Writers, Do Video. Rachel Sarfin on Building the Skill

Rachel Sarfin is a content writer and strategist who spent her career in print. Then a forgotten record button turned her into an on-camera interviewer. Here's why she thinks other writers should follow.

Key Takeaways

Rachel Sarfin spent 2024 job hunting through virtual networking. That forced her to get comfortable on camera.
Her interview series started by accident: she forgot to hit record on a call with Dane and Gail Gardner.
Don't do video for reach you can't predict. Do it to build a skill your next job may require.
You don't have to talk to a camera alone. Rachel interviews authors, the same work she did in print.
She pre-records everything so she can edit. A viewer still messaged her: "You're so confident and so calm."

This fits inside a bigger picture. If you want the full view first, here's the bigger picture.

Why should content writers do video?

Not for the algorithm. Rachel is blunt about this: you have no guarantee who will see your video, how it will perform, or whether it will even reach your audience.

So don't do it for those reasons. Do it because on-camera comfort is becoming a job skill. Maybe your full-time role adds video tasks someday. Maybe you want to pivot, and the pivot involves interviewing people. Either way, the skill compounds while you wait.

"I had to learn how to get comfortable on camera and it took me a while. It's a skill, just like anything else." — Rachel Sarfin

Dane sees the same math from the strategy side. It doesn't matter where you start if you're in it for the long haul. In 10 years, nobody will care that your first videos were rough. Like stand-up comedy, everyone starts from ground zero and builds.

How did Rachel get comfortable on camera?

Practice, under pressure. Rachel spent most of 2024 looking for work. That meant networking, and most of it was virtual. She had to learn to show up on camera over and over, and it took a while.

The more she practiced, the better it got. There was no shortcut and no natural talent involved. Video did not come naturally to her, and she says so on the record.

That's the part most writers need to hear. The people who look relaxed on camera mostly built that comfort rep by rep, the same way you built your writing voice.

The interview series that started with a mistake

Last year Rachel was on a call with Dane and content strategist Gail Gardner. She realized she forgot to hit record. Embarrassing, sure. But it gave her an idea: interview them each separately, on purpose this time.

She did. Then someone else approached her and said, I'd love to be on your podcast. She didn't have a podcast. She just interviewed interesting people about their industry and what they've learned.

That accidental series has now run for about a year. She pivoted to interviewing authors after starting her own writing group, where published members had stories worth hearing about the writing process.

What if talking to a camera isn't your thing?

Then don't. Pick the format that fits you. Rachel's format is the interview, because she loves talking to people. She started her writing career doing human interest stories, so drawing lessons out of people is the skill she already had.

"You're doing what you've been doing all along, which is the interviewing. In my case, I'm just doing it on a camera." — Rachel Sarfin

That reframe matters. The camera is just an extra dimension on work you already know how to do. It's a mindset shift, not a career change. She never trained as a broadcast journalist. She started in print, and the interview skills carried over.

Does interview video actually pay off?

Yes, in ways you can't always see in the metrics. Rachel's results after a year:

The authors she interviews thank her, and some reuse her videos in their own social content. That was the goal, it wasn't just for her.
A silent viewer, someone who never commented or engaged, messaged her out of nowhere: "Wow, you're so confident and so calm. How do you do that?" That person had to go on video for their own job and wanted her secrets.
She's built relationships with people she'd never have met otherwise.

Dane adds the strategy layer: video lets your audience get to know you, and it rules people in or out. The people who like and trust you build a relationship. The people who aren't for you select themselves out. That's a feature, not a bug. You can't be for everybody, and video accelerates the sorting.

Rachel's secret: never go live

The viewer who called her calm was watching an edit. Rachel does nothing live. Everything is pre-recorded, which gives her the chance to edit with what she calls her very rudimentary editing skills.

That removes the biggest fear writers have about video: embarrassing yourself in real time in front of an audience. Record it. Fix it. Then post it. The confidence people see on screen is partly just the safety of knowing you get a second take.

