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The Micah Minute or A Minute With Micah

January 18, 2009 by 42 Comments

I have been toying with the idea of doing some video. I do it now and again (usually because someone else is shooting it), and I hate how I look on it. Just hate it. Hate how I sound. Hate what I say. Just, bleh.

But, when I started the MicahChic Project it was to get okay with pictures of me. I have almost no pictures of me growing up, because I hate how I look in pictures. Hate that my hair isnt just right, that my smile is crooked, that my eyes scrunch up. Just, bleh.

What inspires me is people that take their shot. People that risk. Im not much of a risk taker, but like to see people who take risks and excel.

Its time for me to risk.

Here is my first video, and here is the help I want.

1) I need a title for the video series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

2) I need brutual (and by brutual, I mean brutual) feedback. Super honest, you dont like the lighting, tell me. You think I sound like a moron, tell me. I can take it (or at least cry in private). Seriously, here is your chance to make me better. Please, make me better.

BTW, here is another little tidbit about me. I am ultra-competitive. I dont hope I am as good as Gary Vaynerchuk, I hope I am one day better. (Knowing Gary, if that day ever arrived, he will kick it into high gear and make me work even harder…)

I am also embedding the video twice. Once with Viddler and once with Vimeo. I will upload it to Youtube too, but I like Vimeo for HD and Viddler for customization (not to mention I am a huge fan of Colin and Rob).

Enough babbling, take a gander and leave a suggestion.

Viddler Version:

A Moment With Micah from Micah Baldwin on Vimeo.

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  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    I dunno. Kinda leaning towards Viddler on the blog, and vimeo/youtube
    as uploads. I think I can improve the video quality and delivery.

  • http://www.loopbaanadviesniemeijer.nl Peter Niemeijer

    Hi Micah,

    You askt for it. Loose the beard, put a light near you that is pointed on a big white sheet of paper or something other white so that you face is more visible. Zoom a little out so that your round face is not in the center of my screen. Try experimenting with the camara angle. Hang the thing behind you on a other place so that either it is visible or not visible. make a choice there. Make sure that there is no reflecting light on a object that can be seen in the picture.
    Speak slower. Give your viewers a chanche to understand and grasp what you're trying to say. Not everyone is as clever as you. Furthermore i saw no differance between the two video's should I?

    Hope that this is what you wanted. Bye the way . I myself am thinking about video experiment and can learn from you and your mistakes so, your inspiring to me even without we have laughed (is that rightly spelled) before.

    Greeting and have a great day.

    Peter

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks for the feedback. Was the painting behind me distracting? Its just on that wall. I figured I would try different directions/angles/lighting, etc. I dont plan to make it “professional” looking, in that I am not going to build too much (or spend too much) on set kinda stuff. Suggestions on what I can do cheaply?

    I will slow my speech, always thought I spoke slowly, so that is great feedback. As for my “look” I need a bit more help than trimming my beard, but I will start with that…

    The videos are the same, except that the Vimeo one can be viewed in HD (if you click the button).

    What did you think of the content itself?

    Thanks again!

  • http://www.onebyonemedia.com Jim "Genuine" Turner

    It is not a bad at all. I liked it and would love to know which video thing you are going to use on a regular basis as I am too going to take a little video risk.

  • http://www.dogster.com Ted Rheingold

    I vote Micah Minute ;)

  • http://BlogSprockit.com Scott Prock

    Hi Micah, I've seen your tweets on twitter and this is my first visit to your blog.

    I too have been inspired by Gary Vee. One of the things I have picked up from Gary is to just get started. I have always ran into walls with various projects because I'm too much of a perfectionist and it has resulted in a lot of projects left unfinished because I start to get overwhelmed and feel as if I can't get to the desired action.

    Anyway, I wanted to offer some feedback …

    Yes I think the lighting is something you can improve on. You can get inexpensive desk lamps that are adjustable (two would be great but you could get by with one) and purchase a compact fluorescent bulb. You want to make sure you get a “daylight” bulb and get the highest wattage you can find. Using a daylight as apposed to the softer lights will give you more of a natural light similar to the light you would get outdoors. Hence the term 'daylight' bulb.

