Episode 196

From Photos to Trust: Professional Branding Strategies with John Demato

Mastering Visual Storytelling for Your Brand with John Demato

Summary

In this episode of 'Present Influence,' John delves into the art of visual storytelling with expert photographer John Demato.

They discuss how images and photos on websites and social channels contribute to brand identity, moving beyond superficial appearances.

John Demato provides valuable insights on creating strategic, intentional imagery to build credibility and foster audience connections.

The conversation extends to essential visual elements for coaches, speakers, and authors, addressing why professional photos are a worthwhile investment.

From discussing ideal shoot setups to common pitfalls, this episode offers a comprehensive guide for anybody looking to enhance their visual branding.

Tune in to learn actionable tips on photo variety, authenticity, and why professional aesthetics matter.

Visit John Demato's Website here: https://www.johndemato.com/ and check out John's blog here

Let me know if you're going to be upping your game with visual storytelling after this episode.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Visual Storytelling

00:17 Meet John Demato: Visual Storytelling Expert

00:52 The Importance of Visual Branding

01:13 Welcome to Present Influence

02:13 Understanding Visual Storytelling

04:30 Strategic Planning for Visual Branding

06:05 Practical Tips for Visual Storytelling

13:19 Essential Images for Your Website

21:57 Maximizing Your Photo Shoot

24:07 Leveraging Your Visual Content

27:14 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

39:20 The Never-Ending Story of Visual Branding

42:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Go to presentinfluence.com to get your copy of my guide to building authority through podcast guesting and for speaking enquiries or connect with me on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening and please give the show a 5* review if you enjoyed it.

Transcript
John:

What do your visual images or photos say about you and your brand?

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Continuing with the theme of visual

storytelling that we started last week,

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in this episode, we're going to take a

look at the story, our website and our

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online images tell about who we are.

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My guest today is professional

photographer and visual storytelling

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expert John Demato, and John helps

speakers, trainers, consultants,

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and authors, and coaches create

compelling imagery that elevates

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their brand, builds credibility, and

connects deeply with your audience.

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He's gonna share with us how you can best

tell your visual brand story and have

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compelling visual story elements in all

the right places, in all the right ways.

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It's not always easy knowing what

images you need or, how you should

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be appearing for your audience.

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If you want to feel confident that your

visual storytelling isn't letting you

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down or potentially damaging trust,

then you'll find out exactly how to do

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that, how much to invest in it, what

pictures you'll need, and why, if you

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have a book, you should have some good

photos instead of digital mockups.

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This episode covers it all.

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So welcome to Present Influence the

show that helps coaches, speakers, and

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communication professionals develop the

skills to impact, influence, and inspire.

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My name's John Ball, keynote

coach, professional speaker,

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and your guide on the journey.

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Two mastery level presentation skills.

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My mission is to provide professional

communicators like you with

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everything you need to maximize your

impact and present with influence.

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Follow the show on your favorite

podcast app for weekly episodes and

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interviews with influence experts.

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And join me on LinkedIn for the

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If you enjoy the show, if you've

been tuning in before or if you

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enjoy this episode, please do

go and leave a five star review

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on the app you are listening on.

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It really does help people to

know that this is gonna be a show

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that's worth them checking out,

and you will have my undying love.

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Welcome to Present Influence,

John, and I'm particularly

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excited to be talking to you.

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I recently had an episode where we're

talking about visual storytelling, but

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from maybe a different perspective to

yours, where that was about slideshows.

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to me the elements of visual

storytelling that you work with.

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John Demato: First of all,

thanks for having me on.

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I appreciate it.

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John, I like your name.

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Visual storytelling is the opportunity

for those that are experts who speak,

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coach, train consultant, write books to

share who they are, who they serve, the

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problems they solve, and how they solve

those problems through the photos that

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they share with their audience online.

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And that involves branding images, where

they're looking into the camera, or we're

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recreating day-to-day moments in their

life and how they serve their people.

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Or if it's actual events, be

it a keynote or mastermind.

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Coaching session, retreat, whatever that

case may be, they share those photos.

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Or if for authors, it could involve photos

of their book and not just the digital

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mockup of the cover, it would be actual

photos in an environment of the book

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Spine and Cover, as well as the inside

pages that are focused on section headers

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and chapter titles, illustrations and

poll quotes, and other design elements.

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Basically, visual storytelling is the

opportunity for people to prove what

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they say is true by how they show up

and what they share in their photos.

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John: Yeah, because no matter what we do.

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How we appear to other people is always

gonna be judged a particular way.

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I dunno what my visual

storytelling is right now.

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Probably not great.

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how we come across to our audiences,

how we show up with we are tidy

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or scruffy if we're well dressed.

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If we're not these things matter and

people will pick up on it and judge it.

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They may not be aware that they're.

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Doing that, but they will.

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And so what guidance would you

have for coaches and speakers and

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consultants to help them just figure

out how they should be appearing?

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John Demato: The first step is

before you set foot in front of a

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camera to actually have a strategic

and intentional plan, meaning.

