Video has become one of the closest ways to recreate the experience of meeting someone before you ever share a room with them. You hear the voice, see the person, notice how they explain an idea and gradually form an impression of who they are. In a world where speakers, authors, coaches and experts build much of their reputation online, this changes the way a personal brand grows.
Video becomes part of the relationship between a person and the audience they want to reach.
Edmund Piunow works as a personal branding videographer, primarily with speakers, coaches and experts. Based in the Netherlands and working with international clients as well, he films video courses, seminars, stage appearances and testimonials, while helping clients think through how video fits into their broader marketing activity. His work sits at the intersection of video production and personal branding, with an emphasis on creating material that serves a business purpose.
“Video is the closest experience when it comes to a real experience like one to one. It’s much more powerful than just image or just audio or just text.”
Edmund Piunow
Our conversation explores what video changes for someone who is building a reputation around their expertise. Over the last decade, the economics of producing and distributing video have changed dramatically. Production once required larger budgets and access to television or other expensive distribution channels. A smartphone and platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram have opened a very different path. An expert can record an idea today and reach an audience across countries within hours.
That accessibility also changes the question of when to begin. Edmund returns several times to the tendency to postpone publishing until the equipment, production quality or personal confidence reaches a certain level. His approach starts much earlier. A phone is enough to begin learning how to speak to a camera, discover what the audience responds to and develop experience through repetition.
“Just start creating value right now.”
Edmund Piunow
There is a longer time horizon behind that sentence. Someone publishing their first videos is also building skills that become more useful after dozens or hundreds of attempts. Edmund describes personal branding as an investment made over years. Each piece of content contributes to an online presence and reputation that can later support a book, course, speaking career or business.
We also spend a substantial part of the conversation on speaker showreels. For a professional speaker, a short video showing how they appear on stage can become the material an event organizer or speaker bureau sees before making a booking decision. Edmund recommends keeping it around two or three minutes and paying particular attention to the opening seconds. The viewer has limited time and will often form an impression quickly. Stage footage, audience reactions, media appearances and a well-placed call to action can give an organizer enough information to continue the conversation.
The same business-oriented thinking appears in the way Edmund works with clients. He begins with what they want to achieve and works backwards toward the type of video that serves that goal. Production quality has a place in that process. Cost, distribution and the ability to keep publishing over time belong in the same discussion.
“I like to help my clients to be independent. So, for instance, advise them which camera they need if they want to shoot their own videos, and, which lights. How they can build their own studio, and also what kind of habits, what kind of process they they they need to build – in order to have a good video video marketing strategy, because at the end of the day it’s all about consistency. You know when you go to a YouTube channel of an expert you look out how how consistent is that expert you know if are the last videos like six months ago or 12 months ago or is he or she posting every week”
Edmund Piunow
That idea of independence runs through the episode. Edmund wants clients to understand enough about cameras, lighting and workflow to create material themselves when the situation calls for it. Professional production then becomes one part of a larger system rather than the condition required every time someone wants to publish.
Testimonials are another area where this becomes especially practical. A client describing the results of working with you carries a different kind of information from a promotional message you create about yourself. Edmund recommends recording customers, students and seminar participants and letting them describe their own experience. A smartphone is often enough for the job.
The conversation eventually comes back to consistency. A personal brand accumulates over time through repeated contact. One video rarely carries the whole story. A growing library of useful material gives an audience more opportunities to encounter your work, understand your perspective and decide whether they want to continue following you.
Two books fit naturally alongside the ideas discussed in the episode: Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon, especially for its approach to sharing work while you are developing it, and The Practice by Seth Godin, which explores the discipline of producing and publishing work repeatedly. Both extend a question that runs throughout my conversation with Edmund: how much could change over the next few years if you started creating with the resources you already have today?
Main Ideas
- Your personal brand grows through relationships. People tend to connect with people before they connect with companies. Your online presence gives others a way to understand who you are, what you know and how you think. Over time, every useful piece of content contributes to your reputation. Think in years rather than weeks. What you publish today can support future books, courses, speaking opportunities or services.
- Start creating with the resources you already have. A smartphone gives you enough technology to record useful video and begin learning. Waiting for better equipment can delay the experience you gain from actually publishing. Your first videos will teach you how to speak to a camera, structure an idea and understand what your audience finds useful. Each repetition makes the next one easier.
- Choose the video after you know what you want to achieve. Begin with the outcome. You might want to attract clients, grow an audience, sell a seminar or present yourself to event organizers. Each objective calls for a different type of video. This approach also helps you spend your budget more intelligently. Production becomes part of a larger marketing process, with money available for distribution when that serves your objective better.
- Think about the first seconds from the viewer’s perspective. Attention is limited, especially when someone is evaluating several speakers, experts or businesses. The opening seconds need to give the viewer a reason to continue. Start with a moment that represents your work well, an engaging question, an audience reaction or a short preview of what follows. Design the beginning by asking what would make the right person keep watching.
- Consistency builds more than occasional production quality. A useful video strategy depends on habits you can sustain. If you publish frequently, you accumulate experience and create more opportunities for people to discover your work. One video can also become material for other formats, including audio and text. Build a process that fits your available time and resources, then keep improving it through repetition.