Stop Hiding Behind Your Expertise: How Leaders Get Seen

video confidence collective podcast Oct 28, 2026
 

Leaders hide behind their expertise because it feels safe, and it costs them work. Janine Jakob's experience is that clients choose the better-branded person, even over someone with more expertise. Find where your audience already spends time, then show up there regularly, on a podcast or on video, before your setup feels ready.

Janine Jakob is the founder of Full Potential Partners, an executive advisory that works with CEOs, founders and experts on branding, visibility and speaking, and a TEDx speaker. By her own account she spent seven years in corporate IT at Hewlett-Packard before starting the company in China, where she lived for more than eight years. This is episode 255 of the Video Confidence Collective, recorded with Chris Schwager on 14 October 2026.

Why do leaders hide behind their expertise?

Because expertise is the part they control. Asked why leaders lean on it, Janine starts with comfort:

“I think it gives them security. Makes them feel safe. Comfort is a very good word.” Janine Jakob

She traces her own version to a German upbringing and a corporate career at HP, where what you said was the measure of what you knew. Buyers do not measure it that way. Her point is not that the well-branded competitor is better at the work. Often they are not. They are simply easier to see, and so easier to choose:

“That's why at the end, the client chooses the well branded person, whether they have more expertise and better services and products, versus you.” Janine Jakob

If that sounds like your market, the expertise is not the problem. Being hard to find is. There is a longer case for why company visibility compounds with every video.

What happens when your job title is your whole brand?

Ask what is printed on a typical executive's business card and Janine's answer is short:

“Just the title.” Janine Jakob

Leaders who come out of corporate tend to identify with the company, so the reputation belongs to the employer rather than to them. When the role goes, through a restructure, a layoff or an exit, the reputation goes with it. She describes a founder she has just started working with who sold his company for more than 100 million and is now working out who he is without it. Her summary:

“So that identity then is gone. So identity is a big topic.” Janine Jakob

A personal brand is the part of your reputation that survives a change of job title. Chris asks her outright whether it has become the new business card, and she agrees, because everything else she coaches, from leadership to public speaking, ends up feeding it.

Why does putting yourself forward feel like bragging?

Partly because of where you grew up. Janine has lived in Germany, the US, Finland, France, China and Australia, and she sees the same expertise presented very differently depending on the culture. In Australia she names tall poppy syndrome, the pressure to keep your head down whether you have achieved a lot or not. In Germany it came from home, in her stepdad's words:

“Gini, don't put yourself in the centre of attention. It's not good. We don't do that in Germany.” Janine Jakob, quoting her stepdad

American coaches, by contrast, encourage exactly what an Australian or German professional has been taught to avoid. Janine's view is that this explains the hesitation and does not excuse it. If you want the work, you have to be seen doing it, whether the camera feels comfortable or not.

Where should a leader start becoming visible?

With the audience, not the platform. Chris asks for a first step that someone sitting in a comfy chair could actually take, and Janine goes straight back to fundamentals:

“I mean, number one, it goes back to the basics. Who's your target audience?” Janine Jakob

If your buyers are not online, going digital may be the wrong move. If they are, she points executives at LinkedIn and at a podcast. Her own LinkedIn shows why location matters: she barely used it while she lived in China, where it is blocked and her market was not on it.

Her other point is being seen in several places at once, on YouTube, your website, LinkedIn or Spotify, wherever your buyers spend time, because trust builds through repeated sightings. Chris puts a number on it that he took from one of his relationship coaches: about 14 hours of cumulative interaction with a brand before a deal activates. Treat that as their working figure, not a measured one. What Chris can vouch for is that prospects now arrive on his sales calls already informed. For the bigger picture of where that fits in a business, see why video matters for your business.

Why is a podcast a sales strategy, not just content?

Because the guest is the point, not the download count. Janine says it plainly:

“Podcasting is actually a great sales strategy.” Janine Jakob

She ran a 31-day live podcast, one guest a day, some she knew a little and some total strangers she saw as her main target audience. She gave each of them exposure to her own following and cut long and short clips for them. In return she learned from people she would otherwise have paid to learn from, and had a long, real conversation with each one, which is how relationships turn into collaborations and sales.