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Understand how you want to be perceived

by your audience, whether it's

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intelligent, knowledgeable, experienced,

fill in the blank there as well as what

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are the aspects of your personality

that you want to share with them.

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Are you funny?

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Are you irreverent?

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Are you direct and honest?

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Whatever those words happen

to be, and you start from.

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There.

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Now you mentioned Scruffy.

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For some people, that actually is

exactly what they should look like.

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They should look scruffy.

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The point being is you need to be uniquely

yourself because when you show up in

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a room of people and you don't look

like the photos that you have online.

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Congratulations.

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You've just lost the

trust of that entire room.

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As a result, whatever it is that

your life looks like outside of

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that photo session, it needs to be

represented in that photo session.

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John: So let's say for me, and

this is certainly probably not

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represented by how I'm dressed today,

but let's say I'm aiming for Warmth

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competence, humor, and intelligence.

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What would I want to be thinking of to

make sure I'm representing that with

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my public image, with my pictures?

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John Demato: The first step is

thinking about what you're gonna wear.

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And the answer to that question is,

go to your closet, look what you

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have, and pick out the stuff that

you wear in front of people who pay

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you money, and that part is covered.

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Then the second part to get

more into that you described.

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The way that you convey that through

your images, specifically during a

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branding session, would be the way

in which you present yourself in

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front of the camera through your

facial expression, the movement

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of your eyes, eyebrows, and mouth.

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As well as your body language.

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What are you doing with your posture,

your hands, your arms all of that stuff

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combined creates the sentiments that

you describe on top of the fact that the

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photographer's aesthetic with lighting

and composition in different frames

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also contribute to that sentiment.

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So all of that, together during a

branding session will create those

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sentiments you're looking for.

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And then in any live scenario,

regardless if you're on stage in front

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of the room or talking to participants

after the fact, you're going to

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naturally convey these things because

that's who you are in those moments.

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And those photos are candid.

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You're not putting on a show

for the camera, so they're

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gonna naturally come out anyway.

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John: Which makes a lot of sense.

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So really if we want to come across

professionally we do need to have

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professional photos that we're gonna use.

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John Demato: Yes,

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John: okay.

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John Demato: yes, you need professional

images as the front door to your

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online presence, and you need them

for different promotional vehicles,

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different marketing assets that you're

going to create, and there is a certain

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level of perception that you create

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from leveraging these high

quality professional photos.

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At the same time, you also are not

gonna have a paparazzi following you

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around 24 7 during your day to day.

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And there are moments that happen

throughout your day, regardless of

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your business, that you want to share

with your audience because they're

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relevant and relatable to them.

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Having that camera in

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your pocket 24 7 is a valuable asset

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and you need

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to be able

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to use it in a way to create images that

are going to connect with your audience

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because regardless of what your expertise

is, regardless of what your business

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looks like, you are in the business

of building relationships If you are a

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service-based business.

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John: Do you have any best

practices for doing that?

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Is it more about spontaneity

or what would you say?

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John Demato: Something is better than

nothing because if a moment happens

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and you don't have a photo of it.

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The moment never happened.

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So there is that.

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With that being said, there are some

best practices and probably one of

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the best ones would be to actually

I could say two right off the bat.

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Pay attention to where the

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lighting is.

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If you're standing in front of a

window and you look like you're

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a hostage victim because you're

silhouetted, that's a bad photo.

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Don't do that.

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Find the light.

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Let the light be on you so

that you are bright enough and

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whomever you're standing with.

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Is lit as well.

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We want to be able to see your face,

see the expression, see that moment.

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So make sure you pay attention

to where your lighting source is.

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And the second big one is a lot of

people like to, where's my phone?

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Here's my phone.

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So I like to grab their phone and

then instead of having it eye level.

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Looking right at the camera.

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They, for, some reason wanna post

it where they're looking straight

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up as if a helicopter is taking it's

from a helicopter vantage point.

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Don't do that because the higher

that you bring the phone as

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you're taking the photo, the more.

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Subconsciously, you're telling your

audience that you're insecure about

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how you look, and if you want to convey

a level of confidence, competence,

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and expertise, the more insecure you

look could be one of the subconscious

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determining factors for a potential

client to say, you know what?

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I don't buy the fact that this person

is really comfortable in their own

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skin and potentially not comfortable

being the expert that they are.

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So I'm gonna go start

looking for someone else.

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John: All right.

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That definitely makes

a lot of sense to me.

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And so it is really far better to

own what you perceive as your flaws.

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I've seen this a lot in speaking

particularly, and I just yesterday was

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speaking to a awesome lady who teaches

like comedy workshops, license, and

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that's very much what she was saying.

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You have to own your flaws for people

to laugh with you rather than at you.

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And so you have to be vulnerable to

that degree and just say, this is me.

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This is who I am.

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There's nothing really to hide there.

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And you can go out and deliver that.

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So that does make a lot of sense to me.

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John Demato: Yeah, I put it

a little bit differently.

