Lights, Camera, Action: The Importance of Video Marketing with Matt Kjar

Join Roberto as he chats with Matt Kjar, a storytelling expert and video content strategist. Discover how Matt’s background in acting led him to recognize the power of storytelling in business, and learn practical tips for creating engaging video content that resonates with your audience.

In This Episode, Roberto and Matt cover:

  • The importance of storytelling in business and how it helps connect with your audience
  • Common mistakes business owners make when creating video content
  • The three core stories every business should tell: Origin, Mission, and Win (OMW)
  • Practical tips for creating impactful and engaging videos, even with just a smartphone
  • How to avoid perfectionism and actually share the content you create
  • The importance of including a call-to-action in your videos
  • Strategies for creating both short-form and long-form video content

Matt shares his free four-part video series on storytelling, which covers the four key steps: Setup, Tension, Execution, and Payoff. He emphasizes the importance of not just consuming information, but also implementing it in your own content creation.

Tune in to learn how to bring the power of storytelling in your video content and take your business communication to the next level!

Resources:

Matt Kjar’s website: www.mattkjar.com

Free four-part video guide on storytelling: https://mattkjar.com/storytelling-guide-oi/ 

https://www.periscopeproductions.com

http://robertocandelaria.com/

Connect on Instagram: @robertocandelaria

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00 Roberto Candelaria: Well hey y’all Roberto here and listen today we’re having a conversation with Matt care Matt is somebody that I met on this lovely coaching world and Matt is an Emmy award-winning photographer producer who found coaching when he was navigating some change in his own life and found coaching to be in 2 words.

00:00:20 Roberto Candelaria: Life changing so over the past 20 years matts had experience working in television and interviewing celebrities working on the Olympics most recently just working on the Paris Olympic.

00:00:32 Roberto Candelaria: And most of all telling peoples stories and so today Matt is going to be talking about why the art of video storytelling why video is so important to coaches to online business owners and so I hope that you will join us for this conversation today.

00:00:52 Roberto Candelaria: To figure out how do you make video a more integrative part of your marketing of your impact as a coach.

00:00:03 Roberto Candelaria: OK y’all so. There’s a little bit of drama with this episode, and I’m just going to call it out. So Matt and I actually recorded this episode. Well, a version of this episode previously. And then we had a whole tech tech snafu. And when I say we, I mean me and my team, we we tried a new software and we didn’t realized that it deleted recordings after a certain period of time, and it wasn’t even that long Gill. Anyways, I say that to say that like I had all types of, like crazy head trash going on like, Oh my gosh, I can’t. Don’t Matt, like Matt’s the video guy that’s going to be like, what were y’all even thinking? Why did y’all do that? And it’s so crazy that we do that as humans y’all.

00:00:49 Roberto Candelaria: And so Matt and I are here today, we’re going to have a beautiful conversation and I share that to say that I hope that you just allow yourself grace in this process and realize that when you can do that for you, that people will also extend that back to you when you’re dealing with awesome people. So Matt, here we are again, friend.

00:01:12 Matt Kjar: And I love like, I love this for so many reasons. But there are two things that I want to point out about this like one. The courage to one recognize, like, oh, something went wrong. And two, like the vulnerability to be like, hey, can we do this again? And both of us being like totally that’s like I I loved because our conversation previously was so great and I got so much out of it. And so there wasn’t like there’s no downside to that conversation like that, it didn’t record or anything like I. I’ve changed things inside of my business from that conversation already. So. So it’s I think that one of the things that I love about this is that one you recognizing and also me recognizing that technology is something that is there to make our lives easier, and sometimes it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t like we just try again.

00:02:05 Roberto Candelaria: Yeah, I listen that that is the whole thing, technologies there to make our lives easier. If it doesn’t, we try again and I think like that’s part of this whole journey of entrepreneurship, is just being willing to try and try and try and try again and one day it works and some days It does it.