    As for the rest … as Gary Vee would say … be comfortable with your DNA, I didn't see anything wrong with the speed of your speech. Like you I have a beard at the present time (it's my winter look) but as soon as the seasons change I shave it off. I keep stalling my own efforts because I think it would be better if I didn't have the beard, but I think people will enjoy the transparency. I think the key thing to remember is not to worry too much about the small details, you've taken the first step and as a natural progression you will refine things as you go, just don't dwell on them. I have to tell myself that all the time ;-)

    I will be getting back into video soon as well, the last stuff I did – http://33videos.com – hasn't progressed as far as I had planned, I found there was a lot of work that went into creating the videos with no results, but I need to re focus my efforts and really define what it is I want to accomplish and then stick to it. I will also pay less attention to making everything so polished, I'm sure it will be more fun that way too.

    I hope this helps … Scott

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Morgan/506774310 Josh Morgan

    Hey Bud,
    Good video. Video is definitely more personal…so good choice.

    Not sure how much you want to invest, but the sound/video quality could be better. This would probably require some kinda microphone attached to your shirt. Can't recall how much it was, but might be something to look into. It would really help with the echo, however slight.

    Otherwise, I would say just keep doing it and it'll get better. Take care.

  • http://www.feld.com bfeld

    Well done – just putting it out there and letting it all hang out is inspiring!

  • http://jfciii.com/blog John F Croston III

    Very nice video I like the idea. As you and others have said, your first blog posts, first videos, etc. might not be the best, but you have started something and are not just sitting around and talking about it.

    I thought the pace and tone of the talk was great. As on person said they were not sure about the art behind you, I like it, it makes it feel more like home and your just being you.

    A few names you might think about are “Moments with Micah”, “Micah Moments”, “Ways NOT to Get Punched in the Face”, or “Ways to Learn to Duck”. I like that it is on Viddler, since there might be people like myself that have YouTube blocked at the office.

    Good luck with more of these videos. I'm looking forward to learning more from you.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Hmmm, but what if it's 3? I guess that makes me a minutes man… :)

    Sent wirelessly. Excuse the typos, I was born with phat fingers.

  • http://bbhart.com Brian

    Nicely done. Is ~3 minutes what you'll be going for every time? The video quality is fine but the audio could be improved so it's a little warmer. As for content, one takeaway is that inspiring people educate. Seems obvious in hindsight, but something I need to try to incorporate into my dealings with people.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks Brad.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks Scott. I turned down the light in the room to reduce the glare on my art work. Will try with it completely on.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Long time, dude! I used a Flip HD cam. Thinking it might not be good enough. I have a couple of other video camera that I will try…

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    John, love your name suggestions…perhaps “Getting Punching in the Face w/ Micah” or something like that.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    I dunno. I just started talking and then stopped. I can be a blabberer, but I am shooting for 2-3min.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks! I am going to work on the lighting, and see what I can do
    about my placement.

  • http://www.adrianeden.com adrianeden

    Honestly, aside from a little lighting and going back from the camera a bit more, you need to change NOTHING. Speak from the heart, inspire, and just have fun and be you!!! Great vids!

  • http://www.dcconcierge.com Shana Glickfield

    Needs more cats and dogs… other than that, good stuff!

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    thanks for the feedback.

  • http://www.seanbohan.com Sean Bohan

    first of all – good stuff.

    The sound was pretty good and sound is everything with video in my experience – even if the dogs are barkin in the background, if your voice sounds good, then it will engage. If you are doing stuff at a conference or outside you might want to borrow or invest in another mic, but you dont have to. The lighting was OK and will change if you move around the house. You might want to play with the light source you are using, change its angle or the position of the camera – there was a bright spot on the painting behind you that was a little distracting

    If this is your ideas and stream of consciousness stuff, then I disagree with some of the comments above (the beard and styling stuff is your call, I didnt think it took away from the presentation). You could slow down a little, but again, this is you, not you-clientX or you-clientY. I didnt think you were going too fast.

    you might want to consider getting someone to do titles for ya with the learntoduck.com/video URL, but thats not required

    now that I said all that other stuff, the content was great. My suggestion for a name is “Ducking Lessons w/ Micah” :)

  • http://siliconsoul.org Justin Stockton

    Your message was very personable and I thought that zooming in on your face reflected this. It made it feel more like you were having a conversation with me rather than lecturing. You do need some better lighting though. It was very yellow especially with your yellow shirt and the painting behind you.