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I'm definitely aligned

with that sentiment.

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It's more about creating a reframe in

your mind as an expert to understand the

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purpose of what These photos are for.

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These photos are to present you

as a relevant expert that has done

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this before, done it recently, and

done it for people just like them.

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As a result, these photos are not for you.

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These photos for the opportunity

for someone who needs what you can,

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solve for them to help them get

past what's holding them back.

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Get over yourself.

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Get over these perceived flaws that

you have because I can tell you, as

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someone who has hired experts, the

last thing that I care about is if

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their left ear lobe is bigger than

their right, that 30 pounds overweight,

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that they're older and have wrinkles,

that one eye is bigger than the other.

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I could care less if they had a.

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Third eye literally blinking at me while

they were helping me get past my problem.

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And that's exactly what

your people are thinking.

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And that means you have to look

from within and own yourself.

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Own your flaws, however

you wanna label it.

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Just own who you are in

that moment and get to work.

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John: Yeah, I think some of these are

essentially similar principles for getting

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over stage fright, let alone know, being

camera shy and really valuable ones

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is that we do absolutely need to own

ourselves and remember that it's not.

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Even really about us.

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It's about serving our audience and

being able to make a difference there.

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So sometimes we just need to

get over it and get on with it.

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Let me ask you, web websites are

very important for coaches and

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speakers and pretty much everyone

these days despite I've seen a few

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people around saying otherwise, I

don't really believe that's the case.

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But what are some of the essential

images that, we probably should

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have on our professional websites?

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John Demato: It depends upon

who we're talking about.

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Are we talking about an

expert who speaks on stages?

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Then yes, we need to see

photos of you on stages.

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Are you a consultant?

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Then we need to see images of

you consulting, whether it's on a

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screen, on the phone, in a boardroom.

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In a conference room with some

really crappy panel walls we need

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to see that, or it needs to be

recreated during a branding session.

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If you're an author.

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Where's your book?

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We need to see what that

looks like if you're a coach.

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Same thing as a consultant.

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If it's on a screen, in person on

the phone, we need to see that.

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The point being is whatever you

do and whatever the tentacles

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of your services look like.

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We need to see them and they need

to be on the pages in which you're

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talking about what that service is.

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In addition to those images, what

we also need to see is the before

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and after all of those moments.

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What do those.

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Engagements look like.

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Those conversations look like talking

with participants, talking with

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the AV crew, talking to the event

planners, talking to the person that

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hired you, whatever that looks like.

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We need to see those moments.

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Your prep moments, you're sitting

there mulling over a speech.

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You have a book signing,

you're setting up.

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Area.

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We wanna see all of that stuff.

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Bring people into your world so that

they feel more connected to you,

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because that helps the buying decision.

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It helps you stand out from other

experts in your space because

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there's 9 million of them.

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And then of course, at the very top.

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The fundamentals.

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We need to see the headshot, the

tightly cropped shot from the top

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of the head to the top of the chest.

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We need to see some wider portraits.

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We need to see a couple

of vertical portraits.

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Those images go everywhere as your calling

card for your media speaker PR kit.

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They go on all your social

profiles as well as your website.

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So long story short, you need a lot

of damn photos to be able to present

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yourself as the expert that you are.

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And that command is the

premium prices that you do.

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John: I can understand that.

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How many photos would you say roughly

that someone would need to have available

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and ready for, at least from a website?

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John Demato: The better question is

how many holes on your pages do you

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actually have First the key is to

understand that, number one, are we going

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with video or photos for the banner?

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Start there.

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What do you wanna lead with in

terms of what your service is?

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If you're A Slashy, being a speaker,

coach, trainer, consultant, author, the.

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different tentacles and

what do you wanna lead with?

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And then on each of those pages,

after you've figured out the top of

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the fold banner, you wanna look and

say, okay, do I have 97,000 graphics

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and a whole hell of a lot of logos

from companies that I'm trusted by?

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Where can I add in some images to add some

humanity, break up the text and visually

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punctuate the sentiment of that text.

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So it really begins and ends with

understanding where the holes are, how

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many images you want, what are the, what

are you speaking about on each of those

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pages, and then you reverse engineer.

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From there, the amount of

photos that you would need.

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But what I will tell you is the more

visual variety, the better meaning.

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Don't just be in a studio and don't

just shoot stuff against the blank wall.

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Be in environments in which you serve

your people, and you're conveying

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that, those perception words and

those personality words that we

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discussed earlier in the conversation.

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And then that way It breaks up the pages

and it creates a little more you and

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more genuine opportunities for people

to, connect with you outside of the

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fact that you can solve their problem.

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John: Yeah, I think that makes sense.

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I've only worked with

people in the past who.

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Have had professional photo shoots

done and then because they've had

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it, done, they've used as many

photos as they can on their website.

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'cause they were already

happy they got it done.

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And sometimes even that's been

with the exact same outfit, just

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in different poses, but in the same

studio it definitely looks too much.

