Confidence Classic: Build Confidence on Camera and Grow Your Business with Kim Rittberg

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1:12Because if you believe in what you're talking about and you're knowledgeable, you're teaching people, you're educating people. And if you're funny, then you're entertaining them. I'm on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity, and set you up for a better tomorrow. I'm ready for my close-up. Tell me, have you been enjoying these new bonus confidence classics episodes we've been dropping on you every week? We've literally hundreds of episodes for you to listen to. So these bonuses are a great way to help you find the ones you may have already missed.

1:46I hope you love this one as much as I do. I'm so excited for you to meet Kim Ritberg today. She's an award-winning content strategy expert in TV, digital, video, and audio. She's been featured in Business Insider and spent 15 years as a media executive at Netflix, People Magazine, TV News, and launching the first ever video unit for Us Weekly. I love Us Weekly. Kim has been a speaker and instructor at Penn, Syracuse University, and General Assembly, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School. Through her company, Kim helps brands and professionals be better on camera and make unforgettable content to grow their business.

2:26She also hosts Mom's Exit Interview Podcast, which I was just on, after deciding to quit corporate to run her own business after working in the hospital while giving birth to her second child. And the podcast helps women craft careers that work for them instead of the other way around, even when it seems terrifying. Kim, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you so much for having me. First of all, tell us a story. How were you working when you were giving birth? Like, what is that whole nightmare? What happened? It was a whole nightmare. That's exactly true. So I had been working in media for 15 years and I had the opportunity, like seriously dream job.

3:06I'd been in TV news for 10 years. I switched into digital and I got to run the Us Weekly video unit and not just run it, but like build a business inside a business. And it was everything I wanted. Like, I'm really like very ambitious. I love like building something and I loved running a team. And it was such a dream come true. So I was leading a 17 person team. I had my first baby there. I joke, I had two babies, baby Lily and baby Us Weekly. And a very amazing unit full of great creative people. But when I was pregnant with my second, we were getting acquired. And typical messy acquisition, everyone's getting fired or laid off or quitting or whatever.

3:46I wasn't laid off. None of my team was fired or anything actually. the new the new people said we love the video unit so much it's a big part of the reason we bought it I'm like oh well this is my reward like everyone on my team is quitting all of my peer executives were laid off and I had to build everything I had just built over the last two and a half years while nursing a newborn again all from scratch and I just I was just I realized this is just not what I wanted like I just felt like this caricature of myself I'm in the hospital in the labor and delivery room, getting fluids, you know, the ivies.

4:22And I'm on my phone saying, okay, if John doesn't want the job, then you should offer it to Eliza. And then if Eliza can't happen for this job, look at this person. And I'm like, what am I doing? I felt like such a caricature of myself. Like I'm actually like a whole well-rounded normal person who doesn't do that. And I just, everything felt out of whack. And I decided that day I need to figure out a different way where I can bring my skills and my experience to the working world, but in a way where I just have more control. I want to be fulfilled professionally. Absolutely. But I also want to be present with my children and I have little kids.

4:56And for as long as they want me around, I want to be there a little bit more. So that's when you decided you decided that day that you were out. I decided that day that something was off. But just like real world, it's messy. I took two more years and two more jobs to launch my business. So, you know, I come from media. The soundbite is like, I was in the hospital and then I launched my business and now it's so successful. No way. I earned like a few thousand dollars freelancing in that area. I thought I would launch my business. And then I was a little bit stressed out. Like, how am I really going to make this be a full-time career, a full-time salary, a full-time income?

5:32And so I took two other jobs. I worked at PopSugar as a vice president of branded content. And then I worked at Netflix in marketing. And I loved those experiences. I valued them, but I 100 % knew I wanted to work for myself at that point. It just, you know, it just, I really had that clarity of, I want to take all the things I've learned and help people. And I do feel like I learned all of this from media and also branded content. So I'd worked with Target and Essie and Kia and AT &T, crafting these really interesting branded content projects. And I feel like there's all these professionals and smaller brands out there that could use someone like me.

