Brand Power: Create Your Signature Video Style #42

Season #2 March 02, 2025

Branding goes far beyond logos - it's the combination of visual cues, tone, style, positioning, and how you make people feel. For video content creators, it's your content's DNA that helps you stand out in a crowded digital landscape.

Is your brand forgettable online? Marketing strategist Deb Szabo reveals how to create a signature brand style on camera that makes you instantly recognizable.

KEY POINTS

👀 In this video, Deb Szabo explains:

✅ Three consistent elements to become recognisable and memorable on camera

✅ How to create a signature brand style that helps algorithms understand your content

✅ Practical production and post-production techniques to elevate your brand

✅ How to authentically position yourself as a key person of influence

⏰ Timecodes ⏰

0:00 What is Brand Power?

1:05 Invitation to Video Podcast Challenge

2:40 Introduction to Creating Your Signature Brand Style

3:15 Visual Elements: Production Side

3:30 Backdrop and Props

5:00 Clothing and Style

6:05 Filming Style and Camera Angles

8:45 Audio and Lighting Importance

10:30 Visual Elements: Post-Production

10:45 Captions and Text

11:45 Graphics and B-Roll Style

13:15 Editing Style and Brand Positioning

14:30 Verbal Elements and Catchphrases

16:15 Script Structure

17:30 Auditory Elements and Music

19:15 Being Authentically You

20:30 Building Credibility and Trust

🎯 WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Watch next: - How to Set Up Your Brand Kit in CapCut

https://youtu.be/kABtwhyYhw0?si=-LDOKNIA_gdy8pqJ

Book 1:1 Discover Call: https://calendly.com/connect-rtq/discovery-call?month=2025-02

WORK WITH DEB SZABO

Content Catalyst is your AI-powered business hub. You install your AI Brain, the foundation that teaches AI your business, then get the operating systems to automate your workflows and admin, plus live monthly sessions and the support to run your business faster and smarter and drive real revenue.

