TRANSCRIPT:
When it comes to the five steps for the ultimate selfie headshot, I teach people how to take control of their own image. We have this machine in our pockets. It can do amazing things, and as long as we know a couple of tips and tricks, we can really get a lot out of it and not just something for fun, but something that you could actually use professionally. I use my own selfies all the time.
Basically, there are five steps to it, but there’s a couple that are most important.
One of those tips is looking deeply into the lens. I can sit here and I can look at the camera, looking at the camera, or I can take my gaze through the camera. Now, if I’m sitting here talking to an actual human being on the other side of that lens, it actually creates a better connection than if I’m just looking at the camera.
Now, when you’re talking about your phone, it’s this tiny little hole. Instead of looking at the hole, you look a million miles through that hole and that’s what helps. That’s the connection part.
As far as expression goes, I really recommend not smiling at first. One thing I’ve learned is that we see a smile as safe and move on. In the context of like a LinkedIn kind of profile where you’re scrolling through faces where there’s all these people, if we see a smile as safe and go, “Tick, next!” it’s not really doing the job.
If the point is to get attention, then maybe we create an experience for the viewer that challenges them, that creates a little bit of mystery. A smile is good if it’s genuine, but if you look through the lens and you put a little quirky smile on, just a little something different, something people maybe aren’t used to seeing, you’re more likely to get their attention.