6:09So I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to try it. I'm just going to go for it. I have no idea what's going to happen. And I just started, like you said, you know, I just started putting one foot in front of another. I told a few people that I was looking for clients or projects. I made sure to say I'm not looking for full-time work and I launched my business. And so my business, I help businesses and professionals be better on camera and make amazing content to grow their revenue and their client base. And it's been amazing, but like, I definitely had that at the beginning. My confidence was like all over the place, I'd have a great project.

6:42And then I'd be like, no, one's ever going to hire me again. But of course, like if you're doing good work and you're meeting people and you're networking, you will get clients again, like your business will keep growing. And I'm on year three and every year is better than the last. So that's, I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy that you finally made that leap. All right. So let's get into, I love this topic about the importance of video content, how to become confident on video, how to shine on video and how to create content for businesses with video. Because so many companies that I've consulted with, I'm on the board of a company that doesn't create video content, right?

7:18But then I even look at myself, Kim, and you and I were talking about this off air, I can get up on the biggest stage in the world. And I'm like, wind me up and let me go. But the minute I'm sitting at my house alone and thinking, okay, I guess I should probably create video content. I'm sitting with the phone. Then I get frustrated. I'm like, what am I even going to talk about? Forget it. No. And I put it down and I don't do it. So what is this whole, why are people afraid or resistant or like, what, what is this stuff point with video content? So you raise the best point. As soon as you put a camera or an iPhone in someone's face and you turn that little red or green button on, it steals your soul.

7:56Instantly, everyone's insecurities, self-doubt, just feeling like you're not interesting comes out. So I've worked with executives, CEOs, Congress people. Everyone is like, I don't know what to say. Like, I'm not interesting. Why should I talk? I'm like, of course you are. Like, you're so smart. You're so established. So the first thing is everyone feels this way. I think the level setting is super, super important because it doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, like, you know, your job, everyone feels self-conscious on camera. So I think understanding that helps then to the next stage, figuring out why are you putting yourself on camera?

8:34Once you really identify that this is a business goal, I think it's a lot easier to say, okay, maybe I don't feel that comfortable. Maybe I'm not really sure why I'm filming an Instagram story in my bagel store, but I understand this in some way is helping people connect to me is, is putting me myself out there to grow my business. So I think number one, everyone's self-conscious number two, like that is just, it's just so important to understand that you need to remember it's a business goal. Otherwise, if you're trying to be an influencer, that's a different thing, but you're primarily trying to put yourself on video or on podcasts because you want more clients or you want more revenue.

9:12So then from there, it's really, really all about practice. It's a skill and you have to start every single day talking to your camera. It's an uncomfortable and awkward thing to do. And the first 10 times you'll record yourself, you will hate it. You'll hate hearing your voice. You'll hate seeing your face. It doesn't matter what you look like. You'll think you look terrible. So every time it gets easier, I have a couple of like nitty gritty tips that I give people. So first there's the mindset stuff. Before you're about to film, play some fun music. Whether you're a yoga person or you're like a EDM person, play that music that makes you feel great.

9:52And that's going to get you into the right mindset. Right before you're on camera, gotta do breathing. Our body does that fight or flight. It's like, ah, I don't want to do this. I'm so nervous. Like your breathing is off. Your brain is shutting down a little bit. the breathing will help you come into the body. So you're feeling good with music, you're getting your breathing, and then you have the messaging, which is a little out of order. You gotta have your message down because I think you can never, ever be good on camera if you don't know what you're gonna say. Like you have to have that. So those are the three main things I think is really important for people to remember being on camera.

10:27So it's that messaging, it's that getting into the right mindset, and then there's that breathing. So those are like the three things. And then as you're filming to your camera, you have to just get into practice every single time. It's going to get a little easier. You got to feel like you're talking to your friend, whoever your friend is, you have to be conversational. And this is a hard thing because it is one of those things that only comes with practice. But the more you do it, at the beginning, I did on-camera reporting for like local news, like many years ago. My first videos were awful.

10:57I was a deer in the headlights. I was robotic. I was impersonating what I thought a reporter should sound like. Everyone does that. over time, you'll get your own voice and your own voice on video will soon sound like your actual voice. So I think those are the real keys. It's messaging, it's getting to the right mindset, it's doing the breathing, and then it's talking casually and conversationally to your phone, which over time will be more natural.