  • http://ryanpeterson.net Ryan Peterson

    I agree with the lighting and zooming out. Try to think of the composition of the screen in the same way you may think of composition in the art you buy. It should “feel right” and be balanced. I’d keep the beard, though.

    The oddest thing about your post is that you said you don’t consider yourself a risk taker. WTF? Really? I have a completely different take on that. :)

  • http://www.feld.com bfeld

    Well done – just putting it out there and letting it all hang out is inspiring!

  • http://jfciii.com/blog John F Croston III

    Very nice video I like the idea. As you and others have said, your first blog posts, first videos, etc. might not be the best, but you have started something and are not just sitting around and talking about it.

    I thought the pace and tone of the talk was great. As on person said they were not sure about the art behind you, I like it, it makes it feel more like home and your just being you.

    A few names you might think about are “Moments with Micah”, “Micah Moments”, “Ways NOT to Get Punched in the Face”, or “Ways to Learn to Duck”. I like that it is on Viddler, since there might be people like myself that have YouTube blocked at the office.

    Good luck with more of these videos. I'm looking forward to learning more from you.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Hmmm, but what if it's 3? I guess that makes me a minutes man… :)

    Sent wirelessly. Excuse the typos, I was born with phat fingers.

  • http://bbhart.com Brian

    Nicely done. Is ~3 minutes what you'll be going for every time? The video quality is fine but the audio could be improved so it's a little warmer. As for content, one takeaway is that inspiring people educate. Seems obvious in hindsight, but something I need to try to incorporate into my dealings with people.

  • http://learntoduck.com/ micah

    Yeah, its definitely not client facing. If it were, I would have to brandish my tattoos more. :)

    What does “doing titles” mean? I am thinking about “Learning to Duck w/micah” or “Getting Punched in the Face” or something like that…

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks Brad.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks Scott. I turned down the light in the room to reduce the glare on my art work. Will try with it completely on.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Long time, dude! I used a Flip HD cam. Thinking it might not be good enough. I have a couple of other video camera that I will try…

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    John, love your name suggestions…perhaps “Getting Punching in the Face w/ Micah” or something like that.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    I dunno. I just started talking and then stopped. I can be a blabberer, but I am shooting for 2-3min.

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    Thanks! I am going to work on the lighting, and see what I can do
    about my placement.

  • http://CalvinAyre.com adrianeden

    Honestly, aside from a little lighting and going back from the camera a bit more, you need to change NOTHING. Speak from the heart, inspire, and just have fun and be you!!! Great vids!

  • http://www.dcconcierge.com Shana Glickfield

    Needs more cats and dogs… other than that, good stuff!

  • http://learntoduck.com micah

    thanks for the feedback.

  • http://learntoduck.com/ micah

    I noticed that brown/yellow look. I am going to try it in on my dining room table next. I really want a piece of art behind me. I have one other piece that I might use instead…

  • http://learntoduck.com/ micah

    Ryan, the risk taker thing is an interesting discussion. I dont really take risks, because I believe completely in myself to complete the task and or overcome the situation. Therefore, its not really a risk, is it? Risk comes from having the potential to lose it all.

  • http://www.technotheory.com Jared Goralnick

    It's really great that you're experimenting with video, Micah. I'm going through a similar process. I think the folks above were accurate in their comments about lighting, but otherwise you're rock solid. Some more in the video below, since I should be taking the same risks…

  • Matthew

    This was great. I would vote that you invest in a mic. i was listening to music — which had the speakers already up pretty loud and had to crank them even more to hear you. Other than that very cool. Have you ever seen the “Fishing w/ John” show w/ John Lurie when he just goes and hangs out in cool places with his buddies. Kind of reminds me of that. Nicely done.

  • http://www.changeforge.com ChangeForge | Ken Stewart

    RE: A Minute with Micah.