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And sometimes we've even seen that

mixed in with stock images on the

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website, which I think probably need

to be somewhat careful about when

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we're using stock images as well.

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John Demato: I would, so when it

comes to wearing the same outfit

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in every shot, you look cheap.

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You don't look like you're

befitting that of an expert or

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a go-to authority in your space.

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It looks like you shot everything

on the same day, and while that is

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something that everyone understands,

you don't wanna create that perception.

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It looks like you didn't care

enough to think more deeply about.

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How you wanna present yourself visually,

because that, again, subconsciously

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tells people if they don't care about

that, are they gonna care about me?

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And you don't want that kind of doubt

in their minds because it's gonna make

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the buying decision far more difficult.

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and then in terms of overdoing

it, here's the reality.

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You don't need to overdo it because The

truth is, you have so many other places

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that you can leverage these images.

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It's not even funny.

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Aside from the fact that you

have online content and a

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newsletter and your PR media kit.

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You also have all of those printed

materials that you have when you are

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at a conference, you have your training

materials, as well as other marketing

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assets that you used throughout

the year for different campaigns.

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You can leverage these photos in a

wide variety of places, and if you

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just overload it on your website, it

looks like you're trying too hard.

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And we don't want to do that either.

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John: Yeah, absolutely.

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And certainly that was my advice.

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'cause I'm not.

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Expert on this, like you but it was very

obvious that it was just a bit too much

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of the same thing over and over again.

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When someone comes to you for, a

photo shoot, are they generally

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gonna be expecting to have website

pictures, social media, pictures?

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What's the range of photos that.

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professionals would

generally come to you to get?

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John Demato: The general rule on

that is I meet people where they are.

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For some folks, they have absolutely no

idea what the hell they need because,

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okay I'm getting a new branding package

and part of it includes the website

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and I don't know what I need, but they

just said I need to look professional.

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Okay, great.

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Duh.

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We know that.

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John: Yeah.

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John Demato: Aside from that.

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What I'm basically trying to do in that

initial call is not just understand

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what their short-term needs are,

because there are some folks who

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do have a firm understanding of the

value of these images and are ready

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to implement all over the place, but.

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For many they just have

a piece of the story.

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So what I'm doing is illuminating all

of the aforementioned areas I mentioned

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before, aside from 10 other ones that

I didn't mention to let them know, Hey,

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With these images, it's not just about

what you need for tomorrow, it's also

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about what you need for next week, six

months from now and up to and including

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a year, depending upon the volume of

the amount of images that you plan on

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using throughout your social content

and your newsletters and thumbnails

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for videos, et cetera, et cetera.

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So everybody's customized.

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but it always starts with the

what do you need for tomorrow?

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Question.

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And then we go from there.

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John: What would be the average

amount of outfits that someone

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should bring with them for a good

quality professional photo shoot.

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John Demato: It depends.

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It depends on what they're going for.

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If they just need one quick headshot,

for something that they need for

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tomorrow, it'll be two outfits.

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The number is based on the amount of

time that we have for a branding session.

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So for example, I did a four hour

session yesterday and I told her

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to bring 12 to 16 different tops.

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And three to four pants

and a couple of dresses.

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She didn't bring that much.

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We ended up having to play, mix

and match for some of her layers

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to be able to create that variety.

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And that actually is a very

important thing to keep in mind.

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For folks that wear blazers, jackets,

cardigans, anything that's a layer.

365

:

You can take photos with it on, and

that's one look, and then you're

366

:

using it for, say, a headshot,

at the beginning of the session.

367

:

And then we need to recreate you

facilitating a training session

368

:

with slides two hours later.

369

:

Grab that cardigan, change the shirt

underneath and now it's a new look.

370

:

Or use the same shirt you used in that

first headshot without the cardigan and

371

:

now all of a sudden it's a different look.

372

:

So it's a bit of strategy

when you're in the room.

373

:

But the most important thing is

to understand how many different

374

:

scenarios you have that you're

creating during your branding session.

375

:

How many promotional shots, the head

shots, the wider portraits you're

376

:

aiming to get within your time.

377

:

The timeframe of the session, and

then how many different day-to-day

378

:

lifestyle scenarios are we capturing?

379

:

How, shooting on working on your

computer or having a one-on-one

380

:

consultation with someone or doing a

virtual session, something like that.

381

:

Get all the numbers and make sure that you

have enough for each of those scenarios

382

:

and always bring a little extra because

you never know when that extra layer

383

:

or that extra piece that you bring.

384

:

Could come into play.

385

:

John: Most of my coaching and

speaking friends and clients, will

386

:

have a lot of social media presence.

387

:

Now, some especially

do a really great job.

388

:

They seem to have this amazing

library of photos that they pull

389

:

from, that always look like they've

been done in professional photo

390

:

shoots from different reasons.

391

:

So if you wanted like maybe enough

images that you could probably use

392

:

throughout, maybe not in every social

media thing that you do, but in, in

393

:

enough to maybe have you going through.

