Last night I slept like a college student. In other words, I slept until noon. Then I took a mid-afternoon nap. Unable to deny having wasted the entire day, I decided just to go with it. Turning on my laptop and opening a YouTube window, I clicked on one of my favorites, Michelle Chmielewski
First, a word about who is Michelle. She is American, yet French is her first language. She studied and worked under Mark W. Schaefer, an influential social media guru and professor. I learned about her when Mark featured her video work a few months ago.
Mark Schaefer’s blog, {Grow}, is a definite must read. He provides excellent content every day! Today’s post (Jan. 21, 2012) is, “7 Reasons Every Job Seeker Needs to Blog.”
Michelle Chmieleski is a talented social media professional. Today, however, I’m highlighting her personal creativity as reflected in her video style. Her videos initially focused on technical matters. Then she switched to lifestyle commentary and she became an overnight sensation. Her signature clip, “Learn French in One Word,” has logged approximately one million hits.
What I like about her style is the elimination of dead air, the pauses between clauses in her sentences. It helps that she is extremely well spoken (If I spoke that well I could be a more popular teacher). And she was born to be cute in front of a camera. All in all, a nice package.
In the first video clip I embed, Chmielewski in 2010 responds to the Benjamin Rassat documentary, I Am the Media. Although I like what she says about the social media mindset, what she says is not as important here as how she says it.
In the second video clip I embed, Michelle alerts us to the need for creating video captions (subtitles). Don’t forget to click on the subtitles button.
Don’t you love her style?
Finally, I show her signature clip, “Learn French in One Word.” Warning. I believe she uses one of those words unsuitable for polite company. I would shun it. Her style shines through, though, and the clip is as hilarious as anything I’ve seen in quite a while.
You can follow Michelle Chmielewski at her blog, The Observing Participant.
Debit and credit – – David Albrecht
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