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14:10Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Don't wait. Go to quince.com slash confidence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash confidence to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince dot com slash confidence. I ask you to try to find your passion. So around the messaging, because this is super interesting to me, I always figured and I know I don't know. I figured just like ad lib, turn the camera on and just talk. Right. I never thought about like be strategic, Heather, and have a plan. However, now that I'm thinking about it, I sat down with a friend of mine and she had written out all these questions.

14:56She was off camera and she was asking the question. It was so easy to create the content that day because it was very much planned. And she knew what the goals were and what questions she was asking me. So it was very easy for me to answer. When you are working with a person or a brand, how do you guide them around that messaging strategy? So messaging is the most important thing before you even lift a camera or take your phone out. So at the very core of it, you have to know what you're offering people and you have to know who you are as a brand or as a professional. Once you have that, you write down your message.

15:30I generally recommend for people to slash 30%, okay? Because you want a really succinct and high energy message. The more words slows it down, slows down the energy. So my number one thing is you write down, I'm Kim Ritberg. I'm an award-winning content expert. I spent 15 years in national media, and now I help professionals and brands be better on camera and grow their business with content. Every time I try to say, okay, can I take out one or two words? You try to get it tighter and tighter. So that messaging is really, really important. So that's one of the things. And then I do, I think the elevator pitch that I teach people also comes into point for messaging.

16:08When we think about messaging, it could be for brands, it could be for professionals. Messaging is also selling yourself, right? So if you're doing an elevator pitch, you have 30 seconds probably to sell yourself and no more than that, truly. And I think about that message is A, B, C. A, you get your accolades right at the front. You tell somebody, if you have your Harvard MBA, you put that right in the front. Business, your business background or anything like that that relates to the thing that you're talking about or selling. And then C, creative. Any fun spin that makes you you. You know, if you travel the world for a year, if you're an Olympic lacrosse player, just like something fun that personal that cracks open a way to talk to you.

16:51So that elevator pitch message can be applied to a lot of different things. But I think that's the way. And the reason I created this framework when I worked in media, I sat on these panels with hundreds of people pitching me. And I got pitched all the time just because I was a TV producer. And people come up and they'd say, oh, I'm a dentist. I do this and that. I love kids. And then I would be like, you went to Oxford or like you invented the type of enamel for teeth that is used all over. Whatever that accolade is, that should be the first thing you're saying, because that's really selling me in on you.

17:24Because when you're trying to get on media or trying to get press, that journalist or producer, they have to love you, but they have to sell you to their boss, too. They have to be like, Heather is the best. She was a CRO. She was the number one person in her area. She made$55 million. dollars, I'd be like, wow. And then I feel like I can sell you to my boss. So those are a couple of things to really keep in mind when you're creating that elevator pitch or the messaging. When you look back at your career, having been at People, at Us, Netflix, what were some of the commonalities, things that each one of these massive companies did around their content strategy that you saw was a theme so that we can all learn from that?

18:05And then what were some of the nuances or differences that made each one of them different? This is such a great question. So what I love about my career is that I feel like I've gotten to learn so many different things. So I started in TV, writing stories that are 30 seconds, maybe two and a half minutes, breaking news and entertainment. And then over time, shifting into digital video, which is not on TV, obviously. It's like it's on your phone or it's on your computer, short form. But within there, I also did hour-long content. So I really understand how to tell a story short to long. And then I switched into podcasts as well.

18:34So now I'm sort of like a Jane of all trades. One of the things that I find for all of these things that I help brands apply to it is we talked about this before about the message. When you're starting to do content, you get your message, make sure it's not too complicated. So all of these things that you never will see a media outlet tell a story that's about like 20 different people all around the world doing something. It's always like there's three central people or there's, you know, one couple and this other couple and they're intertwined. Like it's not too complicated because people don't like something that's so complicated.

19:07So when I teach people, I have this, like I'm auditioning a new framework called the messy framework. I'm auditioning with you, Heather. So M, your message, not too complicated. Tell your granny, go call your granny, explain what you're about to do. Explain the message you're about to do. Read her your script. If she doesn't understand it, that's not your message. Okay. Keep boiling it down. Boil it down until your seven-year-old cousin and your granny can both understand it. then you have a great message. So that's something from Netflix to Us Weekly to cable news, the message super simple. You're on camera.