00:02:26 Matt Kjar: Yeah. Well, it’s funny too, because and that’s when we have the opportunity to kind of coach ourselves too, right? I I was recording with a client. I was showing the client how to utilize some equipment, a new piece of equipment that I recommended and and it didn’t work exactly how it’s supposed to work for me either. And and and I said OK. And so when this happens, we turn it off and turn it back on. And she was like, wait, what? And I was like, yeah, when this happens, if it starts starts not working, then we just reset it and she’s like.

00:02:58 Matt Kjar: Oh, you’re approaching this in a very different way than I did. And I was like, well, tell me more. And she goes. Yeah, I didn’t like, think I’ll just turn it off and start over again. I was like, why isn’t this stupid thing working? Why? Why didn’t it? And I was like, oh, it’s OK. Like, that’s just. I’ve learned that sometimes I just have to have do a hard reset and start again.

00:03:19 Matt Kjar: And then then sometimes that’s when it’s going to make it really easy to to start over and and make it work how I. Want it to?

00:03:27 Roberto Candelaria: Yeah. And I think that like as business owners, we sometimes forget that, especially when it comes to like us to our. Let’s say our content our words like when it like, when it comes to like the actual story of business itself, and I know that we want to have a conversation about that. So I guess like. Let’s start with. How did you actually get started in the art? And I and I do say it’s an art of storytelling because the you do it so much differently than other people. Like, how did you get started in this?

00:04:03 Matt Kjar: Thank you. I appreciate that. So I actually started as a child actor, which is kind of funny. I I acted as a kid, and I remember being on set on a movie set and watching all these people kind of. It was almost like spokes in a wheel. Like there was this one person who everybody was kind of going to and like figuring it out and then OK, where do we want this light? Where do we want that camera? Where do we want all these different things? And I remember watching that person and being like, who is that like? Who’s that person? I want to be that person. They’re taking all this. All these crazy things around them and making this magic happen. But I recognize very early on the power of story and how.

00:04:47 Matt Kjar: It was so important. You can’t have, like, we wouldn’t watch a a movie if it didn’t have a story that’s going to keep pulling us forward. And it’s funny. I actually just did a call last week and I was talking to somebody and they said, well, I don’t really like stories. I I like the facts only and I like, I like documentaries and stuff like that. But I don’t really like stories. And I was like, oh, documentary has a story. Like, there is a story that’s happening there and whether we recognize it or not and and so figuring out those story elements and then drawing them out is so powerful and and that’s kind of how I got started is, is, is acting and feeling the emotion inside of that storytelling process.

00:05:34 Roberto Candelaria: And and you said that like, you know, story is happening whether you realize it or not. So why is storytelling so crucial for today’s business owner?

00:05:45 Matt Kjar: Yeah, storytelling is the way that we interact with the world. It’s the way that we make sense of the world and it’s the way that we connect with each other and with those around us and so when we start telling stories when we’re telling a story in a way that connects with our audience and connects with us, there’s something that happens where our our chemistry actually starts to mimic each other. Our brain waves actually start to mimic each other and move alongside each other. And and it’s when the person is telling the story and when the person is hearing the story.

00:06:19 Matt Kjar: And we start to connect with with each other, even like watching facial expressions. Yeah, we mirror each other like we we smile. I would remember watching this one producer. I was working with and she’d be watching the edit that I had just finished and she’d be at moments she’d be like furrowing her brow, and then her. She’d be lifting her eyebrows and smiling. And I, and even, like, kind of mouthing the words along with people. And I was like, oh, that’s so interesting. And and that’s the way we connect with people is we want to interact with each other and storytelling is, is how we do that.

00:06:52 Roberto Candelaria: Yeah. And like when it comes to that interaction, I know that one of the things that online business owners coaches think about is like, OK, hey. I need to make this video people told me I need to go dance. People told me I need to, you know, bring all these props. I need to get cap cut. Do I had an app? Do I not edit all app? And I think sometimes people get lost in the technology and the edit of it versus actually, the storytelling for the brand and for the engagement with their potential customer or with their existing customer for people to realize like ohh, this is what this business, this is what this coach stands for. So like, do you have examples of?