Doing the thing is the easy part. The hard part is knowing where you're already winning and where you're invisible. That's exactly what our free AI Visibility Snapshot shows you, before you spend a dollar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should content writers learn to make video content?

Yes, but for the right reason. Rachel Sarfin says don't do it for unpredictable reach. Do it to build on-camera comfort, because that skill may become part of your job or your next career pivot.

How do you get comfortable being on camera?

Repetition. Rachel spent 2024 doing virtual networking while job hunting, and the practice added up. She says on-camera comfort is a skill like anything else: the more you practice, the better it gets.

Do you have to talk to the camera alone to do video?

No. Pick the format that fits you. Rachel interviews authors instead of doing solo talking-head videos, because interviewing is the skill she already had from her print journalism days.

Is it better to pre-record videos or go live?

Rachel pre-records everything and never goes live. Pre-recording lets her edit before anyone sees the video, which removes the fear of embarrassing herself in real time.

Does interview-style video content get results?

It did for Rachel. The authors she interviews reuse her videos in their own social content, and a viewer who never engaged publicly messaged her to ask how she stays so confident and calm on camera.

Most teams don't get this right on the first try. Here's how we approached it for a real team. Curious what it'd look like for you? Let's talk it through.

Full Interview Transcript

Dane: Hello, everybody. My name is Dane Frederiksen. I am a B2B video expert and I'm on a mission to help B2B companies boost their visibility, trust and build pipeline with doing video the right way. So today we're going to talk about that, among other things, content with my guest Rachel Sarfin, who is a content writer, strategist and long time LinkedIn collaborator with me. Welcome to the show.

Rachel: Thank you so much for having me. I am thrilled to be here.

Dane: Yeah, it's been fun getting to know you over the past year or two. You have been one of the people that has really seemed to get the idea of the importance of video, which, you know, for people that are traditionally content writers, you know, it's kind of a new thing for a lot of writers. But I think you've seen the value from the beginning. I'd love to just kind of get your high level take of like within the content mix. Like, how does that fit in for you?

Rachel: So that is, I am glad that you asked that. And I will say actually that video has not come naturally to me. It has taken a while. I kind of first started using like video conferencing, I guess, not just during the pandemic, but I was looking, I spent pretty much all of 2024 looking for work. And that involved doing a lot of networking and a lot of that was virtual networking. So I had to learn how to get comfortable on camera and it took me a while. It's a skill, just like anything else. And, you know, the more you practice it, the better it gets. And I know that last year, you and I and Gail Gardner, who is a content strategist as well, were on a call. And I realized I forgot to hit record, which was really embarrassing and kind of sad. But, you know, I realized that maybe we better, if I interviewed you both separately. So I did that. And that kind of got me started. And then after I did that, someone else approached me and she said, Oh, I'd love to be on your podcast. And I said, well, I don't really have a podcast. But I do just, you know, kind of interview interesting people. And, you know, talk to them about what is going on in their industry and the stuff that they've learned. So that has been what I have been doing for about a year now. I pivoted into speaking with authors because I started my own writing group. And I have some people in the group who are published and hearing from them was really interesting about kind of what they've gone through in the writing process. So that's where I am now.

Dane: Yeah, you've been such a great, I don't know, role model, I think, for a lot of other writers and people that, you know, myself included, I didn't start out being comfortable on camera. I've always been the one behind the camera. And so I think we both been on this journey to, like you say, get comfortable with it. You know, build that skill. Learn the hard lessons, the painful lessons. Get over the cringe, like whatever those things are. I'd love to hear from you. Like, what do you see as the real value for doing video content for people that are like normally not wanting to do that? It's sort of like going to the dentist. Like, you don't want to do it, but you know, it's good for you. So like, where do you see the real value in kind of getting over those hurdles to be able to take advantage of video?

