Getting busy executives on camera can feel like an impossible mission—packed schedules, last-minute cancellations, not to mention that being on camera can make even the most seasoned professional nervous. But capturing your company’s leaders on video is one of the most powerful ways to build credibility and authority, while humanizing your brand to connect with your audience on a deeper level. With the right approach, you can make executive interviews seamless, efficient, and enjoyable for everyone involved.

Build your brand with a recognizable face.

Executives bring vision, expertise, and unique insights that set your business apart and position your brand as an industry leader. Seeing and hearing from leaders gives your company a relatable, authentic edge that text alone can’t match. It also signals transparency and authority, making your brand more trustworthy in the eyes of prospects, customers, and partners.

Build confidence in your brand and drive engagement with strategic content. Executive video content is great for customer education, company overviews, strategy talks, sales enablement clips, public relations content, internal communications and recruitment videos.  

An interview playbook that works, no matter the industry.

We’ve put together a guide of our practical, field-tested tips to help you get even the busiest B2B executives to say “yes” to the camera—and shine once they’re there.

1. Understand their mindset.

Common objections busy executives have include a lack of time, not feeling comfortable on camera, worrying about saying the wrong thing, or not understanding the value and ROI of video.

Acknowledge their objections while providing solutions—assurance that you’ll handle all the logistics, keep their time commitment to a minimum, help with coaching, and provide talking points (or a script) in advance for them to review and approve.

Clearly state the value, including how it will support company goals, build the brand reputation, enable the marketing, sales and HR teams, and even benefit them from a personal branding standpoint.

2. Do your homework.

Is there an upcoming leadership meeting or conference your key stakeholders will be attending? It's more cost-efficient to interview multiple executives on the same day (or back-to-back days if needed). Minimize travel costs and eliminate the need to redo the camera and lighting setup for each interview—which is time-consuming.

Before reaching out, know their schedule, priorities, and preferred communication style. You'll need to be brief and direct, explicitly stating what you hope to achieve and why their perspective matters. Align the interview topic with immediate business goals such as market expansion, product launch or culture building.

Inform them of the interview format as well. Based on your content goals, it may be Q&A, conversational or scripted. If Q&A, draft targeted questions, talking points, a clear agenda and time estimate. If scripted, provide the script well in advance so they can provide feedback, adjust as needed to match their “voice,” and have time to rehearse adequately.

3. Minimize the time commitment.

Create a timeline that keeps the interview short, focused and of high value. An ideal time length is 15–20 minutes for the interview itself. Offer executives several potential windows to choose from, including outside of peak hours if needed. If possible, offer to come to their location or fit it into a leadership meeting or conference everyone is already attending. Provide a time estimate and a succinct schedule so they know what to expect.

Once a time is set, immediately send a calendar invite with the subject, location, and prep materials attached. Re-confirm with a polite reminder 1–2 days before the interview. Last-minute changes or cancellations can happen, so it’s important to keep backup slots open so you can promptly reschedule if needed.

4. Provide a quick prep checklist.

In addition to providing talking points or a script well in advance, prepare them with a checklist that answers potential questions and concerns. The checklist should include logistics, wardrobe and setting considerations. If required, provide a video/photography consent and release form for them to sign beforehand.

Here’s an example of wardrobe and preparation guidelines.

What to wear

• Business casual (men)—a nice, fitted sport coat/jacket/blazer 
• Business casual (women)—a nice blazer, suit jacket or dress
• Go for a seasonless look, no heavy wools or heavy sweaters 
• Laundered, pressed shirt in an off-white, pale blue, simple grey (other) 
• For men, high-rise socks so we don’t see exposed legs when sitting 
• Polished, closed-toed shoes with clean, unscuffed surfaces

What NOT to wear

• Bright white shirts (makes lighting trickier)
• Avoid a crew neck undershirt that is visible with an open collar
• Loud colors and/or patterns that can be distracting
• Small/thin stripes (these can create strange moiré patterns when digitized)
• Overly ornate blouses that may be distracting
• Highly reflective jewelry, especially necklaces and earrings
• Noisy jewelry (especially bracelets if they’re a hand talker)

How to prepare

• Hair cut a few days before the shoot
• Beard trimmed if applicable
• Clean eyeglasses
• Dress lightly—most people “heat up” a bit
• Sign video/photography consent and release form

5. On the day: Make it comfortable and efficient.

Set the tone for success by alleviating nerves and camera shyness. Warm them up by starting with a few minutes of friendly small talk before recording. Recap the agenda and why they’re here, and answer any last-minute questions. Encourage them to be themselves and reassure them that you can pause, redo answers and edit out slip-ups.

During recording, offer coaching as needed, such as providing suggestions on words to emphasize, natural eye contact and hand gestures, and smiling where appropriate to keep them friendly and approachable. Be sure to provide water and we recommend having a towel on hand for executives to place under their chin when taking a drink to ensure no water spills on their shirt—water stains are very evident on-camera and can take about 15 minutes to dry.

6. Respect the clock.

Arrive early and be ready to start on time. Whether you’re handling the filming or outsourcing to an agency, the setup should be complete, and all technical issues resolved. Before recording, remind executives to silence cellphone and smartwatch notifications to avoid disruptions and retakes.

Keep the conversation on track. You have limited time with them, so you need to ensure all the necessary topics are covered. That said, be open to adjusting and revising questions where appropriate to fit their requests and comfort level. Overall, it's crucial to wrap up as promised—even if the conversation could keep going. Ending on time builds trust for future asks.

7. Maximize value from the interview.

Since it can be hard finding time to get executives on camera, optimize your time with them. This could include planning a longer interview time to capture content for multiple marketing materials or having questions for other topics ready to go in case they finish early.

For example, if you’re recording their part for a company capabilities video, ask company culture questions afterwards to gather footage that the HR team can use in recruiting initiatives. There are countless ways to edit and repurpose interview content across your website and blog, and as testimonials, social media snippets, internal communications and more.

8. Thank and follow up.

Send a sincere thank-you email within 24 hours, reiterating how much you value their time and insights. Briefly explain what will happen next, such as the editing timeline, review and approval process, and expected release date.

Depending on your review process, you could share drafts along the way to get initial feedback and build excitement. After the video is published, share analytics and positive feedback to encourage future participation.

Need help getting started?

Getting busy B2B executives on camera might seem daunting, but with careful planning, empathy, and the right preparation, it’s completely within reach. We’ve interviewed countless executives, crafting compelling video content that provides clients with plenty of footage to be used and repurposed year-round.

When you focus on delivering value for both your audience and your leadership team, you’ll find executives are far more willing—and even eager—to share their perspectives. We'd be happy to hear how we can help you get started.