394

:

12 months without having to overuse

the same ni how many would be

395

:

within a range of optimal for that,

396

:

John Demato: It's not the

amount, it's the variety.

397

:

John: right?

398

:

John Demato: And what I mean by that is.

399

:

The variety in the way that the photos

are composed wide, medium close.

400

:

I don't just mean photos

that involve your face.

401

:

Let's see The details.

402

:

The devil is in the details.

403

:

If you're, Someone who writes

in a day planner or a journal.

404

:

Let's see.

405

:

Closeups of that pen when you're working

on your laptop or your tablet, let's see.

406

:

Closeups of what that looks like if

there are certain pieces of swag that

407

:

you use or that you give to clients.

408

:

Let's see what that looks like if there

are mementos or tchotchkes or other

409

:

types of different props that you could

bring to the session, that you can have

410

:

photos taken of and then shared with your

audience in a relevant and valuable way.

411

:

Let's see what that looks like.

412

:

Do you have books or manuals that

are important to what you do for a

413

:

living that are absolute essentials

and would be relevant in valuable

414

:

to share with your audience?

415

:

Get photos of that stuff as well.

416

:

And then when it comes to

the person and their face.

417

:

Get them in black and white as well.

418

:

And the reason is because it breaks

up the visual pattern of the same

419

:

types of shots over and over again.

420

:

And hearkening back to what

was said before that camera

421

:

that's your pocket 24 7.

422

:

That also comes into play and breaks it

up in addition to the fact that there

423

:

are posts that you can create that

also can include text on the image.

424

:

So then that also breaks it up.

425

:

The other idea is to use posts without

images and just use text and quotes

426

:

from your book or from your speech or

from other articles that you've created.

427

:

You don't wanna bore your audience with

the same shots over and over again.

428

:

You wanna break it up so that

you don't become noise, and

429

:

that you stay a clear signal.

430

:

And by being strategic and intentional

about how you leverage your image

431

:

content portfolio, you are gonna

be able to achieve that goal.

432

:

John: Yeah, that's good.

433

:

I think we do need to look as

good as we can manage to make

434

:

ourselves look on social media.

435

:

It's certainly something I

need to get better at myself.

436

:

Are there any.

437

:

common mistakes that are actually

easily avoidable that you see people do.

438

:

John Demato: One of 'em I

mentioned before, which is.

439

:

If a moment happens and you don't have a

photo of it, that moment never happened.

440

:

So that's definitely one of them.

441

:

Another one that drives me absolutely

insane is now tell me if you've

442

:

seen this kind of photo before.

443

:

So let's say the person

is on their laptop, right?

444

:

They're sitting.

445

:

They have a coffee cup in their hand.

446

:

They have one hand on the keyboard, and

instead of looking at the laptop, at

447

:

the typing that they're pretending to

do, they look straight into the camera.

448

:

Have you seen that photo

449

:

John: Oh yeah.

450

:

Even today, I

451

:

think.

452

:

John Demato: Yeah, so those photos

drive me up a wall because you're

453

:

confusing your audience because you're

unnecessarily breaking the fourth wall.

454

:

And what I mean, by that is you're

doing the, I am candidly working and

455

:

I have my coffee cup and I'm doing my

thing and I'm working hard for you.

456

:

John: Right.

457

:

John Demato: at the same

time it's, Hey, look at me.

458

:

Look at me.

459

:

Look at me.

460

:

Make a choice.

461

:

yeah, go

462

:

John: They're trying to connect

with you at the same time, but

463

:

look, ultimately looking really

staged and fake because of it.

464

:

John Demato: You're multitasking and

looking really stupid is what it is.

465

:

So the solution to that problem is

this, either A, during your branding

466

:

session you focus on getting the

promotional images, the ones where

467

:

you're looking directly into the camera.

468

:

Or B, you're doing candid, recreated

candid day-to-day lifestyle

469

:

images, or you're working, you're

brainstorming, you're having moments

470

:

of reflection, you're facilitating

and training, whatever that is.

471

:

It's either A or B, not C.

472

:

C doesn't exist.

473

:

It looks dumb.

474

:

Stop doing that.

475

:

It's unnecessary.

476

:

John: You may or may not have come across

this, you might have some awareness.

477

:

I don't know.

478

:

But there's this thing that was often

taught in a lot of, nLP based presentation

479

:

classes of these five essential.

480

:

Movements or body positions that represent

a particular emotion, like the, arms?

481

:

crossed and finger on the chin, the

thinker or, they call the ator, which

482

:

is the hands pointed upwards in front

of you, do those sorts of stances kind

483

:

of work or do they just seem ridiculous?

484

:

John Demato: I am not actually

familiar with that staged posturing.

485

:

But the one rule that I live by

is I do not pose people ever.

486

:

What I do is place a person in

a scenario, and then I tell them

487

:

within that given scenario, what

would you be doing with your arms?

488

:

What would you be doing with your hands?

489

:

And then let them make the first move

and then I optimize it for the camera.

490

:

Why is that important?

