Video and Livestream Production Equipment: What’s in My Fanny Pack

I’m often asked what tools, technologies, and products I use to create video (especially livestream video for Facebook). This video (and post below with the links) will tell you everything you need to know!

I have just one favor to ask of you…please…pretty please…

If you decide to get a product you learned about here, would you be kind enough to click the links below and purchase from them? It goes to Amazon. Gives you the same price you’d get searching for the item yourself. But it tells Amazon that my site is referring them traffic and they like me better and give me a small percentage to say thank you. Plus, these stats are important to me as I try to pitch my services to companies.

Enjoy!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zMQYzfqF0gQ%3Fstart%3D1

Recommended (and other) Products

Lavalier (Clip-On) Mic Options  
  
Sennheiser ClipMic digital Mobile Recording Microphone for iOS Devices   Yes. It’s $190. But worth it. My absolute favorite mic. And it’s so tiny that it travels anywhere. The quality is superb (as you’ll see in the video) and you’ll find yourself using it way more than you think…believe me… Shure MVL Omnidirectional Condenser Lavalier Microphone [1/8″ (3.5mm)] + Windscreen, Tie-Clip, Mount and Carrying Pouch   Mid-range budget (about $70). If you’re not ready to drop $190 on a mic yet, here’s a less expensive option for you.  I haven’t tested it yet, but the reviews are pretty good. Professional Grade Lavalier Lapel Microphone ­ Omnidirectional Mic with Easy Clip On System ­ Perfect for Recording Youtube / Interview / Video Conference / Podcast / Voice Dictation / iPhone   For an even cheaper budget option, this mic has great reviews. I haven’t tested it, but it’s a good place to get started and will be better than just your phone alone for audio.
HANDHELD Mic Options  
  
IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD high-definition handheld microphone for iPhone, iPad and Mac (black)   For interviewing others on a livestream. I love this mic. The sound quality is great, even in very windy and noisy environments. I’ve used it at concerts, on top of tall buildings, and at parties and the audio comes through very clear (about $85). IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD 2 high-definition handheld digital microphone for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC   This is the newer version of the first mic. If I were in need of an upgrade, I’d get this. Honestly, though, the first version works well. I have the original version, but this one is a little easier to find for Prime members. But it’s about $25-30 more than the one I have (about $115). IK Multimedia iRig Mic handeld condenser mic for smartphones and tablets   Here’s another option, non iPhone specific version. I don’t think the quality is AS good, but it’s a little cheaper (around $60), and definitely better than no mic! This works on the headphone jack, so if you have a newer iPhone make sure to have your adapter handy. Can also use on computer.
CELL PHONE MOUNTS AND MINI TRIPODS  
  
Vastar Universal Cell Phone Tripod Mount Adapter Holder for iPhone/Samsung Galaxy/Nexus and More Cell Phones Use on Tripod, Monopod, Selfie Stick, Tabletop Tripod Stand and More   Under $5 and will fit with any existing tripod with a standard mount attachment. This is a no-brainer purchase. Plus, I think it’s more sturdy than some of the other (more expensive) mounts. Universal Mini Tripod, Walway Adjustable 360° Rotation Lightweight Desk Cell Phone Mount Stand for GoPro/ Cameras/ Camecorders/ Smartphones (Black)   The bare bones, basic, not super-high quality but functional mini-tripod. Will pack easily into any bag. Or even your back pocket. But you’ll need to also get a cell phone mount if you want to use this tripod. Rienar Octopus Style Portable and Adjustable Tripod Stand Holder for iPhone Cellphone   This bendy tripod I like quite a bit, especially at the price point (under $10). The mount that comes with it, I find, isn’t as good as the first one listed here, so I took it off and used my existing mount. But if you’re really on a budget, I’d get this one and rock it.

If I didn’t already have any of the above tools, though, and wanted to get a kit with everything, this is the one I would purchase. Flexible tripod. Strong cell phone mount. And a Bluetooth remote. (All under $20!)

KobraTech Mini Cell Phone Tripod – TriFlex Mini – Flexible iPhone Tripod for Any Smartphone

Home Studio Equipment (Used to make the video above)  
   
Neewer 75″/6 Feet/190CM Photography Light Stands for Relfectors, Softboxes, Lights, Umbrellas, Backgrounds   Super cheap. Super compact. Super easy-to-use tripod. It’s lightweight, easily storeable, and sturdy enough for home use, Even though the title says lighting and backdrop stand, it has a standard tripod screw mount for your phone adapter (shown above). Brightech Eclipse LED Floor Lamp – Double Rings of Light Bring Sci-Fi Ambiance to Contemporary Spaces – Dimmable Bright Halo Tall Standing Modern Lamp for Living Room, Bedroom and Office – Silver   This light makes me so happy. It doubles as a floor lamp! And it looks cool. I can lower the big ring, put my phone on the tripod in the middle of the ring, and record with easy lighting. Plus, three light settings! Oh! The Chatlight! I like this handy little guy. If you want to get one, please use THIS LINK because they like it when I refer people to them.   In fact, they were the first company about 18 months ago who reached out after I posted about their product online and gifted me an extra light as a thank-you. My first taste of what being an influencer could feel like…I want more of that! 🙂