Chris's addition is about what happens after the recording. One half-hour conversation can be cut into material for months, and a dialogue often brings out someone's authority better than a solo piece to camera does. There is more on that in how one recording becomes 30+ pieces of content.

Do you need a proper setup before you start?

No, and both of them are blunt about it. Janine is candid about her mistakes on the 31-day run. She recorded it from a Desktop Studio in Sydney and streamed every episode live to her social channels without checking the plan with Chris first. By her account one of the streaming platforms she trialled compressed the picture, so her first episode went out at a lower resolution than the camera was capturing. Her lesson is to keep the setup simple, ask before you change the workflow, and when you are on the road, use your phone with a portable microphone and a tripod:

“A tripod costs you, what, $20, and you can have it in your backpack, in the plane.” Janine Jakob

Chris goes further. Anything you post is a fleeting moment, and there is a good chance the person who needs it never sees it, so producing more matters more than perfecting one piece:

“Because if the bottleneck is polish, that's no good.” Chris Schwager

For anyone waiting for the room to feel right before they hit record, his rule is to accept that visibility outweighs the polish. Start with the closest camera you have, repeat it until it is a habit, and upgrade once the habit is real. It is the same reason a video system beats one-off posts for winning clients.

Key moments

  • 1:37 What people notice about a leader before they say a word
  • 4:54 Is your personal brand your new business card?
  • 6:40 Why leaders hide behind their expertise
  • 9:08 Tall poppy syndrome, and “don't put yourself in the centre of attention”
  • 21:33 The first step: who is your audience, and where are they?
  • 24:06 Why a podcast is a sales strategy
  • 30:04 What went wrong live-streaming a 31-day podcast
  • 36:48 Why visibility outweighs the polish

Common questions about getting seen as a leader

Who is Janine Jakob?

Janine Jakob is the founder of Full Potential Partners, an executive advisory that works with CEOs, founders and experts on branding, visibility, speaking and leadership. She spent seven years in corporate IT at Hewlett-Packard, started her company in China, and has spoken at TEDx. She has also sat in on Ridge Films' Video Confidence Collective coaching sessions.

Is building a personal brand just bragging?

It can feel that way, especially in Australia, where tall poppy syndrome teaches people to keep their achievements quiet. On this episode Janine Jakob treats that as a cultural habit rather than a rule: the hesitation is learned, and it does not change how buyers choose. Her argument is that clients pick the person they can see, so staying quiet mostly helps a better-branded competitor.

Do I need a studio before I start making videos or a podcast?

No. Janine Jakob records on the road with a phone, a portable microphone and a tripod, and Chris Schwager's advice is to use the closest camera you have rather than wait. A proper setup makes you look and sound better and takes the setup time away, which matters once you record often. It is an upgrade to a habit, not a condition for starting.

Is it too late to start a podcast?

Janine Jakob's answer is no, even though it can feel like everyone already has one. By her account a large share of shows stop within their first handful of episodes, so simply keeping going sets you apart. More to the point, she treats a podcast as a way to build relationships with the guests you invite, which pays off whatever the size of the audience.

Full transcript

Episode 255 of the Video Confidence Collective, recorded 14 October 2026. Auto-transcribed and lightly corrected: speaker labels were added by hand, proper nouns were checked, and [unclear] marks words that could not be made out.

 

 

Read the full transcript

[00:00] Cold open (Janine)

If you want to be successful, if you want to make like me an impact in the world, you need to brand yourself and get out of this box and the misconception. Whether you feel comfortable in front of the camera or not, you can live your dream life earlier. You can make more revenues faster. You want to get from an expert level to making you an authority, right? There's just like so much more on what you are worth it just by getting out of this comfort zone. That's why at the end the client chooses the well branded person, whether they have more expertise and better services and products versus you.

[00:33] Chris (show intro)

Hi, I'm Chris Schwager, video coach and founder of the Complete Video Success System, and I've spent decades helping professionals create high impact videos that build trust, generate leads and drive business success. And if you've ever felt unsure or underprepared or just plain awkward with video, this is for you. I'll give you the mindset and strategies to take control, build video confidence so that you show up like a pro. It's time to make your videos work for you. Welcome to the Video Confidence Collective podcast.