00:07:38 Roberto Candelaria: People you’ve worked with or haven’t worked with that are just like successfully using storytelling to engage their customers, either past future current customers to be like, Oh yeah, like I need to work with this person because of this.

00:07:53 Matt Kjar: Oh, absolutely, yeah. And several examples come to mind. There’s, I think there are three core stories that we can utilize inside of our businesses. And it’s interesting because some people utilize these all in one video. Some people use utilize them in separate videos. But I feel like there are these three core stories businesses and clients my clients have used to tell stories that engage with audiences and help them move their audience towards working with them and and continuing to work with them. So these core stories, I call them OMW on my way, but.

00:08:34 Matt Kjar: Origin mission and win. Those are some of the stories that I recommend that you tell because when you tell your origin story and I’m thinking of a particular client and I I did an interview with her and and I said, OK, well, just talk to me about how you got here. How did you get to this point? And she started telling this story and she got incredibly emotional because she hadn’t even taken the time to kind of see where she’d come from. And as she told her origin story she got emotional because it struck this chord inside of her of of what she wants to create in the world and who she is, how she got to where she is now, and part of the reason why I love OMW is because it it tells your clients and your audience the.

00:09:24 Matt Kjar: The three core questions that they have, who are you? What do you want and why do I care? Like that. That is what clients really want to know. Who are you? And that’s where your origin story comes in. What do you want? That’s where your mission story comes in. What do you want the world to look like? What do you want the world to? How do you want to change the world in a better way? And then why do I care? That’s where the wind stories come in. And I I’m thinking of a particular client she works with with people who have lost their spouses, and when we did some of the wind stories with her clients, it was really interesting because as we captured these story. It was so evident the the beauty that she’s creating with her business, the ripple effects that she’s had in these individuals lives and in the lives of of their families and the other people that they work with like it has you as a coach and entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to work with one person, but that person’s life. It ripples out to other people. It changes the way that they interact with the world, and so these wind stories, she said there was a no brainer. When I went, when I hired you to do them the first time and then she hired me to do.

00:10:41 Matt Kjar: Them again, and I think it’s going to be kind of a residual thing because when she shows these stories to her, to her audience, they know, oh, that’s the win that I’m going to get. That’s the result they. That’s the outcome that I’m going to get. I can see how I am like that person and if it worked for that person, I think it’ll work for me too.

00:11:02 Roberto Candelaria: That’s so good. And I think that, you know, sometimes as business owners, it can be for us. We just like we’re trying to find the the perfect way sometimes and like there really isn’t a perfect way, but yet we still keep searching for it and so like along that like, what would you say are some of the mistakes that you see people starting. I’m not even going to say in storytelling because they may not even know but starting with online video or video content. What are some of the mistakes you you see us making?

00:11:35 Matt Kjar: Yeah. Oh, so good. So one of the main mistakes that I see, the very most is not recognizing where you’re already utilizing video and not utilizing it strategically. As a business owner, you are probably using video like right now we’re using video to record the zoom call right and and people are like, well, I don’t use video. In fact, I had a client who was like, well, I don’t really use video and I was like, OK, well, tell me like, let’s walk through some of the things that you do in your business. And as they started talking about the things that they did their in their business, they were like, oh. I guess I do use video, I just wasn’t using it like I wasn’t using it as a strategy. I wasn’t saying OK, how do I make this a strategy? And then the second thing that I see people doing is that they get so caught up in how am I going to look? How am I going to show up? What is?

00:12:30 Matt Kjar: This going to look like. That they worry and that they don’t actually, they’ll record a video. They’ll record a tick tock. They’ll record a real they’ll record a, you know, a Facebook live or something like that, and then they’ll. Be like oh. I don’t really want to share that with anybody because I’m afraid how I showed up. I’m afraid that. I didn’t look how I wanted to look or they’ll record. I had one client who we were talking about this whole process and she’s like I record and then I leave it on my desktop and I never post it. I’m like. Wait a second. Like you go through all the work of getting to the point where you’ve recorded a video, and then you never share it, and so by not sharing it, you’re not seeing, you’re not heard. You don’t tell better, better stories, which is. That’s like my key. Those are the key things that I.