https://www.debszabo.com/content-catalyst

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Episode Transcript

when you think of James Bond
what traits or characteristics do you think of
I think of this charming suave spy with his proper British accent
he's a seductive
ladies man that drives fast cars and has fancy gadgets
he's impeccably dressed in this
you know clean cut suit
when he introduces himself
do you remember what he says
Bond James Bond
and when he orders a drink what does he ask for
martini shaken
not stirred we all know the lines right
and this is branding branding is way more than a logo
it's the combination of visual clues
tone style
what we say it's your positioning
it's your reputation it's how you make people feel
and when it comes to making video content it's your contents DNA
hey before we jump into the episode
I want to invite you along to my next video challenge
this time we are going to create our video podcast on YouTube
I'm going to help you with the text sider thing
so everything from setting up your YouTube channel
to setting up your gear lights
mics cameras
and also your editing uh software
and also your brand kit
and your AI assistants to shortcut the workflow
uh day 2
we are going to film an edit
and I'm going to share with you how to create content
that actually people are searching for
and the algorithms love and then on day three
I'm going to help you with the uh
ranking and uh repurposing of your content
so you're going to be able to take that one video
and turn it into 15 to 20 pieces of content
marketing across seven different platforms
it's going to be an epic three days
probably wondering
why do I even need a video podcast to market my business
well did you know that we consume over 13 hours a week in podcast
and that YouTube is actually overtaken apple
and Spotify as the number one platform
where we consume it
it also helps to position you as a key
person of influence in your industry
there's lots more reasons
and all the details are in the show notes of this episode
alright let's get into it
so this is part 3 of making your own video series
and I'm going to share with you how
you can create your own signature brand style on camera
so you become recognisable and memorable
maybe like James Bond alright
so in the previous two episodes
we discussed
the algorithm loves repeatable formats of content and themed content
it's why having a video series helps your audience binge your content
and also helps the algorithm understand what you do
and it just speeds up your whole content creation production process
so what are the three consistent elements to become recognisable
and memorable just like James Bond
well the first one is our visual elements
now I'm going to split this into two because we have our uh
production side of things
so like when we're filming our content
and then we have our post production elements
when we're editing our content
so let's look at the visuals when we're filming
so the first one I'm going to think of is what's our backdrop
for me I'm sitting at a desk right now
so I've got a pretty consistent backdrop uh in my office here
uh and then I'm going to look at my props
so when we think about James Bond
what were the props that he had
I would think that it's um
you know like he always had a gun in his hand
like that's something that I always think of
he had a fancy car to me that was prop
he always had the gadgets
uh what else can you think of that he had
so there is props when I think of what are my props here today
I don't probably have a lot of props when I'm talking you to right now
but if you were explaining things like a tennis coach
you would have a tennis racket in your hand um
if you were a wine maker
you'd have a glass of wine in your hand that you're probably swelling
so every business has different looks
you might just if you're at your desk
it might just be a coffee cup that is your signature look right
clothing James Bond
he had this black suit it was very distinctive
he had this you know thin uh
black tie white crisp shirt and a very tailored smart suit
uh what are what are your clothes that you wear
what's your style of how you turn up on camera
now if you're just a jeans and sneakers kind of person that's cool
you don't need to be a suit wearing um person on camera
it's just about being authentically you
for me I love to wear um uh like a blazer with my T-shirt and my jeans
that's kind of my vibe um
but I generally have a uniform that is consistent with my brand colour
so I generally have pink or green on
you see I'm wearing green today
and if you can consistently wear something that is on point
and brand with you it helps the people to recognise you
and it also helps to position your branding as well
so in the case of James Bond
I always think that he was you know
sophisticated and that was what he was putting across
where I'm kind of like um
smart casual
that's my vibe alright
so filming style so this is another thing then when we're filming
now inside Contact Catalyst
my membership we talk about uh
filming techniques
and where you position your camera says so much about uh
what you're trying to depict
so if we come back to movies
um uh
cinematographers and directors will choose different styles uh
of uh angles for their camera angles when they're filming
um and that is because they want to depict a certain feeling
so if I want to convey a um
a stance of authority
I would film shooting down and you'll see this on social media post
you'll see people often talking down at their phone
now it's mainly because they probably got a laptop here
or their phone is down here
and they don't have a tripod
but it
how it really does send a message and convey a message of what uh
you're trying to position yourself as
same thing as if you're talking upwards
while it might be a flattering angle from physically um
it can it can demean your authority stance
these are certain elements that we have when we're filming
um that can convey different messages
personally I like to have my camera at eye level