Today's question is one every executive should be asking: how do you get remembered before you even open your mouth? Well, my guest today is Janine Jakob, founder of Full Potential Partners, TEDx speaker, and someone who has sat in our own coaching room. So she knows both sides of the camera. Janine works with leaders who are brilliant at what they do, invisible to the people who really need them. So let's find out why. Janine, welcome.

[01:30] Janine

Hey, hi, Chris. Hi, everyone out there, happy to be on this amazing podcast.

[01:37] Chris

When you meet an executive for the first time, what do you notice about them before they say anything?

[01:45] Janine

Have you ever met someone who just has that aura around him? Like, you might see this person who walks in a room. You don't know who it is. It doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman, and it's just something about that person, right? Like they already have like a presence in the room. And even if there's a hundred people, you still notice that person. And you really feel like, wow, I need to talk to that person. And maybe it even gets better when the person actually starts speaking, there's just that charisma. And those are kind of things that you either have it or you don't. Or depending on who you speak to, I mean, we can teach how to be charismatic, but there's just something about those people. And you already have an amazing first impression of them.

[02:35] Chris

Tell me about Full Potential Partners. Like, let's just, for the audience, get them to understand a bit more about your background and your history and what Full Potential Partners is all about.

[02:47] Janine

Seven years in corporate. I come from IT, from Hewlett-Packard, the American Fortune 500 IT company. And I ended up in China for a double master's degree, still working for HP. But I found my purpose in life. So I was like, hey, I just took a bank loan to go to private business school while still working for HP Germany. I think I should quit my job, stay in China and start my own company. That's all my gut feeling said. Sounded really crazy. And this is where Full Potential Partners got born.

Bringing happiness to Chinese companies is a little bit different in China, what it means, how employee engagement is done for Chinese people. So it converted more into a training company, a coaching company. So doing leadership trainings, doing soft skill trainings, like intercultural communication, intercultural teamwork, those kind of topics landed very well instead of just a happiness consulting company. And that's where basically everything started.

And over the last two and a half years, I dug a lot deeper into marketing outside of China, because everything outside of China is different, and learning about AI. So I started to coach a lot of companies how to scale their companies through AI, through marketing, collaborated with the entrepreneurs community as well. I really feel like if I work with an executive, I believe in a butterfly effect. I make an impact in an executive's life through their soft skills or their branding, their public speaking. And this person then is going to make a positive impact in their own team. So I'm so driven by a global impact that I want to make towards happiness and success. And I really feel like it starts a lot with this one executive spreading to the team and beyond.

[04:54] Chris

Do you think the personal brand is your new business card?

Janine

Yes, because I think it is really underrated. And everything that my team and I do in terms of leadership skills, soft skills, mental fitness, at the end it also goes back to your own brand, how you behave, how you speak. Like everything's basically intertwined. But a lot of people do not work enough on their personal brand.

[05:20] Chris

And what's printed on most executives' cards right now that they don't realise?

[05:26] Janine

Just the title. And very often, especially if they come from corporate, we identify ourselves very often with the company, right? Like HP, Alibaba, Commonwealth Bank. And especially nowadays, if you look at Australian companies, there are so many people I spoke with that recently got laid off because of AI, because of recession, because of a lot of other kind of topics. So that identity then is gone. So identity is a big topic.

But also I work with a lot of business owners, founders, entrepreneurs. Very often their identity is also their startup, their company. I just started working with someone, he sold his company for over 100 million. So he had an exit, right? So he's kind of like, okay, what's coming up next? Identity again is a big topic. He was identified with this company. But what is his own personal brand? He always focused on this company, but he doesn't really have his own personal brand independently of being the founder, the owner of this company that he exited.

[06:40] Chris

Why do leaders hide behind expertise?

Janine

I think it gives them security. Makes them feel safe. Comfort is a very good word. Looking at different cultures, though, I really feel like being German, having been raised in a corporate like HP, where all of my clients and the majority of my colleagues were men, and these were my role models, I feel like this kind of environment always showed me that words are the most important. This is what gives us expertise, what you say out loud. My culture emphasised so much on the words that we say, although in communication, words is only 7% of communication versus visual is 55%. So I feel like the culture also gives you a lot of, I don't want to call it prejudice, but it makes you believe specific things, that expertise is everything. And that's the background of German culture and coming from corporate that always got incorporated in my brain. I got brainwashed that this is so, so important.

