Some Personal Reflections on my Recent Cocktail-Making Videos Project

Working on speaking to the camera without fillers

       Last week, I made, uploaded, and linked to the last set of videos as part of a recent project I began less than two months ago.  The project, 30 Days of 30 Drinks by a 30-Year Old, consisted of six weeks of making five drinks each week, while recording them into videos and uploading them to YouTube.  I am certainly glad I engaged in this project, as it yielded a few benefits: it forced me to experience and to learn how to make new drinks [that I might not have otherwise tried], it was a good exercise and practice of my video performance (which has been years since I first did something similar to this project, in my half-year of weekly vlogging), and it was nice to hear encouraging, positive, and enthused/amused feedback throughout the project (and even afterwards).

Pouring while keeping eye contact with the camera

          Throughout the project, I consistently had to figure out when I was making the drinks/videos and would have to schedule them in, but that would be about several nights a week.  I actually got into regularly asking myself "Which drink am I making and when will it be?"  And perhaps as time goes by, I will have that query out of my head, but I'm still used to thinking about which drink should I be making?  One drawback I experienced during the project that seemed relatively new to me was that there would be days that I not only had no interest in partaking of alcohol, but that I would have a particular disinterest in having any. But, I still made the drinks/videos (it did help that a few times, people at our house would drink a cocktail I made on days I didn't want to drink).  Now that the project is over, I am looking forward to the next few weeks where I will be at a dry camp (there may be a night or two where I go out with other staff members for drinks, but I know that I won't be drinking much), as I am hoping my liver returns to its normal, happy self and I can detox for a bit.

Trying a Daiquiri for the first time

        I am glad that I started and finished the project for myself, especially, as I mentioned initially, as it was a creative outlet for myself.  Two lessons I learned from my earlier vlogging experience was 1) realizing how annoying and off-putting filler words/phrases were (and seeking to eradicate them from my speech (certainly on my videos, but also in real life)); and 2) eye contact is so important!  While in my previous video project I just spoke to the camera, in this project, I had to pour, mix, stir, etc., as well, which made those two lessons more difficult to incorporate.  I had to remember what my ingredients were and what the process was, making it imperative to know precisely what was going to be taking place so I knew with certainty what I was going to be saying.  Also, tying to pour liquids into a not-so-large area can be tough to get in while focussing on the camera (but doable, one just has to work on one's peripheral vision...).  I can say with an unimaginable amount of being totally impressed by people who regularly talk on tv without fumbling or fillers as well as people who can just speak with great comfort at the cameras - it is a great talent to have. I should know because I tried and I don't think I have [at this moment in time (but given training, it could be a different story)] the skills to be hosting a television show. (Also watching The Next Food Network Star with my wife, I certainly realize that it is harder to go in front of a camera with little experience than perhaps most people (Don't trust me? Try it yourself.).)



       I hope to continue to honing my avocation of mixing cocktails after I return in a few weeks and hope that I have a better grasp on this social skills set.