491

:

Because they need to feel natural

in these images in order to

492

:

convey that to their audience.

493

:

If it's staged or posed like it's

a fashion or beauty shoot, it's

494

:

gonna come off as inauthentic.

495

:

And on top of that, they're not

gonna do those movements while

496

:

they're in the room with these people

while they're paying the money.

497

:

And the whole goal is to create

that genuine connection with your

498

:

audience in a way that's gonna show

them what it looks like when they

499

:

are in the room with you as a result.

500

:

I honestly don't care what all of

that stuff . Is that you just said?

501

:

Because what's more important is

what the person does in the room when

502

:

they are in that particular scenario.

503

:

For example, yesterday with the

woman that I was working with, I

504

:

had her sitting at a lot of tables.

505

:

And I would ask her, if you were

sitting across the table from a client

506

:

right now having a conversation, what

would you be doing with your hands?

507

:

Would you actually lean on your chin?

508

:

And she did.

509

:

And she had a couple of

different ways to do that.

510

:

And I'm like, okay, let's

do another position.

511

:

What would you do if

your hands were at rest?

512

:

Are they, like clamp together

or the fingers intertwined?

513

:

What does that look like?

514

:

And then she would react.

515

:

To that, and then I would photograph that.

516

:

That's all it needs to be.

517

:

This is not rocket science people.

518

:

This is just photos.

519

:

And you, if you just allow

yourself to be uniquely yourself,

520

:

you're doing the right thing.

521

:

John: It's one of those things I think

is, it's always hard to act natural when

522

:

you're almost being asked to act natural.

523

:

Do you know what I mean?

524

:

John Demato: And John,

that's a great point.

525

:

Qualify your photographer during that

discovery call to determine whether

526

:

or not he or she is the right fit for

you to be in the same room with for a

527

:

couple of hours during this session.

528

:

Because rapport is everything.

529

:

If you do not feel comfortable

with that person, it's going to

530

:

feel very unnatural and it's going

to show up in every single photo.

531

:

And guess what?

532

:

Those photos are gonna suck, and

you know what you're gonna do

533

:

with them absolutely nothing.

534

:

So be very discerning with the people that

you hire That are standing in front of

535

:

you with a lens pointed at your face, and

that's gonna go a very long way to making

536

:

that uneasiness go away over time during

that session when you get used to them.

537

:

And then what you'll do is drop your

guard, feel more present, and be more

538

:

apt to share natural expressions.

539

:

John: Yeah.

540

:

that which may, you may have just

answered another question I had, which

541

:

is about I, I'm someone who definitely

does not, I'm not camera shy, but I don't

542

:

enjoy photo sessions get bored, I felt.

543

:

But if you've got that rapport with a

photographer is that the main thing that

544

:

will make the difference for that or are

there any other things that could help

545

:

make it a better experience, do you think?

546

:

John Demato: First of

all, congratulations.

547

:

You're just like most people.

548

:

Rapport definitely is at the top of that

list, what else really helps create that

549

:

level of feeling comfortable and confident

in front of the camera is preparation.

550

:

It's hearkening back to what I said

before about strategy and intention.

551

:

If you know what you're shooting, if

you know where you're shooting it, if

552

:

you know what outfits to bring, what

props you need to bring, what to expect,

553

:

understand that you feel comfortable with

the person that was on the phone with you

554

:

or on the Zoom during the strategy call

and the inquiry call and all of that.

555

:

A lot of your hesitation is,

gonna go down significantly.

556

:

Ultimately, when the rubber meets the

road, it could be a little bumpy at the

557

:

beginning, but the truth is you're gonna

be able to get past it with knowing

558

:

all of the ducks are in a row and that

you're able to be not on autopilot, but

559

:

feel comfortable in knowing that you

have someone that has their hands on the

560

:

wheel at 10 and two, and they're driving

this thing for you and you trust them.

561

:

That's gonna really help you get

past that hesitation and anxiety

562

:

being in front of the camera.

563

:

John: Yeah, that's cool.

564

:

When you have clients who are in

coaching and speaking and consulting

565

:

who want website stuff, they want

social media images, are there any

566

:

other things you recommend that they

might want to include in that package?

567

:

John Demato: Before I mentioned a whole

list of other types of images that would

568

:

be relevant and valuable to your audience.

569

:

So I would refer back

to all of those pieces.

570

:

I would also think about.

571

:

Some of the stuff that happens outside

of your life and outside of your

572

:

business, depending upon your brand.

573

:

It always ties back to how do

you wanna position yourself and

574

:

be perceived by your audience?

575

:

And for some people, they don't need

to share anything outside of their.

576

:

Professional lives, they want

to keep it very straight down

577

:

the middle and go that route.

578

:

But for some other people, I

photographed them on their boats.

579

:

I've photographed them, dancing and

going out and doing different types of

580

:

hobbies and meditation, wellness practices

because it was relevant to their audience.

