved more manageable than some could previously envision. But you can still share more than your pretty face by videoconference.

Are you doing so?

Today we communicate with images and visual technologies. These technologies will only improve in their ability to convey vivid detail. Bill Gates previously thought that screen quality would be the limiting factor preventing widespread adoption of digital books.  He may have been right until he was wrong.

People adapted to the screens, the screens improved, and digital technology allows books to be produced more economically and delivered much more quickly. 

As we now know, social media writ large is a visual medium. Short, tightly worded captions say all that needs to be said. Video clips do the same thing. They can be humorous TikTok’s or links to longer and more thoughtful messages. 

I recall being at lunch with a young and successful CEO. This CEO took out his phone and snapped a picture of lunch at a new place. Again, the gesture grabbed my attention in the moments unexpectedness and perhaps cemented the difference in my mind of generational differences incorporating digital images into most aspects of our lives.

So you know all of this stuff.

But are you weaving the capability of video into your work with your customers? I regularly incorporate short video clips into discussions within my customer constellation and my client’s customer constellations.

Creative use of even a short 30-90 second clip can frame your issue for your audience far more quickly than you can do so with words and PowerPoint slides. Embrace it. Without the ability to use nonverbal cues, you need to be creative with how you communicate with your customer constellation. When someone sees your issue come to life in a video or with select, high-quality images, they “get it” quickly.

You may be reluctant to put yourself on camera for those of a certain age or even make a customer-oriented video that you narrate for your customer.

Trust me; you need to get over it. Bring video into your repertoire.

Need help engaging with the federal government for a policy or funding your product? Schedule a call with Gene.

To get a copy of Pitching the Big Top: How to Master the 3-Ring Circus of Federal Sales, or information on federal sales, visit Capitol Integration.