00:13:16 Matt Kjar: That’s what I’m here for, is to help you be seen help you be heard help you tell better stories. Because when you do that, you’re engaging with your audience and then they can see you. And that video can live beyond you. And it can keep producing results can keep producing wins.

00:13:36 Roberto Candelaria: And so I think that, you know, all of us, self included, have done that, Oh my gosh, y’all like there was a time we went and record. Did I don’t know, we said on zoom or something with somebody and we had a a hit list per say we had a Google sheet. We had the list of the topics or the questions that were going to be asking me and I just had to answer them and it was beautiful and that this was going to turn into something like. 30 or 40 video clips we did them, they wrote the timestamps, it went to an editor. We got the spreadsheet back and then for like 6 months it just lived in a spreadsheet.

00:14:19 Roberto Candelaria: Because we had other things that were going on and for whatever reason was like that, quote on quote, finished content never finished, meaning it never got posted because it was like, oh, we need to do this. We need to do that. And we just we go. Busy. So I love you. Mentioning like hey, sometimes you just put stuff on your desktop and and you forget about it because that’s very real. We all like, please tell us you haven’t done that. Like, come on like.

00:14:51 Matt Kjar: Well, and this ends up being like a form of perfectionism, right? Because it’s like, ohh, well, when I get to that place, then it’ll be it’ll be better. It’ll be perfect. It’ll be instead of actually just being. And we’ve all done it. We all have done. I’ve. I mean, I have videos on my computer that I’m like, oh, did I post that? That one I can’t remember, or scripts that I’ve written where I’m like, oh, did I record that video? I remember recording writing the script, but did I actually record it and post it? And it becomes this form of perfectionism where we’re like, oh, and unless it’s perfect, unless it’s exactly right, I’m not willing to post it. And you know what if you aren’t willing to show up for your client? In in all form.

00:15:35 Matt Kjar: Then sometimes they’re not going to be willing. They’re that’s when they’re going to be willing to show up for you, right? I remember coaching with this client and. And she was talking about how well, I just feel like every video has to be perfect. And it has. To be Matt. Quality and I was like, well, I don’t know what that means. First of all and second of all like.

00:15:53 Roberto Candelaria: I love it in that quality.

00:15:54 Matt Kjar: Right. And then I said, think about the the lady at church. Like, I just pulled an example. I was like, think about the lady at Church or the lady that at wherever it is that you see this lady and you only see that perfect sight of her where she’s got her hair done up and she’s got her pearls on and she looks, you know, dressed to the nines or whatever it is. And that’s the only time you ever see that person. You don’t ever see them when they’re at the grocery store and you don’t ever see them. You know, first thing in the morning. Do you think of that person as a well-rounded individual or do you think of them as A1 dimensional character? We don’t want to be showing up in the world as one-dimensional, for ourselves or for our clients, because if we’re one-dimensional then that means that we don’t have depth. We don’t have that depth of character and so we want to be able to show up in all of.

00:16:48 Matt Kjar: Our. Forms sometimes messy, sometimes imperfect. And be able to say, yeah, I want to show up for you because I know that if I show up for me, I’m also showing up for you.

00:17:03 Roberto Candelaria: So as people show up and whether it’s their first video or their ten thousandth video. What are some of the things that people can start doing today to create a video that is impactful to create video that is engaging for their duties.

00:17:25 Matt Kjar: I love this, so there are a couple of things that I love to think about. I first of all, I always love storytelling, right? That’s that’s one of the things. The reason why I love storytelling so much is because it connects with our audience, right? And I have a I have a free four part video series that talks about how to tell better stories. There are four simple steps, set up tension execution path. So that’s one aspect of it. But then offering value offering a way that engages with the audience so that they want to keep engaging with you. I I’ve seen so many different videos that are so much more about the person who’s producing the video.