And, of course, be sure to grab a copy of my book! Dynamic Communication: 27 Strategies to Grow, Lead, & Manage Your Business (from Entrepreneur Press). You can get more strategies for using video to GROW your business in chapters 6, 7, 8, & 9!

Dynamic Communication: 27 Strategies to Grow, Lead, and Manage Your Business

Dynamic Communication Book

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

 

Communication is more than words. Successful, DYNAMIC COMMUNICATION is measured by the actions and results that you generate—not the messages you produce.

GROW Your Business

Get 27 actionable strategies that you can implement to grow your business. Each chapter can be read independent of others, so in as little as 10 minutes you get an idea that can change your business.

Lead Your Business

Contributions from top entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone, John Lee Dumas, Jay Baer, Kat Loterzo, Robin Koval, Ekaterina Walter and 20+ more, give you real advice from real success stories.

Manage Your Business

Feedback is the motor oil that keeps your business engine running. Learn how to manage your teams and keep your people innovating with proven communication and engagement strategies.

Strategies to Accelerate Your Business

8 Parts. 27 Strategies. 100% Action.

The Bare Basics

Things you need to understand about communication

Sales Machine/Ninja/Badass

Providing service and growing sales

Marketing that Educates

Creating value-filled, magnetic marketing

Oh the Humanity!

Public communication strategies that help you connect

Speak Out, Speak Up

Giving presentations that inspire action

Inner Workings

How to manage teams, meetings, and get buy-in

Like a Boss

Leading and managing so people want to work for and with you

Retain, Innovate, or Die

Strategies for employee retention and development

Jill’s Juicy Bytes: Visual Communication and Retaining Design in Office 365 PowerPoint

Have you ever created a brilliant PowerPoint presentation, sent it off to a client or uploaded it into a webinar system, only to find out that your branding and design integrity were no longer present?

Here’s a hack for you to fix that problem.

Save your PPT slides as images and then create a new file, what I call the LOAD version (which is the version the client, the system, or you will LOAD for your presentation), and create a slide deck where your brand, design, and custom fonts or illustrations all maintain the original look and feel.


Check out Jill’s Juicy Bytes as a featured segment on the National Speakers Association’s Voices of Experience and the accompanying site with even more tech tips and tricks and strategies combining communication, education, and technology.

Developing Employees on Different Paths: The Principle of Equifinality

The idea of equifinality means that there are many paths to the same end—there are multiple ways to reach a final goal.

Think of navigating in New York City from Times Square to Lincoln Center. There are many different ways you can get from point A to point B, and many different methods of transportation to get you between points. Depending on traffic, subway schedules, weather, and other assorted factors, one way is likely faster than the others.

By choosing to take one way over the other—say on this given day it’s a taxi—you’re missing out on many other possible discoveries and observations that walking or taking a bus or subway would have presented.

If you’re focusing on cultivating a culture of innovation and developing your employees, those potential discoveries and observations are key to growth.

A fatal flaw that many managers make is assuming that their ideas or processes are always the best—the most efficient—and therefore need to be continually executed. This assumption (and acting on it) kicks any type intrapreneurial thinking to the curb. In doing so, you’re likely to lose top talent and have trouble retaining employees, especially millennials.

In organizations there are many ways to accomplish a single task. The concept of equifinality is alive and well. Yes, some processes may be more efficient than others, but often times in allowing employees the freedom to chart their own path, new efficiencies emerge.

An employee’s learning process in accomplishing a task is just as important as the task itself.

Here’s an example that applies to sales teams in almost any industry.

Think of a speech, or sales-script, written out word-for-word. If you give this document to ten different employees and tell them they must recite this pitch to-the-letter during all sales conversations, you’d ensure that the words coming out of their mouths were exact. But in doing so you’d be missing out on significant opportunities to develop individual delivery skills, provide employees ownership over their scripts, cater to a customer’s unique needs, and cultivate sustainable relationships between your sales force and potential clients.

How can you use the principle of equifinality to develop your employees? If you’re not sure, let’s have a conversation.

Note: In a previous blog I talked about three phrases that leaders should never use if they want to encourage innovation and participation. One of these phrases, “That’s now how we do things around here,” is very applicable to this post.