If this is your first time here, welcome!
You’ve landed on Part 4 of a series in which I describe my move from being a full-time invisible voice actor and blogger, to becoming an on-camera social media personality. Click here for Part 1, Click here for Part 2, and click here for Part 3.
We left off with me saying goodbye to my very hard to remember last name, and now using the pseudonym Paul Holland. If you wish to spread a new message, your communication has to be consistent. After all, you’re training your new audience what to expect and when to expect it. So, what’s more predictable than a guy named Paul Holland, talking about… Holland?
That was the big idea, remember? I wanted to tell my mainly American audience about Dutch products, Dutch companies, Dutch inventions, Dutch words, and people of Dutch descent that have helped (and are helping) to shape the world we live in today. That’s my new NICHE!
IMPROVISING EVERY STEP
By the way, everything I’ve told you so far sounds very much carefully planned, but nothing could be further from the truth. I was winging it from day one. This was all a big, playful experiment by a guy who was simply trying to have some fun on social media. I was tinkering; throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick. I did not have to please any clients or meet any deadlines, or deliver any “value for money.”
I was totally free to be me. Free to fail, or free to create something fun. Now, you usually don’t get this kind of opportunity handed to you. Even most sabbaticals come with strings attached. Remember that -prior to this new phase- I had worked full time for over forty years, and I had worked long and hard to create this space for myself.
I had EARNED it. It had nothing to do with “being lucky.”
And, with my wife being the main breadwinner, I was able to follow my whims wherever they would take me. This is such a privileged position to be in, for which I am thankful every single day. And just to complete the picture… at the time I transitioned from being off-camera as a voice over to going on-camera, I also became the social media/technology manager of my wife’s business, Pamela Taylor Music. This allows her to focus on teaching and managing every other aspect of her business.
HOLLAND PROMOTION
I knew I wanted to talk about the Netherlands, but I had to find an angle to get the conversational ball rolling without talking about the stereotypical clogs, windmills, and tulips. For some reason I landed on the weird and unknown Dutch language. Most people don’t even know why it’s called Dutch instead of Netherlandish. Secondly, a majority of Americans haven’t heard Dutch being spoken, so when they encounter things like “stroopwafels” or “Gouda,” they have no clue how to pronounce it correctly. That’s where I would come in!
MY NOT SO SPECIAL FORMULA
Rather than me spontaneously rambling on-camera, I knew I would only have a few seconds to convince people my stuff was worthwhile watching. This means that the most important part of any video is the HOOK. It’s the very first thing you say or do to pique someone’s interest. I usually start with a question or a strong statement:
“Is one of the most famous Dutch people real? Did he exist?” (a story about Hans Brinker)
“Am I about to tell you that Broadway is actually… Dutch?”
“This Dutchman saved millions of lives, maybe even yours.” (a story about Johan Kolff, the inventor of dialysis)
This leaves people with a quick cliffhanger. You want your viewers to be intrigued and dying to hear the answer so they keep on watching.
Then it’s time for my INTRODUCTION which is always the same:
“Hi, I’m Paul and I pronounce Dutch words and names the way a Dutchman would pronounce them.”
Every time my viewers see me they hear this phrase, and it creates a sense of familiarity. Plus, new viewers don’t have to guess what I’m all about.
After my INTRO I get to the MAIN CONTENT which on average takes up no longer than 90 to 120 seconds. In this segment I’ll pronounce a Dutch word like “stroopwafel” the American way (stroop as in poop), and teach people the correct Dutch way (stroop as in boat). I will also say something about the history of the product or the person I’m featuring.
Then it’s time for the OUTRO, which is also always the same:
“Have a great day, tot ziens, bye bye!” (“tot ziens” is “see you” in Dutch).
My INTRO and OUTRO are like stable bookends. They keep the changing content together, and the repetition reinforces what I want people to remember.
PRESENTATION STYLE
Those of you who know me personally, may know me as someone who is usually mild-mannered. What can I say? I’m a quiet introvert. I don’t yell, I don’t talk with my hands, and I’m not a fast talker either. But all these things don’t work in the media where the world belongs to the outgoing and extroverted.
If I wanted to play the game, I had to adapt and become more animated in my vocal delivery as well as in my facial expressions. My goal was to be more bubbly on camera, while still staying true to myself. In my voice acting days this was something I had to do regularly as I was playing different characters, so I was definitely up for the challenge.
Since this was going to be a learning experience, I didn’t want to put pressure on myself by having to produce new content every single day. I decided that every other day would be fine. Plus, I didn’t want to run out of ideas by the end of the year. By the way, that’s not something that worries me anymore.
TOPIC SELECTION
There’s this prevalent thinking in social media that -if you want your content to be noticed and explode- you need to give the masses what they want. The idea is to use software or a tool like TikTok’s Creator Insights to see what’s hot or not, and use that as your jumping off point. Add to that a trending tune, and your audience will flock to you like moths to the light. Here’s the problem with that.
To me it’s the least creative way to produce content. I don’t want to follow the masses or the trends of the time. That’s not me. Dutch content is a niche anyway, so I doubt it would show up as something the entire internet would be interested in. Instead, I prefer to follow my own instincts like I’ve always done writing this blog for over twenty years.
The other problem with following what people seem to be triggered by and respond to, is the issue of rage baiting on social media. Content that makes people mad on purpose will always outperform what I call “kind content.” I knew this from my days as a journalist in the newsroom. Especially in the current political climate in the USA, it’s easy to get clicks from posting polarizing stories. There’s enough of that on the internet already, and it’s not the kind of energy I wish to spread or attract.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In the next chapter I’ll take you behind the scenes of my production process, and I will reveal what I do to make my videos stand out and more personal.
Until then, have a great day, tot ziens, bye bye!
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