Programs: Lubin School of Business and Career Services (led by Jim Davis, Assistant Director, Lubin Programs and Services)
Goal: Assist Senior business majors in creating a brief “elevator pitch” video they can use when applying for jobs. Deliver edited video file to students for publication on career platforms such as LinkedIn.
Outcome: After prototyping a collaboration and production model with two students, we plan to offer seniors the opportunity to sign up for this project in Fall ’23. All shooting will take place on a single day, with students delivering a polished performance in 1-2 takes. With preparation, students will be able to use a teleprompter.
Background:
Through his faculty role and staff role in Career Services, Professor Davis is responsible for helping prepare Lubin business majors for the job market. While the students can create and deliver great pitches, it’s a significant additional step to create a great recording. That’s where the OLC comes in.
Production:
While it would be a big endeavor to organize and produce 20-30 different pitches, Professor Davis was committed to a collaboration. This fall, he will help students prepare for the recording, and organize a 1-day event in the studio.
OLC staff will be ready with a teleprompter. Students will be guided to prepare and practice their script, and will get 5-10 minutes in front of the camera to get a great take (each pitch is about 1.5 minutes). Professor Davis will be present to give the students direction on their performance. Here’s his promotional video to recruit interest with students:
A simple background (see Davis above) and lav mic will be used. OLC staff with make minor edits to the best take, and add the student’s name on screen.
The use of the teleprompter really makes these videos stand out. Students will be able to make direct eye contact throughout the video, while using their notes to deliver a smooth performance. Eye contact is very important, and creates a strong connection between the viewer and the video. It will take practice, however, and Professor Davis will work with students prior to shooting to help them look and sound their best.
Similar videos are popular with faculty for marketing their programs, or even delivering short scripts for conferences and Projects. We use PowerPoint to create and run our teleprompter, as it’s very intuitive and requires less practice than other “scroll-based” software.
We look forward to working with Jim and the Lubin students this fall!
We hope you’ve found this OLC case study useful. Are you ready to try something out? Please contact OLC staff to begin collaborating with us or reserve studio time.