Two words are quietly draining the power out of your videos. You probably say them without even thinking, right at the very start.
“Hey everyone.”
And the moment you say it, every single person watching feels a little less spoken to.
It sounds harmless. Friendly, even. But it’s one of the most common reasons business videos feel flat — and one of the easiest things in the world to fix.
Come with me!
The Crowd That Isn’t There
When you say “hey everyone,” you’re picturing a crowd. A room full of people, all leaning in to hear you. But that crowd doesn’t exist.
Your video is almost never watched by a crowd. It’s watched by one person. Alone. On a phone, on a couch, in a quiet office, scrolling between meetings. One human being, on the other side of a small glass screen.
And here’s the strange part of how our brains work: when you address a group, the individual assumes you’re talking to someone else. “Everyone” means “not specifically me.” It’s the same reason a person in a crowd will watch someone struggle and assume another bystander will step in. The bigger the group you speak to, the less responsible any one viewer feels for listening. You meant to include everyone. Instead, you let everyone off the hook.
Think about the difference yourself. When a speaker on stage says “good evening, everybody,” you relax into the crowd. But when someone leans in and says “you, specifically, need to hear this,” you sit up. Same words, almost. Completely different feeling. One washes over a room. The other lands on a person.
Why “You” Beats “You Guys”
The videos that actually move people don’t feel like a broadcast. They feel like a conversation. Like the person on screen is talking directly to you, about your exact situation, as if they somehow knew you’d be watching.
That feeling has a name: it’s the parasocial connection, the sense that you personally know someone you’ve only watched on a screen. It’s why people feel loyal to a host they’ve never met. And it only happens when the language is one to one. “You,” not “you guys.” “Your business,” not “everyone’s business.”
When a prospect feels personally addressed, something shifts. They stop watching content and start having a conversation. And conversations build trust in a way broadcasts never will.
How to Talk to One Person
Here’s the trick the best communicators use, and it costs you nothing. Before you record, picture one real person. Not a demographic. Not an audience. One actual human.
Give them a name and a situation. “I’m talking to Sarah. She’s a brilliant financial advisor, her clients love her, but almost nobody online knows she exists.” Now record the whole video for Sarah. Just her.
Then watch your words. Cut “hey everyone,” “you guys,” “you folks,” “some of you out there.” Replace “some of you might be struggling with this” with “you might be struggling with this.” Look right into the lens like it’s the eyes of that one person across a coffee table. The camera lens is not a crowd. It’s a single pair of eyes.
And shoot it horizontally first, so you have a clean version for YouTube and your website — then cut a vertical version for social, where that one-on-one feeling hits even harder on a phone held inches from someone’s face.
The Trust That Follows
When a prospect feels like you’re speaking directly to them, they don’t just watch longer. They feel understood. And feeling understood, before you’ve pitched a single thing, is the most powerful head start you can give yourself.
Think about who your prospects actually hire. Not the slickest firm or the biggest name — the one that made them feel like someone finally got their specific situation. Video is the fastest way to create that feeling at scale, because it lets one person, watching alone, believe you were talking straight to them.
That quiet thought — “it’s like this person is talking to me” — is what turns a viewer into a lead. It’s what makes them stop scrolling, lean in, and eventually reach out.
So drop the crowd. There is no crowd. There’s one person, watching alone, hoping you’re about to say something that feels like it was meant just for them. Talk to that person. Every time. And watch how much closer they lean in.
That’s it for today. Before you go, don’t forget to give us a like or leave a comment, and, if you haven’t done it yet, subscribe to our channel to stay informed about everything related to video for business.
See you in the next Video Lion!