But if you look at people who are so well branded, some of them, they make higher revenues, but they're actually not better in delivering the same service compared to maybe you, but they're just better branded. That's why at the end, the client chooses the well branded person, whether they have more expertise and better services and products, versus you.

[08:15] Chris

It's not trendy to be personal branding as a senior leader. It's still, and you know, tell me if I'm out of line here, resistant, because of a lack of understanding of what that may do.

[08:36] Janine

I wouldn't disagree with you. At the same time, I would bring it back to the topic of culture, because I've worked with so many cultures around the world. There's an interesting fact. If you now look at Australian people versus Americans. I lived in the US as well. I lived in Finland, I lived in France, over eight years in China, Australia, and so on, right?

So in Australia, we have the tall poppy syndrome. So society is not really accepting, or is keeping people low, or people keep themselves low in terms of their branding. Whether they have achieved a lot or not, they feel like society doesn't want us to brag or say it out loud that, "Hey, I am successful," right? So that tall poppy syndrome does not really help Australians with their own branding, right? And then you have your own kind of blockage.

Same with German culture. Being in the centre of attention, I was taught this by my stepdad, it was always seen as, "Gini, don't put yourself in the centre of attention. It's not good. We don't do that in Germany." And then looking at Americans, and this is one of the reasons why some people outside of America would say, "Oh, these Americans, they're snobby and arrogant, they're overconfident," because they love to put themselves up high and big and make themselves big in their words, in their branding. You kind of need it, that kind of branding. It is encouraged. It is so well seen. I have coaches from all around the world, and how these coaches coach you and train you, it's just very different if you have an Australian versus a German versus an American coach.

So I really think the way you were raised in your family and in your culture, it does a lot also when it comes to your branding. Which now is not an excuse on why you guys cannot be branded, why you should not be working with Chris. Get his amazing desktop solution. Because again, no matter how you grew up, if you want to be successful, if you want to make like me an impact in the world, you need to brand yourself and get out of this box and the misconception and just get out there. Whether you feel comfortable in front of the camera or not, and Chris can teach you these kind of things.

[11:07] Chris

Visibility is the leadership standard. And yet, because of what's happening in the world right now, even for micro businesses, there's a high need to meet the demands of an attention-depleted world. Now it's not one post a month or a week. It's now, how many can I jam down to try to rise to the top? Do you think the same thing's happening at a senior level, where over time there's going to be more and more people building their confidence? And I talk about confidence more about perhaps moving into the discomfort, breaking away from the things that are normal and perceived as being normal, for the purposes of differentiating themselves as leaders, with or without the actual company brand. Do you see the future being lots of senior leaders moving in that direction of needing to express themselves, I guess, and be visible in ways that they haven't before?

[12:26] Janine

I feel like through social media, there is a trend. If you look at SEO and you check, for example, YouTube on how much leadership and branding or executive branding is actually looked up, it's still very little. It is still a big niche compared to any other words or niches. It's definitely needed. And a lot of people nowadays have to learn about marketing, especially if they're business owners, because there's so many more opportunities now as well.

And if you follow people like Gary Vee, he tells you, hey, you need to publish at least 10 shorts a day. I have met Tai Lopez. We hosted him at our event in Malibu in June. [unclear] And Tai Lopez nowadays, he has so many different channels. He publishes 150 pieces of content a day. A day. Nowadays, everything is possible, right? We have so many opportunities. So I really feel like people need to do that more. Some people start to understand, yes, I need the visibility, I need to do something, even if I'm an executive in corporate. And I still think there's a lot of people that haven't gotten it yet, no matter what role they have in their life, that they should tap into social media and AI and use those tools. Even if you haven't studied IT or marketing, you can really increase your brand with all these tools. It makes it even easier [unclear].

[14:08] Chris

I think everything that you've said so far has been very clear on where this sits within our upcoming webinar. For me, at least, it seems like there's a very clear separation, I guess, from what you're preaching to what I'm preaching, to a certain degree. But the question I have is why. Are people still going to say, "What's the payoff of investigating this?" There's this hesitation everywhere. And if anybody starts considering the capacity for marketing, and you and I both know how large a term marketing is, what's going to incentivise somebody to go, "Yeah, Janine's right. I've got to do this," because they understand clearly why they're doing it?

