• August 29, 2018
  • Mark LaCour
  • 0

Tools for public speaking and Mevo.

All right. We’re going to talk about a bunch of stuff today, but I want to start by apologizing for my lack of posting any new content for almost all of 2018. I went through some very big personal issues. I got divorced, I had to move, and at the exact same time my business exploded in growth. So you put those things together and I just have had not enough time to put out good content. 

But we’re setting ourselves up for 2019 to make sure we put out stuff that you find valuable and useful. So I appreciate everybody’s continuing patience. And we’re also changing our business. So you know I have the top podcasts in the oil and gas industry, and that business is growing. But modalpoint, my old market research business has now changed and is now my speaking platform. So I now get paid to speak.

Along those lines, we’re going to start talking about some tools for public speaking. That’s what we’re going to be talking about today actually. So I appreciate everybody’s patience. I promise you come 2019 we’ll start posting more good stuff like this tools for public speaking on a much more regular basis. 

Tools for Public Speaking – Live Streaming

Tools for public speaking

So, let’s talk about life as a public speaker and let’s talk about some tools or some of things you may need to accomplish. So one of those things is live streaming. You know with the growth of social media, if you can pick and choose which one of your public speaking events that you like, it may actually help you market your public speaking business.

Now the problem with that is how do you actually do it? We have tried all kinds of tools for public speaking. I have special preamps and microphones that we plug into, dynamic audio mixers that feed into our smartphones and our tablets. We’ve done a couple of live streams like that that you’ve seen the audio is really good, the video not so much. And believe it or not, that’s the combination if you had to pick one that you would want. You never want bad audio. You can have okay video and great audio and you’re fine, people watch it and get value out of it. If you have bad audio and good video, they stop watching immediately. 

The other thing is you have to think about cost. You can get a professional crew out there. It will cost you around five grand and they will have multiple cameras and a bunch of software and good audio equipment. They will  live stream your event like a pro. If you don’t want to spend that time or money, or if you don’t have the time to find where those companies are. You need to know how to do it yourself. We have yet to figure out the magic solution.

Magic or Not – Mevo

One of the things that we’re trying, which is the subject of this video is the Mevo Plus. The Mevo Plus is basically a camera crew in a box is how they pitch it. We liked what we saw. We’re going to do some unboxing and and then show you the video and audio from the Mevo Plus. We think this might be a great tool for public speaking.

 

Now this video and this audio that you’re listening to right now is shot on an iPhone 8 using app called FiLMic Pro. And don’t worry, we’ll put links to all the stuff in the show notes including the Mevo stuff, so you can just click and go check it out.

If you’re watching this somewhere other than the modalpoint blog, you need to go find this post on the blog. That’s the only place that all the back links will be. It’s not going to be at YouTube or anywhere else.

Anyway the video we’re shooting right now is being done with my iPhone 8 using an app called FiLMic Pro. And then the microphone we’re using is the Samson Go Mic Mobile, a wireless lav. You can probably see the lav right here. It took me a long time to find a wireless microphone that I liked, that worked well with my iPhone. I shoot everything on my iPhone. Every video you ever watched me do, it’s all been shot in my iPhone. We’ll give you a glimpse of what that looks like as well.

Unboxing Time

So, this is perfect point, let’s move over to the unboxing of the Mevo. 

All right. So, I bought the complete Mevo Plus Kit. We’re going to go ahead and unbox it now. I got the actual camera, the Mevo boost, this really cool carrying case, and this awesome tripod. We’re going to put the tripod and the carrying case aside for now and we’re just going to actually concentrate on the camera. Very nice wrapping, reminds me of Apple the way this thing is packaged. Let’s get our handy-dandy box opener out and let’s see what’s in the box.

Mevo

And there it is, the Mevo camera. Look at it compared to my hand, how small this thing is. We open up the box and we have it looks like instructions, a USB cable, battery charger and the mount. The mount is what allows the Mevo Plus to be mounted to any tripod or microphone stand, which is actually a kinda nice touch. So, we’re going to stick that back in here and now, let’s get to the boost.

The boost is more than just an extra battery for the Mevo. The boost also allows you to connect external audio, to connect via Ethernet and a whole bunch of other things. It also gives you ten hours of battery life. So when you’re thinking of tools for public speaking, having that ability to go for ten hours without you having to worry about losing a battery is huge. And it’s really was not that much more money. Once again the packaging is exquisite. And there is the boost. And then, underneath the boost is quick start guide, more cables. So, let’s get this bad boy set up. 

All right. Now, that you’ve seen me unbox, let’s see what the video actually looks like on the Mevo. So we’re going to switch to the Mevo and let you see how that video looks and sounds.

Mevo See for Yourself

Here’s what the video and the actually looks like on the Mevo and sounds like. Like I told you I would give you a glimpse of what we shoot with now. If you look over here, this is my iPhone 8 set up and this is the Samsung Go Mic mobile receiver for the lav, and there’s various microphones you can attach to that. This is what we shoot all of our videos on. We love the camera on the iPhone, it’s super easy you always have it with you. 

Let’s get back to Mevo. Now, one of the things that you may notice and I’m holding my iPad. I’m holding my iPad to control the Mevo because you’re seeing this zoomed in. But the truth is if the Mevo wants to, it can see all of these. How incredible is that? So I go back to close-up on me. We can actually set this to pan around the room, if I want you to just look at my computer. It’s all intuitive and while you’re speaking, you can have somebody else control this. It’s very easy as it’s touch and drag, you can do all kinds of cool stuff. 

But, the thing that’s going to be interesting to see is what does this look like in a live setting when there’s other people, when there’s table noise, when there’s chairs, when there’s cars driving back and forth. Like I said we’re just testing this out. We think this is a good fit if you’re looking for tools for public speaking and to live stream. When you speak publicly, business-wise or whatever, this may be something you want to look into. 

More Tools for Public Speaking on the Way

Give me a couple of weeks working with this and using it as a tools for public speaking and I’m going to update everybody and let you know what we think. But this may be something you want to look into.

All right, so this is step one. We’re going to do a whole bunch of these. We unboxed the Mevo, we showed you a little bit, we’re going to start using it. We’ll update you as we get better at it. But, as far as tools for public speaking, here’s one that maybe useful for you. We’re going to do a whole series on tools for public speaking, so stay tuned for more. 

If you like this and you found it valuable, can you do me a favor? Share it, do the all company email thing or click the social buttons or just share this with your friends.

So, folks, I hope this helped. We will see you next time.