00:18:08 Matt Kjar: Like self focused rather than client focused and I just I remember actually just a week ago coming across this video on I think it was. TikTok or Instagram I can’t remember which one and it was. It was such a good video because the lady she she said OK today what we’re going to do is we’re going to reduce your stress levels in three simple steps. Here we go. We’re going to do it together in less than 30 seconds. And then she said, OK, the very first thing that we’re going to do is we’re going to tense your body up. And do it with me. And she’s she’s doing this on the video. Do it with me. And she’s like, hold up your shoulders. Breathe in, hold the breath. Now we’re going to count to 3123. Now we’re letting it out.

00:18:53 Matt Kjar: So as you let it out and she went through these three simple steps and then she said, I hope this helps. And then that was the end of the video. And I was like, whoa, what the? There were two things that I was like, wait a second, where do I find out more from her? Right. Because she gave me 3 simple steps how to move forward very quickly, she gave me a a solution a a solution that I wasn’t even ready for. I didn’t even know that I was looking for, and she offered these three simple things. And then she’s like, and then she was like, OK. And and so that is something that I think is so powerful is to is to give value, but then one thing that I think she missed is she didn’t give a call to action at the end of the very end of the video. She didn’t say this is how you can learn more from me. Even just saying subscribe below or you know follow me if you want more steps like this.

00:19:45 Matt Kjar: But it was so powerful. The video was so powerful. And then and then she said. I hope this helps. And then, and that was the end. And I was like.

00:19:51 Matt Kjar: Ah, wait, you left me wanting more, but you didn’t tell me how to get more. So that’s one thing that I think everybody should do in all of your pieces of content is always tell people how they can get more from you.

00:20:07 Roberto Candelaria: Oh my gosh, I was over here chuckling because I was when you were talking about. I’m just like I had so many different scenarios in in my head right it was just like. At pictures like this, like like if you were to go to like some sort of like, hibachi thing and, you know, they walk out and, you know, people love the show of hibachi. And I was just picturing, like, if they just did, like, the little onion Choo Choo train and then just, like, left the onion there, smoking and just knocked off like you didn’t get the rest of your food. They didn’t. Whatever. They just like it was the onion. There was the show by and I don’t know why. That’s the image that came to mind, but it’s just like, wait, there’s more coming. I know it’s supposed to be coming, but.

00:20:52 Roberto Candelaria: You left and so now how do I get the rest of my food?

00:20:56 Matt Kjar: Yes, that’s such like, right we would we would, we would be like wait, you didn’t give me. I paid for a full meal here. You didn’t give me the rest I want, I want more. I want more from this and not knowing how we can get more like that’s that is one of the main things that I see people miss that step of how do I engage with you further?

00:21:18 Roberto Candelaria: Yes. And like I said, they they, they noticed they weren’t even the same thing. But even just in in Matt sharing that story, I was able to draw a completely different connection there and so tell us, like, what’s one more thing people can do in their video?

00:21:40 Matt Kjar: Hmm. OK, so this is super simple. This is going to be a really easy way to use video right now so. Recognizing that you already have the tools in your in your arsenal, you already have. If you have a a phone. If you have a modern day smartphone, you have better camera equipment than I began my career with. Like it’s most of them have 4K cameras, so knowing which type of content you’re going to be capturing. Am I capturing long form content or am I capturing short form content? Short form is like Tik Toks reels, Instagram that kind of stuff.

00:22:17 Matt Kjar: Long form is more like YouTube, long form is is like Facebook webinar. Is that kind of stuff. If you are capturing short form then hold your camera short ways up and down in lengths in portrait mode. If you are capturing long form hold your camera long ways. In long format, so that’s going to be a super simple way for you to recognize. Oh, I won. Have the tools right now in my my hand and two, what am I capturing for? Sometimes this is where strategic like being having a strategy behind your video comes in because sometimes people are like, well, I don’t know if this is for YouTube or if this is for Instagram. And I’m like, OK, we’ll decide and then decide how that that is going to dictate. How you’re capturing the content and then it’s going to make it so that you know who the audience you’re trying to reach is. And you, you’re going to be able to talk to them if you’re talking short form format, the video should be short. If you’re talking long form format, then the videos can be longer like they can take a longer time to get there, but short form.