[15:09] Janine

An Australian business like yours. I've worked with a lot of Australians or Chinese, and they might be known in their country. However, there's so many opportunities outside. I wish I would have broadened my mind and left China a bit earlier. Same for Australia: the same services we might offer, you can actually charge higher by just focusing on Americans, for example, right? And especially if you do things online.

So now increasing your brand, instead of just giving speeches in Australia or in China or Germany, wherever you're from, now going to the other side of the world and giving the same speech on a global stage. Like me, I spoke in Dubai, Bali, Las Vegas, of course China, Australia and other stages. Just you going to another country already makes you more credible. It makes you go from local to global. It makes you look more, not just like an expert but like an authority. We want to get from an expert level to making you an authority, right? There's just so much more on what you are worth, just by getting out of this comfort zone, or going online, or doing live streaming. And again, the nice thing is for the same thing you do, you can get paid more somewhere else.

Or just by writing an Amazon bestseller, right? In our community, I was the first person who wrote an Amazon bestseller. Now we have 90 Amazon bestsellers. Or for example, speaking on TEDx stages or being on magazine covers. Those are tiny little things that can really shift the needle for someone like you. And again, why a client might decide, I want to buy from you and not from someone else. And again, this goes back to branding.

[17:08] Chris

You've clearly articulated that, and leave those that are not willing to go through that change. It's not for them. Go potter away, go to your next role and stay invisible. What do you think, in the next 12 months, 24 months, what's the cost to those people if they don't act, if they don't do anything about it? Because it's changing quick, right? Particularly in small business, the way I see it, it's changing real quick.

[17:42] Janine

If you say cost, most people would probably think about maybe the revenue you're missing out on, right? But I travel a lot, right? I got to know a lot of people in Perth, Australia [unclear]. And I lived in Sydney before, right? I meet a lot of people. They're semi-retired, or they're retired at an early age. At the same age, in their 40s, 50s, the people I meet in Germany and China, they're still hustling like crazy.

So think about all the goals, the perfect lifestyle, the dream life that you want to live. And how can you collapse that time? So instead of you achieving it when you retire, in Germany nowadays it's even 67 as an age, instead of me retiring at 67, how can you retire or semi-retire at an earlier stage? Just by being present, having the visibility, like working with Chris on your public speaking coaching, on having this amazing desktop setup and looking not just confident, but really great with the sound, with the light, when you do your YouTube channels nowadays, or you go live on TikTok, who knows, right? You can achieve all these goals earlier. You can live your dream life earlier. You can make more revenues faster.

And you know what? There's one thing that Tony Robbins says when it comes to selling. Some of the biggest fears of people are, number one, public speaking. Again, that's why you work with Chris or with me. We can help you overcome this fear. But also, Tony Robbins says, sales. And he's saying, if you are not selling someone, you're not changing lives. And again, I'm all about changing lives, making an impact globally. So I don't know if you resonate with this, but by offering your services and products, by having visibility and a good brand... I know you're an expert. We believe in you guys, if you're watching us today. But you can help someone else from getting burned, from all these marketing and digital agencies just taking your money but not delivering, because they don't have the same expertise. You can make an impact and change someone else's life instead of letting them go to someone else, by selling them, by being present online. So the cost is so high in so many different ways.

[20:13] Chris (mid-roll)

Just quickly, if you're ready to take control of your video production but feel stuck, check out the Video Confidence Collective. It's live coaching in a supportive community that's got your back. We cover four essentials: tech, messaging, on-camera presence and implementing what you learn. So you can create consistent, confident content that truly connects. Links in the show notes. Now back to the episode.

[20:30] Chris

There's been a big push for you, I guess, talking digital. Before we get there: "If you're not selling, you're working for someone who is" is something I heard recently, which has always stuck with me. But you've mentioned a couple of ways to be visible, predominantly through the digital sphere, I guess. And for someone that sits in his comfy chair and does his thing, how does he take the first step? And is digital the first step? Or is it write the book, or go to a networking event, or just something to make a start on this? Because anyone going from zero to any number like this volume, like 150 pieces of content, forget about it, right? That in itself is just a huge leap for someone. So what is the baby step that somebody could act on now and go, you know what, I'm going to branch out, I'm going to take action here? What would you recommend they do first?