19:40This is more like for professionals being on camera. A lot of professionals like don't want to be on camera, but you have to be. You know, I think there was this trend for a little while that I saw in digital video where it's a lot of content and words, but not a lot of sound. And if you still see it a little bit, but not as much, people really like connecting with faces. They really like seeing people and getting to know you. So I'm all a fan of an inspirational quote, but putting yourself on camera is really the way to go. And so I think you're seeing that as a trend back to that. You're seeing that really everywhere.

20:13YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, people putting themselves on video because that's how you build connection. You know, that's how you get to know people. So putting a moving quote on a screen, it's just never gonna build that connection in that same way that a person will. Oh my God, this thing, as I said, this is a messy plan, right? M-E-S-S-Y, message. E, easy to understand. That's the E, S, strategy plan. You need a strategy. So every one of these places, you would never just turn on a camera and be like, guess what? We're recording. You know why? That's a huge waste of money. It's a huge waste of money.

20:48So every time you're recording something, you don't have a script or you don't have a plan, you're wasting your time and you're wasting your money. If you hired a camera person or an editor, you're wasting everybody's time and money. So you really have to come in there with a strategy and so that's for every single place and it's it's interesting you know now that i work more with professionals or brands they sometimes feel more time starved or perhaps budget starved but so does everyone you know i was running a 17 person team at us weekly i had to say no to plenty of great ideas so plenty of celebrities would pitch us weekly to do a video and i would say no because you're always going to run out of time and money so you have to have that strategy and plan and decide like what's important to me right now in this quarter or in this half year and you have to be really ruthless and you have to really stick to that because money and time is going to go away.

21:33Okay. And then the why is you're a journalist. You're always a journalist. You're never a salesperson. No offense, Heather. I love me a good salesperson. But the main thing is you will never see media outlets and you should never see brands selling. No one wants to watch commercials unless it's the Super Bowl. So that is like one of the keys. And when I did branded content within these media outlets, You know, when we're working with Swiffer or Target or Essie or AT &T or whoever, or NyQuil, ZQuil, you're never making an ad. You're really always thinking, how can I make this fun? How can I make this feel like something somebody would want to watch on their phone?

22:14So that could be entertaining. That could be educational. That could be touching. It could be moving. But it can't just sell. As soon as it sells, everyone's swiping by it. Nobody wants to watch that. So those are some of the things that I feel like run through both all of the media outlets and also the branded content I did at those outlets. I feel like those are the messages that I have taken with me. And now I try to apply to brands and professionals because people don't know that if you're a lawyer, you're a doctor, you're running your wellness clinic, you haven't spent 15 years in media. So why would you think about that?

22:46You shouldn't. No problem. You know, but now that I have thought about that, I really do apply that. And that's what I think is like really, really interesting. is just getting your headset as a journalist. Like, what do you think somebody would be interested in hearing from you? And it takes a little bit of mindset shift, but once you do, you will have just like a Google doc full of ideas. Like once you unlock that, the brainstorm's just gonna flow. How do you get these brands and companies to drive revenue if you don't want them selling on video? How do you convert? So converting is, you know, that flow process.

23:23you know, like, know, and trust, all of that. Like people have to feel a connection to your brand and you have to stay relevant to them continuously. You're gonna have multiple touch points, right? So they might not buy from you from that video about the best smiles in America. I'm just like making up a random thing. Like maybe you're a toothbrush brand or you're a dentist or whatever, and you're doing something about like the greatest smiles in America. And it's videos of like old ladies and babies and whoever, right? Maybe someone's not clicking and buying from that video, but it's gotta be a part of your mix.

23:53Because if all you're doing is selling, you're not even going to have followers. If you're only selling, it's like the equivalent of your mail being full of junk mail. You know, it can't always just be offers and discounts and coupons and stuff. It has to be, you have to build that relationship. And you see brands, there are lots of brands doing amazing on social. That's because so little of their content marketing is selling. So much of it is marketing. And also some of the content marketing. So content marketing, obviously, you know, is the sort of marketing that companies are doing that make it fun and make you want to watch it.