now I often see this if you're in an office and you're filming
and you're using your webcam
what often uh I see is
people are using their webcams that are right up on their monitors
like this and they end up looking like this
and they end up having all this headroom up here
we don't want to say that
I want to encourage you to get your webcam and drop it down
now there's different gadgets that you can use to get your webcam down
but if you're doing zoom meetings like that
it diminishes your authority and um
and yeah so
I just want you to really think about different camera
angles of where you're shooting from uh
I like high level I level is I want to have a conversation with you
I want to feel like you know we're in the room together
so have a think about that
the next one is um with filming styles with your content for example
with your videos you might be uh doing talking head videos to camera
I like doing talking head videos
I do a lot of live videos and a lot of stories so it's very ad hoc
it's very unscripted content
the other stellar content that you might be doing is um
voice over content
I'm seeing this a lot on social media where people are um
editing b roll clips together and then doing their voice over on that
now I think that's a great way of showing up on camera
when you don't want to show up on camera
and in fact I did this when I was first starting
making content where I would film my talking head
uh part to camera my face to camera
um uh shot and it was my hook
so I would literally record my hook
three seconds
and then the rest of it was a tutorial or a step by step or b roll
where I would um
do a voice over on top of that
so that's a great way if you don't want to show up on camera much
just record your um
your hook face to camera and then voice over b roll everything else
uh so we spoke about camera and got lighting lighting lighting matters
I am always going to tell you uh above everything else
but you don't need fancy cameras
you can get 4K quality out of your phones
uh but audio matters and I would always uh
recommend investing into good audio
uh audio just to start with before anything else
because people will endure bad quality video
but they will turn off their the moment that there's bad audio
I've done it myself many many times um
I see people using their little headphones and AirPods
and things like that and it reverberates and it's terrible
I was watching one um one massive course creator
who has made a lot of money online
clearly he doesn't need to worry about his production quality
cause how much he does
but he really diminished the quality when I saw his video
uh masterclass and he was looking down
at his laptop and he had the earbuds in and the audio was terrible
I found it really hard to sit through his masterclass
and all he had to do
was get a really cheap microphone and bring his laptop up
and it would have just elevated uh
his credibility and his content to repurpose it as well so much more
so this is why I say to you have it
always think about making sure you got good audio um
but your lighting can really create different emotions
and when it comes to creating content uh
it can you know make your videos look so much more professional
so first is audio and then the next thing is lighting
so when it comes to uh post production editing
then you want to think about what are the visual elements
uh that you can um adapt to your brand
so the first thing I think of is captions uh text
you know
up above your head when you want to explain what the video is about
you want that to be consistent
you want you you want to use your own um fonts for example
now if you go over to CapCut
uh you can actually set up your own brand kit with your um
colours and fonts and text presets
um your graphics all of those things you can set up in CapCut
so each time you make your videos it's just rinse and repeat
go and grab it so you have a consistent look
I've got a video uh on YouTube that you can watch
uh which shows you how to set up your brand kit
and I'll pop that in the show notes
uh but those elements always come to mind
the next style is graphics
so you want to put like
stickers or graphics elements up to help show what you're doing um
these are all um signature styles when it comes to editing videos
uh b roll b roll
the style of b roll that you put up can um form your branding style
some people have um really fast edits with their b roll
I love slow motion so anyone that knows me
my brand style when it comes to doing b roll is slow motion
so I will do hundred and twenty frames per second
that beautiful creamy look
and it just makes everything look so much better when it's in B roll
okay memes like you know a lot of people use memes in their content
gifies like all that kind of stuff
the colours that you use on screen with all of those graphic elements
the other thing that you can do that really
changes the mood of your content
which positions your branding is what we call lots
so these are like colours that they use in
you know
filmmaking and TV and things like that will give a certain feel
so you can actually just put a lot over your content which gives it
that distinctive feel each time
what style of editing really helps to position your branding
when it comes to positioning your brand
how do you want to show up online
now in my uh program Content Catalyst Blueprint
this is to give you a content marketing strategy
and I have a whole brand
like a whole lesson in there about branding and how to um
identify your brand style
so we talk about uh different words that depict who you are
what do you want to be known for
and we start to pull all these elements out of that
the style of what makes you recognisable
when it comes to how you talk
uh you'll know that if you've seen any of my videos
I probably talk very fast and very energetic
so I always have to bring myself back to um
you know
slowing down and talking and often when I see my videos online
I think I talk too slow
so it's one thing that I'm always aware of how how do you talk
how uh pronounced are you with your words