[21:33] Janine

I mean, number one, it goes back to the basics. Who's your target audience? If your target audience is grandmas in their 80s in their elderly home, I don't know if going digital is going to be the right course of action for you, right? You need to know your target audience, and where your target audience is hanging out. So that is the first thing to go back to.

However, if you can meet your target audience somewhere online, because a lot of business owners are hanging out on LinkedIn. I have, for example, over 30,000 LinkedIn followers. And while I lived in China, I never tapped into it, because Chinese people in China are not on LinkedIn, because we have VPN and it is blocked, right? It's always going back to those places.

So what I want to tell you is, if your audience is online, think about maybe a podcast. Especially for a lot of executives, a lot of people in Australia, in the Western world and the US, podcasting is still growing as a business. There's still so much potential, even if you would say, oh my gosh, so many people nowadays have a podcast. Look at statistics: the majority of people never have more than 10 or 16 episodes. I can't remember, I think 10, right? So if you already have, like Chris and me, more than 10 episodes, you're already in the top, I don't know, 10% or so, right?

But the nice thing about podcasting, it's not just about the digital presence. Nowadays, we want to be omnipresent with our brand. You want to be found on not just YouTube and your website, but also Facebook, maybe Instagram, LinkedIn, depending on where your target group hangs out, maybe X, formerly Twitter, especially for executives, that's where they hang out a lot as well, like LinkedIn, right? And Spotify, when they listen to podcasts. You want to be seen on a lot of different channels. It also gives them more trust. Look at statistics: until a few years ago, clients, consumers needed to see you seven times until they buy. Nowadays, it's already 12 times. So maybe they want to see your advertising as well.

But going back to the podcast, podcasting is not just about having thousands of followers. Podcasting is actually a great sales strategy. So let me talk about Chris and his amazing desktop. Unfortunately, I'm on a business trip today, I'm not joining from his great desktop system. But I had decided to challenge myself. I was in Sydney March, April. [Chris: "Oh, I love it."] Yes, it looks great, right? And then with my colleague in Sydney, with Tim, we just bought Chris's amazing desktop system, because we met Chris at an exhibition in Sydney. And immediately, I think he came on a Sunday, like two days later, plugged it in on a Sunday, and then we could go live.

So going back to podcasting: podcasting is a sales strategy, relationship building. I did a 31-day live podcast. But this was not just about going live. It was about 31 people, some of them I knew a bit, and then total strangers, who I think are my main target audience. I invite them on my podcast. I give them visibility to my over 60,000 followers. I cut some long form content for them, short form content. I gave a lot of value to them, right? At the same time, I get free learning from them, instead of paying thousands to travel around the world to learn from the best people. I had several multi-millionaires on my podcast.

But the greatest thing is relationship building, right? Because you and me now chatting for 45 minutes, we're going to get to know each other even better. We're going to realise, oh my gosh, Chris, really, you have the same hobby as me, you have the same background. Oh, I think we should actually work together. We start to like each other even more. We're building up this relationship, and we have that trust, suddenly even more after 45 minutes of us hanging out. And instead of us meeting in a cafe and just having our coffee or tea, we can record this live at the same time. It's a win-win situation. But there is a huge sales opportunity, right? You tap into so many opportunities just from these 45 minutes or one hour of podcasting: relationship building, potential sales opportunities or collaborations.

And then maybe Chris is going to ask me afterwards, "Hey, Janine, if you loved today's podcast, is there someone in your network who would really benefit from being on my podcast?" And like this, I'm already tapping into this other person's network at the same time, right? So you see, there's so many opportunities from just this one podcast where I give value, you give value, and there could be something much bigger coming out for you digitally, but also at the same time for your local, global, offline network. It's a win-win-win situation. That's why I suggest, guys, start podcasting.

[27:02] Chris

Man, I love it. It's so good. You've got me motivated to start another podcast now. Maybe I'll do the 31 days live, every day building a new relationship.

Janine

But oh my gosh, there was actually much more stress than I thought. You really need a team. If you are alone, it's very, very challenging. But your desktop system made it really, really nice. So I appreciate it.