581

:

So what I would say is

582

:

what are the other things in your life

that A, you feel comfortable sharing

583

:

and B, is relevant and valuable to

share with your audience and consider

584

:

making time in your portrait session

for those things to be captured as well.

585

:

Obviously, the priorities are everything

that were discussed before, but.

586

:

Those could be the yes, and, and

if you do not have time to capture

587

:

them during the branding session.

588

:

You use your camera in your pocket.

589

:

For example, a client I photographed

in South Carolina a couple of weeks

590

:

ago, he owns a couple of airplanes.

591

:

We didn't have time to go to

the hangar and shoot him and

592

:

do all that kind of stuff.

593

:

So what I did was I briefed his

social media person who also does

594

:

his video and snaps some behind

the scenes stuff of him at events.

595

:

And I gave him a blueprint as

to how to capture, my client.

596

:

His client with the airplane and used

those images, across his online presence.

597

:

John: Right.

598

:

Very, very helpful.

599

:

Could you give some sort of idea of what

an average or reasonable expectation

600

:

of investment in something like this

would look like for most people?

601

:

John Demato: Well, I'd be happy

to share what my rates are.

602

:

John: Yeah.

603

:

If you are, if you're okay to do that.

604

:

I.

605

:

John Demato: oh.

606

:

My rates are on my website,

so they're already out there.

607

:

But for a branding session, it could

average anywhere from $3,000 to

608

:

9,500 us and it depends upon how much

time you are in front of the camera.

609

:

in terms of the grand scale of life, I'm

somewhere probably in the middle with

610

:

regards to other branding photographers.

611

:

but what I would say is.

612

:

when you're thinking about what the

financial investment is in these

613

:

branding photos in this session, and

then thinking long term about how many

614

:

times a year do I need to refresh them?

615

:

what's the cost of not

having these images?

616

:

What's the cost of just

sharing photos from your phone?

617

:

Only what's, what do you

generally get paid for a keynote?

618

:

What's that in relation to what you're

spending on these branding images or

619

:

even photos of the keynote itself, or

a training session or other type of

620

:

John: Yeah.

621

:

John Demato: weigh the pros

and cons with regards to what

622

:

you're getting paid right now.

623

:

And then, think.

624

:

More critically about who that

person is behind the camera.

625

:

Are they the right fit for you in terms

of the rapport factor we talked about,

626

:

but also in terms of their expertise?

627

:

Do they think like someone who just

wants to capture pretty photos of

628

:

you while that is the foundation?

629

:

That is not the objective.

630

:

The objective is to capture as much

variety as possible with a high quality

631

:

bend that gives you opportunities

to leverage these images everywhere.

632

:

So you want your photographer

basically to think like a marketer, not

633

:

thinking like a portrait photographer.

634

:

John: We probably don't wanna get

abstract or overly creative with

635

:

these things either, I guess.

636

:

that's great advice.

637

:

I think it is, a longer term investment

for most coaches and speakers.

638

:

one new client or your next

keynote more than adequately cover

639

:

the, the cost of, investment.

640

:

So, yeah.

641

:

John Demato: you know, here's

the other thing about that, John.

642

:

When you are an expert that speaks,

coaches, trains, consult and write

643

:

books, and you don't plan on retiring

anytime soon, it's never ending.

644

:

You are sharing the never ending story.

645

:

These photos that you got

today will be out of date in

646

:

two years for various reasons.

647

:

Whether you look different, whether

your business is in a different place.

648

:

Whatever the case may be, and as a

result, in order to stay relevant in the

649

:

eyes of those that you serve, to still

stay in the pecking order to where you

650

:

fit right now, and to elevate yourself

beyond that, you have to keep up with

651

:

your never ending story with fresh images

over and over and over again until you

652

:

decide to stop doing what you're doing.

653

:

John: John.

654

:

John, you also have a blog.

655

:

Can you tell us a bit about that?

656

:

John Demato: Sure.

657

:

So I write a lot.

658

:

I write three.

659

:

I write three blogs a week, every

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

660

:

And it shares a lot of valuable insights

with regards to the how, what and

661

:

why behind visual storytelling and.

662

:

It's, it's an opportunity for me to give

people more context into the reasoning

663

:

behind the importance of investing your

time and money into this stuff, because

664

:

it's not just about getting these images,

it's also about implementing them.

665

:

And I write a lot about the

entire process to just give a full

666

:

scope view into its importance.

667

:

John: If, uh, our audience would

like to check that out, where

668

:

can they get a hold of your blog?

669

:

John Demato: You can go to john dato.com,

670

:

scroll all the way to the bottom of

the homepage, and there is a signup

671

:

form right there waiting for you.

672

:

John: Awesome.

673

:

So great.

674

:

Anyone who wants to go and check

out, John's content and blog, You'll

675

:

find the link in the show notes but

John, any final thoughts or words of

676

:

advice for those of us who are looking

to improve our visual image online?

677

:

John Demato: Absolutely.

678

:

The best time to start thinking about

your visual storytelling and how

679

:

you present yourself through images

is right now, get started on it.

680

:

Start being strategic and intentional.