like are you fun are you serious
are you you know
all these things uh really come into how you make people feel
um I had uh
somebody I saw the other day who I never thought followed me
and they were like I love seeing your videos come up
you always make me feel so happy and I was like
oh that was the nicest compliment anyone could have ever given me um
because when I talk on my videos I hope to inspire and um
and you know bring a certain energy with it
so that was really sweet okay
catchphrase taglines think about James Bond
what does he say he's like
pleased to meet you I'm James
I'm Bond James Bond
if he wants a drink he says Martini shaken not stirred
these are distinctive taglines
I think of many newsreaders uh
they'll have their taglines
what do you say there's a lady that I follow on um
on uh Facebook with some recipes
and at the end of all of her recipes is
she always shows her biting into the food
and that's love your life
and I think that's a great way of how to um
finish off her videos so have a think about how do you talk
do you have a tagline or a catchphrase
and then think about the script structure
so these are all brand styles
I know this is not what you think branding is
you think it might be just a logo
how you structure your content
like I always like to think of
today I've given you three essential elements
when you're setting up your brand style
what is your thing I always start with a problem
and then I go through that framework
and then I give you a solution of how you can action it yourself
so have a think about the structure of how you do your videos
when I think about the cooking shows
I think about that lady uh that does the high protein
low carb recipes and she'll always show the recipe of the food
like the the dish that she's made when she opens with her video
and she'll take a bite into it
and then she'll cut to these lovely quick cuts of her
like putting all the ingredients in and then she finishes again
biting the food and love your life
these are all things that um
bring together the script structure of how she edits her videos
and that makes her signature style
there's another guy that I follow
and he's always in the woods when he records
and he does these amazing video edits
um visual effects and things like that
but he's always recording in the woods
and he has very distinctive fonts and um
captions that he um has in his videos
all these things make me uh
think of this person right now when I tell you this
and that's what makes us memorable and recognisable
auditory do you have a certain music bed that you use
there's a girl that um I've been following uh
and she has her name's Laura
and she hiked from the north of New Zealand to the south
she did the whole Tehrua three and a half thousand kilometre track
but she had this same soundtrack every single time
every day that she did her um
videos now that can become monotonous for some people
but for me it was it was very subtle
it was like on uh the music bed was very subtle under her talking
doing the voice over
but it was very much her style of content that she had sound effects
I think of a few creators that uh repeat their um
sound effects throughout their uh content
their videos and I do the same
I have certain uh sound effects that I love using
so these are all subtle
sensory clues that give us guidance of what your brand is about
and why people should stop the scroll
and when it comes to James Bond
I always think of him when he's like entering in that
you know
the shadow that follows him along and then he stops and shoots
I mean this is classic stuff
it's iconic stuff
and I'm not saying that you have to imitate James Bond
but what I'm saying is that your brand is more than your logo
it's how you make people feel
it's how you make people remember you and it's how you become iconic
so if you want to know more on how to find your style
you can of course uh get that uh branding guide inside
uh
Contact Colours Blueprint and I'll put the details in the show notes
but uh I would just start with that repeatable format of content
and just by repeating something over and over again
you'll start to um get a look that happens
some of the most memorable people have some of the most quirky um
traits about them and if you have a quirky trait
lean into that um you know put a big spotlight on it
shine a light on it because if you can amplify that um
you will become recognisable and memorable
but the most important thing
the most important thing when you are creating content
is to be authentically you
now it's okay to get inspiration from other people
it's like when we go to cook a recipe right
we um going to follow
you know the chef's recipe and we're going to imitate that dish uh
and follow those instructions but somewhere along the line when you
you know make spaghetti bolognese
you'll have your own twist on it and that's what we want to do
so start to think about who are the creators you like the elements of
and then start to piece that together
and remember that a good positioning helps to elevate your um
industry expertise your perception
and we want to become a key person of influence
when we are creating content um
because it accelerates that it's the eat factor
it's what Google describes as the eat factor which is your experience
your expertise your authority and your trust and this is what helps
and so this is what search engines look for
they look for these four elements and uh
when you can show up authentically you
it helps online search engines
uh you know
recommend you and evaluate uh
your credibility and relevance as well
and it also helps like I said
to build a relationship and rapport
uh with your audience so they come to you instead of anyone else
and you are like I said
the go to person in your industry
now if you want to go deeper
uh you know
connect with me all the details are in the show notes
uh until the next episode
I'm Deb Szabo and thank you so much for spending this time with me
no way

Brand Power: Create Your Signature Video Style #42

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