[27:29] Chris

Well, you've touched on a whole bunch of different themes there, really: time management, and the fact that you can leverage one half-hour session and [unclear] in so many different ways for years to come. I mean, that's been one of the bigger [unclear] for the way that we coach the Video Confidence Collective members. You get on these sessions and you extract so much.

And one of the things that I thought you were going to ask me was, "After this session, hey, Janine, we'll send you over the files of you," so then you can go and give that to your team and snip it up and do what you want to do with it. Because you're expressing your own authority through the half-hour session we've got together as well. And sometimes that authority is best coming out when you're in a dialogue.

What I'm getting at is, sometimes content creation for people can be the bottleneck or the overwhelm: "Well, what do we create next?" And documenting, and this is a Gary Vee thing too, but documenting is one of the fastest ways to start getting shit out there. Put your iPhone in the middle of the bloody boardroom table and go and publish that shit, get it out there. So there's so many different ways, and the key here is to start simple.

You don't have to invest in mine. I'd love for you to invest in my solution, but you don't have to. Because if it is a form of procrastination for you, and this is now getting into a bit more mindset stuff, if it's going to stop or slow you down, you've got to pull out your fucking smartphone, man. Because it's going to be the thing that is going to trigger some action that, by virtue of you repeating that action, builds the habit. The habit will then make it consistent, and therefore turn it into, right, "Oh, now we can scale up. Now we can bring the team on. Now we can leverage this."

So you getting in the deep end in your 30-day challenge, I think, shows you learn so much from doing that. And what's exciting about that is you see the gaps and the holes and the room for improvement, the process flaws and all these things that can then enhance the experience downstream. And there's no negative ROI on learning all this stuff ever, right? You always see the benefits and the value in it.

[29:53] Janine

Chris, do you mind if I actually share some learnings using your desktop system, a good and a bad?

[30:01] Chris

Yeah, good. Hopefully more good than bad, but I'm open to feedback always.

[30:04] Janine

No, good and bad, right? I think others can actually learn from the mistakes I made. So you have to imagine I have over 100 podcast episodes, for several years I've been doing this. And back in the day, I wish you could see my setup right now. Even if I'm in Bali right now and then in the US, I just have my iPhone in my tripod. And I use my earphones for today, but usually I have a portable microphone. It doesn't cost you much. Everyone can afford that. So with this, you can just do your podcasting.

So when I was in Sydney, we had this amazing solution from Chris. And I was like, instead of just pre-recording it, hey, you know what, I'm going to do it live. I'm going to use StreamYard or Riverside, I trialled both platforms. I'm going to blast it on all of my social media at the same time when I interview this person. And I also still recorded, right? But I didn't check. We had weekly coaching sessions with Chris. I just started. Of course I did a test run, but I didn't feel like I needed to check with Chris again.

So then I realised that one platform was easier to work with than the other platform. Because what happens is, when you stream at the same time and you connect it to YouTube, I think it was StreamYard, it automatically, with Chris's solution, decreased the pixels. But again, I was just so new. I didn't talk to anybody. I just got started. And then my first episode, the quality wasn't as high resolution, although Chris's camera and his whole teleprompter and system was such high resolution. But the online platform StreamYard automatically made it less, smashed it, because I live streamed it, right?

And then at the same time, in our business [unclear] in Sydney, my colleague had really fancy Rode gear, microphones and whatever. But because I didn't have a second person who could help me on site and who was an expert, it was really difficult. Just using Chris's desktop system, whether I had another guest next to me live in front of the camera or it was online, it was just easy. Instead of handling the whole Rode cameras and microphones and a whole setup and doing it live at the same time. I made a couple of mistakes, which then decreased the sound and the video quality at the same time, also because I wanted to do too much just by myself.

So to be honest, just going back to it: either use Chris's desktop system, do it by yourself, whether live with a person next to you or online. It's just easy. You can't get anything wrong. It's just very, very easy. And join the coaching sessions with Chris so he can give you some advice. And worst case, if you're like me, on the road all the time, you're in this country, in that city, interviewing someone, if you have a podcast, worst case, just go back to your iPhone, Huawei phone, Samsung, they have really good cameras nowadays. Get a portable microphone. To be honest, I still love my cables. I always have a second portable cable microphone with me as well. And have a tripod. A tripod costs you, what, $20, and you can have it in your backpack, in the plane. But at least you get started and you can't procrastinate, right? So there's a solution for everyone.

