Helping Your Team Feel Prepared for an On-Camera Shoot

Choose speakers for what they know

Prepare staff around work they actually do, with questions shared in advance and room to answer in their own words. Give each person a short prep card for their role: topics, a few practice prompts, the facts to check and what they need to be comfortable. Make it clear that taking part is their choice.

Start with the topic, then find the person who explains it every day. The owner doesn't have to be in every video. The front desk knows what new customers ask. A technician or provider can show the work. A manager can explain how the team runs.

Ask for volunteers. Being on camera should be a choice, and saying no should cost nothing. Offer roles that don't involve speaking: hands-only shots, working in the background, or helping write the questions.

Keep everything about each person accurate:

• Use real names and current job titles. Don't give anyone a title or credential they don't hold.
• Staff talk about their own work, not as customers. Don't hand anyone a line of praise to read.
• If a team member talks about using your service themselves, make the employment relationship clear. The FTC's endorsement guidance calls for clear disclosure of employment relationships in endorsements.

Swap scripts for conversational prompts

Use conversational prompts as a preparation option rather than requiring word-for-word delivery. On shoot day, someone off camera asks and the speaker answers.

Good prompts ask about specific moments:

• "What's the first thing you tell someone new here?"
• "Walk me through what happens when a customer arrives."
• "What question did you answer most this week?"
• "What do people often get wrong about [service]?"
• "What part of your job do you wish more customers could see?"

Two habits make answers easier to use:

• Answer in full sentences that include the question. The interviewer's voice is usually cut, so "Every visit starts with…" works on its own, while "Yeah, that one" doesn't.
• Say it, then stop. A short pause gives the editor a clean place to cut. Second and third takes are normal, not a sign that something went wrong.

Customer interviews need a different approach. Preparing a customer testimonial interview

Practice the topic, not the words

Share the prompts a few days before the shoot. Ask each person to think of one real example for each prompt and say it out loud once, in their own words. Then ask what they still need to clarify. The amount of practice is a personal preference, not a fixed requirement.

What not to memorize:

• statistics or numbers nobody has confirmed;
• prices and promotions (they change; the video stays up);
• promises about results, timelines or outcomes;
• clinical, legal or warranty wording;
• comparisons with other businesses.

Facts that must be exact, checked by a manager before the shoot:

• names, spellings, pronunciations and job titles, for captions and on-screen text;
• licenses, certifications and credentials, worded as they appear on the actual document;
• service names, hours, locations and booking steps;
• anything about health, safety or results, reviewed by the person responsible for it. In a clinic, that's the clinical lead. Ask that qualified reviewer to clear the wording before filming.

Plan for comfort and accessibility

Ask each person privately, before shoot day, whether they need anything to take part comfortably. They don't need to explain why. Then plan the practical side:

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Captions matter beyond spelling. The W3C's media guidance covers captions for speech and relevant sounds, transcripts and sign language. Ask for the versions you need when the project is scoped.

For clothes, people should wear what they normally wear for work, clean, with a spare on hand. Ask the crew to check patterns in the actual setup. Bring an alternative outfit if a pattern distracts from the interview.

On the day, keep the room small: only the people the shot needs. Start with an easy question that won't be used, so the first real answer isn't the first thing they say.

Settle releases and how the video will be used

Before anyone signs, tell them:

• where the video will appear: social media, your website, ads, hiring pages;
• roughly how long you expect to use it;
• what happens to the video if they leave the company.

Everyone featured signs an on-camera release. Keep participation separate from performance reviews, schedules and pay.

If clips may be used for hiring, check both what's said and what's shown. The EEOC's job-advertisement guidance describes prohibited preferences and discouragement based on protected characteristics. Have your hiring reviewer check the wording and complete video before use. This is general information, not legal advice. Recruiting videos

Hand off to the crew on shoot day

The day before, the manager sends the crew one short sheet:

• each participant's name, title and pronunciation;
• each person's time slot and topic;
• comfort or access arrangements, shared only with that person's agreement;
• release status for everyone on the list;
• the fact sheet with approved wording;
• the one person who approves the final video.

For the rest of shoot preparation (locations, brand files, approvals), see How to prepare for a monthly content shoot

Role-based prep cards

Copy one card per person, fill in the blanks, and hand it over a few days before the shoot.

Owner

• Talk about: why the business exists, what's new, what customers can expect.
• Practice prompts: "Why did you start this business?" · "What do you want a first-time customer to know?" · "What's changing this season?"
• Don't memorize: growth figures, results, comparisons with other businesses.
• Check before filming: business name as registered, service area, hours, the year you opened (from your records).
• Comfort and access (ask privately): ____________________

Front desk

• Talk about: what happens when someone calls or walks in, how booking works, what to bring.
• Practice prompts: "What do new customers ask first?" · "What's the easiest way to book?" · "What should someone bring to a first visit?"
• Don't memorize: prices or financing details, policies that change.
• Check before filming: hours, booking link wording, phone number, parking directions.
• Comfort and access (ask privately): ____________________

Technician or provider

• Talk about: what they do, how they do it with care, what the customer experiences during a visit.
• Practice prompts: "Walk me through a typical visit." · "What do you check first?" · "What do you wish customers knew before you arrive?"
• Don't memorize: technical specifications, outcome promises, clinical claims.
• Check before filming: title and credentials as written on their license or certificate; every technical or treatment statement reviewed by a qualified person (in a clinic, the clinical lead).
• Comfort and access (ask privately): ____________________

Manager

• Talk about: how the team works, how new people learn the job, what a good day looks like.
• Practice prompts: "How does someone new learn the job here?" · "What does a good day look like?" · "What makes this team work?"
• Don't memorize: pay, benefits or promotion promises.
• Leave out: any preference about who should apply.
• Check before filming: benefits and schedules exactly as currently offered; hiring wording against the EEOC job-ad rule; the crew handoff sheet.
• Comfort and access (ask privately): ____________________

Blank card

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More guides for local businesses

How we can help

Our social media management and content-only choices use a fixed monthly shoot date. One-off production is scoped separately after a 15-minute call, with a proposal within 24 hours after the call. Everyone featured signs an on-camera release, and we use licensed music only. Share the prep cards with your team before the shoot. Video production

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