681

:

Hire the right people to help support

this goal of you putting yourself out

682

:

there in the way you want to be seen,

perceived, and all that good stuff.

683

:

And.

684

:

That will help you get in front of

the people who really, really need

685

:

your help and also are a fit for you

based on who they are as a person.

686

:

John: Awesome.

687

:

Great advice.

688

:

John.

689

:

It's been really fun

chatting to you today.

690

:

I certainly learned a lot and

I'm gonna be having a good think

691

:

about my visual storytelling and

my image as well after this chat.

692

:

I really appreciate

you coming on the show.

693

:

And I'll go and take a

look at your blog myself.

694

:

But, uh, thank you for being

my guest today, John Demato.

695

:

John Demato: Thank you, fab Abby.

696

:

The pleasure was all on this

side of the lines my friend.

697

:

John: Glad to hear.

698

:

So a few final thoughts on the episode

with John today, and I know I have to pay

699

:

attention to my own visual storytelling.

700

:

This is certainly not something that

I have mastered and will be working

701

:

on, but I think there's some really

solid advice in what John said today.

702

:

That we should make sure we, even

if we don't have the money right now

703

:

to invest in a high quality photo

shoot, that we could start having

704

:

a bit more variety in our images.

705

:

That we should appear in more

outfits, that if we are a speaker,

706

:

we should be seen on stage.

707

:

If we are a coach or a

consultant, we should be seen.

708

:

Doing the things that we are

advertising ourselves for.

709

:

So these are critical elements and

get the best photos you can right now.

710

:

Now, I've said this to clients, I've

worked with particularly speakers, about

711

:

getting, grabbing these kinds of images

that it's not necessarily always gonna

712

:

be a case that you have to start by

hiring a top quality photographer, but

713

:

if you have those resources available

to you, then someone like John could be,

714

:

great for you to hire and help you out.

715

:

However, it may be that there's

somebody in your friend circle, your

716

:

family, your network, who is a very

good photographer, maybe professional,

717

:

maybe semi-professional, maybe a really

good amateur who could get you started

718

:

with some good images and might be

willing with the right incentive,

719

:

whether that's gonna be money or, , a

bottle of wine or treat treating them to

720

:

lunch or dinner or something like that.

721

:

Maybe with the right incentive,

you can get them to do some photos

722

:

for you and have a photo shoot.

723

:

As I said to John, I do not enjoy

having my photo taken and doing photo

724

:

shoots, and I have done some before.

725

:

They're kind of boring, so as John

said, you have to be somewhat prepared

726

:

for it and that's gonna help you

and having good rapport with your

727

:

photographer, not letting yourself

get too bored while you're there.

728

:

Don't get frustrated with them or with

yourself While you're doing all of this.

729

:

Have the preparation of knowing

what images you really want to

730

:

have, the different looks you want

to have and the different settings.

731

:

I think there's a lot of really good stuff

there and more besides, so do go and check

732

:

out John's blog and John's website, all

the links for that in the show notes.

733

:

If you are currently looking for some help

to develop yourself as the speaker and

734

:

make sure that your keynotes are really

killing it or that you're turning up

735

:

the dials on your energy and charisma on

the platform to really connect more with

736

:

your audiences and have a greater impact.

737

:

Do go and check out present influence.com

738

:

and see what's available for there.

739

:

At the very least, you can go and

download My Free Guide to Leveraging

740

:

Podcasts for getting you more

lead generation without it costing

741

:

you any money really whatsoever.

742

:

But it will cost you some time.

743

:

But I give you a great visual

guide to being an excellent

744

:

podcast guest and to being really

strategic about how to do that.

745

:

And you can download that

for free@presentinfluence.com,

746

:

and you can find out more about

what's on offer in terms of coaching.

747

:

And even speaking, if you are

looking for a speaker right now.

748

:

That's pretty much it from me

for this week, On Friday, I'll

749

:

be back with another episode.

750

:

Is this gonna be me by myself

sharing some thoughts and insights?

751

:

Hope you'll come and join me for that.

752

:

In the meantime, wherever you're going,

whatever you're doing, have an amazing

753

:

rest of your day and see you next time.

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About the Podcast

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Present Influence
The podcast that helps professional communicators learn the skills that increase influence, impact and authority.

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About your host

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John Ball

John Ball is a keynote coach and professional speaker on a mission to help upcoming leaders master their communication, create impact and stand out as experts in their field.
John left the high life of his flying career to do something more meaningful to him and has since worked with several leading personal and professional development organisations as a lead coach and trainer.
The heart of everything John does involves helping people shift to personal responsibility and conscious awareness of how they show up and perform in every situation, whilst equipping them with the tools to be exceptional.
John also co-hosts The Coaching Clinic Podcast with his great friend and colleague Angie Besignano.
He lives in the beautiful city of Valencia, Spain with his husband and often visits the UK and US for speaking and training engagements. When he's not speaking or podcasting, he's likely to be out swimming, kayaking or enjoying time with friends.

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