Rachel: You have no guarantee who is going to see your video. You don't know how it's going to perform. You might not necessarily know who your audience is and if what you're posting is going to reach your audience. So I would say don't necessarily do it for those reasons, but do it because you want to feel comfortable on camera and because maybe someday this might be like a task that could be part of your job. If you know you're in a full time environment or maybe you want to pivot at some point and you want to branch out and you want to do something different with your life. And maybe that involves interviewing people. Not necessarily even doing it on camera because what I do is really not like the me just talking. It's interviewing people. You have to decide what video format works best for you. Like what you're going to do. For me, it's the interviewing people. I love speaking to people. I started off my writing career working as a human interest journalist, human interest stories. And I love talking to people and I love hearing what they have to say and what they've gone through and what kind of lessons they can teach. And you know, maybe someday you might use that skill somewhere else down the line. So being able to speak to people I think is the important part, at least for me. If you're going to do those kinds of videos, the video is just an extra dimension. You have to think about it like that. You know, you're doing what you've been doing all along, which is the interviewing. In my case, I'm just doing it on a camera and I didn't train as, you know, like a broadcast journalist. Like I said, started off in print. So you kind of have to maybe look at it like that. It's like a kind of a mindset shift.

Dane: Yeah, I think I've kind of been thinking about it is like there's a few benefits you get is number one. You know, you're getting experience being comfortable on camera and, you know, it doesn't matter where you start if you're going to be doing this for the long haul. Like in 10 years, it won't matter where you started, you know, just like a stand up comedian kind of has to start from ground zero and build up that talent and experience. And then, you know, like the whole time you're doing that, if you're doing like an interview format, you're getting visibility. You're building relationships with other people on the other side of the planet potentially. And then, you know, you're helping your audience get to know you too. And while there can be some cringe or some uncomfortable, what you're doing is you're letting the people that do want to get to know you and do like you do trust you build that relationship and the people that kind of aren't for you, you're probably pushing them away in some way, which is a good thing because you can't be for everybody. You have to have a position of some kind. So I think it's in a way, it's a way to accelerate the sales process and kind of either rule people in or out. Or they rule themselves in or out by building or not building that relationship.

Rachel: So to your point, yes, I agree because it does build up that skill and you are when you do video, you are figuring out that audience. You are saying, you know, the people that are going to be interested in following me and interested in what I have to say, what I stand for as well, because they might not be interested in the types of people who are not for you are not going to care that you're interviewing, you know, whoever it is you're interviewing. So people who do not care about authors will not care about the three authors that I've interviewed. But people who are interested in that and who do want to know more about these particular authors and the writing lessons that they can learn from them will be interested.

Dane: I'm curious about your experiences now that you've got some content of video out there. Are you having conversations for people like have seen your stuff and like they feel like they got to know you or understood what you're talking about better. What sort of feedback have you gotten from the stuff that you put out there?

Rachel: So the authors themselves have been appreciative. They'd say, thank you. And I think some of them are using what I've done in their own social media content, which was the goal. It wasn't just for me. It was also for them. But in addition, I had somebody who's been watching these videos who hasn't commented on them. I don't even know if this person has engaged with them. But they messaged me and they said, wow, you're so confident and so calm. How do you do that? Because I'm also going to be for my job. I also have to go on video. Like, how do you do that? What are your secrets? And I said, first of all, wow, I feel like we're watching two different videos because I don't necessarily feel calm at all. So I'm really glad that you're getting that impression. But I think also it's just a matter of getting used to it because I do not do anything live. It's all pre-recorded. So it gives me a chance to edit with my very rudimentary editing skills. So it's not like I'm worried about embarrassing myself live in front of how many people, you know, it's just I kind of like I'm recording it and I have the chance to edit.

Dane: I just want to thank you for sharing your insights today and keep up the good work. See you out there online.

Rachel: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. And I am going to keep it up.