00:23:26 Matt Kjar: Make sure you have three simple steps to get you there and long form you can go into more examples, tell, tell longer stories. Have those three simple steps, but then go into detail about them.

00:23:39 Roberto Candelaria: That’s so good. It it you were talking about and sharing. And it reminded me of I was recently. I said recently it’s been a few months recording a podcast with Quay Joe for the art of online business and his show over there and I remember like we got on the recording platform and he was just like hey. Could you do me a favor and scoot back because my editor, while we put this on YouTube while we do this, my editor has requested that I tell all of my guests scoop back more so that we can make the short form content out of it because it was like, you know, like when just everyday. Conversations we just want to lean into people. But if we go to splice, what we’re using for YouTube for that short form content, that’s when you get like half of a person’s head in the so like he was like, he’s like my editors. Like tell all your guest scoop back scoop back so that we can edit in that format. And so again like it goes back to what you were saying about. That strategy, like know how you’re going to be using that content, not only for how you record it in terms of.

00:24:48 Roberto Candelaria: The actual content, but the imagery like hey, we need to edit this for another format. If you know that ahead of time and so mix the the editing process a bit easier there.

00:24:59 Matt Kjar: 100% yeah. And recognizing, OK, what if I want to do this for both? OK, then frame it for both, right? Just like he was saying scoot back so that that way when they when they crop it, it’s not going to just. Be your eyeballs. Like it’ll be easier.

00:25:15 Roberto Candelaria: And it’s so funny. Because I had, like, never, ever even thought. About that, I was like, Oh yeah. That makes sense. And then all of a sudden, once I heard that and I was like, scrolling through Instagram or TikTok one day and I was seeing videos that like, looked frame right then I was looking videos where it just like the person’s face was like right there and there was nothing else about the person’s face. I was like, oh, they weren’t back far enough. Like, I didn’t even. I would have never known that before. Right.

00:25:41 Matt Kjar: I love that good.

00:25:41 Roberto Candelaria: So yeah, so you have a storytelling guide. Tell us about it. We’ll have the link in the show notes and everywhere else but, but tell us about this and how people find you.

00:25:54 Matt Kjar: Totally. Yeah. So the easiest way to find me is on my website mattcare.com MATTKJAR. My last name is spelled strangely, but it’s pronounced care, as in I care about you and my four part video guide with storytelling is it’s very simple. I have you. I really want everything inside of my program. Lights, camera, action to be action based. Where you you. We turn on all the lights in your brain. Focus the camera of your mind and then take action to get you there. It’s really built to set the foundation for video work and as part of that this is free. I just. I really feel powerful about storytelling and so I was like, what could I do to help them start telling better stories? And so it’s got four parts. And and I go through each of the four steps, set up tension, execution, and payoff. I I think building your story and being able to tell a good story starts with the end. You start with the payoff and then you build everything else in reverse. And so we talked about that in the storytelling.

00:27:02 Matt Kjar: Side and it has you. There’s they’re short videos. They’re about, I think the longest one is like 10 minutes, but they’re short videos. And at the end of each video, I tell you to do something because I want you to utilize the information, there’s something you know in medical in the medical form, they talk about C1 teach 1C1, do one teach one and I talk about it in, in other in other ways. But you know, recognizing that when we actually do something then we are actually implementing it into ourselves, we’re actually learn not just learning it, like consuming, but actually producing with it and doing something with it. So each video has you do something at the end of it. And it’s I. I feel like storytelling is so powerful. That’s why I want you to start start doing it.

00:27:53 Roberto Candelaria: Awesome. Yeah. Well, Matt, thank you for the conversation again and you’ll you’ll be sure to head on over to Matt’s website. Like I said, Matt care, Matt K jar.com, of course it will be in the show, notes everywhere else and we’ll talk to you soon in another episode.

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