[33:44] Chris

There absolutely is. And you know, some guidance here and some action taking is definitely the core of this. Mindset, then skill set. Of course, we will enhance everything.

I think one of the things that came out early, you're talking about the touch points and all this stuff. One of my relationship coaches said, you know, it's 14 hours. Like, no, that can't be right. 14 hours of cumulative interactions with the product or brand is what it takes nowadays to activate a deal. Now, I subscribe to that. And I do it confidently because I've probably got that amount of time in video form, right? I don't track exactly where people consume me. But often people are well and truly informed when it comes to getting on these sales calls. The deals are closing easier than they ever have before, because they've already made up their mind. They've made purchasing decisions based on the collateral. And it's video, but it also is other things as well. But all of those are adding up to a positive outcome and a positive start to the relationship. Because "the way that you show up on video shapes who shows up in your business" is one of the mantras for the Video Confidence Collective.

But it's also at the core: you doing what you ordinarily do and documenting that and putting that out there doesn't mean it's a tattoo imprinted on everybody's minds for years to come. It is a fleeting moment, in some cases, whether they even watch it or not. So it's a case of dropping the bullshit that's floating around your head a little bit, and just accept that there's a very high chance that it is never seen by the person that actually needs to come on board. And with that in mind, maybe there's an inclination to produce more of it, even if it's at the sacrifice of quality, in aid of getting it out there. Because if the bottleneck is polish, that's no good.

I want to see people succeed no matter how they do it. I'm pro video and I'm pro marketing. All right. But if it means you've got to pull out Barbie Cam to get that thing documented, because it's the fastest thing, the closest tool that you've got to recording, Barbie Cam is it. Barbie Cam will do you. Okay. So the key here is, don't sit on an excuse to not do it because the bloody temperature in the room is not right, the vibration is not flowing as it should be. You must be able to push through that and be a bloody professional and accept that visibility outweighs the polish. You've got to keep pushing out there to make sure that you are seen and heard in a way that just blows your competition out of the water. And that's why I think 14 hours is a very practical amount of time.

But yeah, Janine's got it right on the money. Do the podcast, get out there. Visibility does not form in private. Okay. And I think that's the point I want to make: just act and things will come of it. I've got so many beautiful little clips I'd love to show at this point, but you'll have to wait until you jump into the Video Confidence Collective.

[37:36] Chris

Let me finally wrap this up, Janine, because there's been so much great stuff coming out, and I see a beautiful alignment here with our future webinar coming up on, what date, 11/11, 11am. Yeah, and there'll be more, and if you're only watching this and it's already past November, there'll be more to come. But the 11th is our next one. Put a note in the comments and we will send you a link. It's an opportunity to learn more about what we're talking about here between Janine and myself, a little joint venture, 90 minutes of bliss, all golden nuggets firing at you. And Janine is the absolute pro. Look, I've only got one more question. If an executive had 90 minutes with us both, what would you want them walking away with, or being able to do differently as a result?

[38:25] Janine

A roadmap and action plan, so they have the clarity. What are the next steps to take? And not just clarity, but also they will have the confidence. They know what the next steps are. And then most important is just start taking the first step. Within 24 hours after joining us on the webinar, take the first step.

Chris

And we're going to make it easy. So easy. The only bottleneck is you. So set yourself 90 minutes. And if it was me, I would set yourself another hour on top of that, some point later in the week or even that day, to do the things that we're telling you to do. Make the first step.

[39:14] Janine

Well said. I appreciate being on your amazing podcast. Guys, I definitely recommend working with amazing Chris Schwager, and I really look forward to seeing you on our webinar on November 11, 11am Sydney time.

[39:26] Chris (outro)

If something Janine said today landed, it's probably the thing you've been putting off, right? Find Janine at Full Potential Partners. And if you want help showing up on camera like the leader you are, then head to ridgefilms.com.au. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Janine. Love your work, and see you next time.

[39:48] Chris (show outro)

Thanks for listening to the Video Confidence Collective podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribe to us on YouTube so you never miss an episode. For more resources, check out the show notes, and follow me at Chris Schwager or Ridge Films, and see you on the next episode.

 

 

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