Video production
Lavalier microphone
A lavalier is a small microphone clipped to clothing roughly a hand's width below the chin. In corporate video it is the safest way to get an intelligible voice, because it stays the same distance from the mouth even when the speaker moves.
What it means in practice
In practice it is a clip on a collar or a jacket lapel, a cable run under the clothing and a transmitter in a back pocket. Fitting takes three minutes per person and is done by the sound operator or the camera operator. For a two person interview you use two, each on its own channel, so they can be treated separately in the edit. A second microphone hanging overhead is a backup, not a replacement.
Why this matters more than the camera: a viewer forgives a softer image, but hissing or hollow sound makes them leave within seconds. We have seen a corporate video shot on an expensive camera body with audio from the microphone mounted on it, in a hall full of reflections. It was unusable and had to be reshot. The lavalier is the cheapest item in the whole kit.
What to prepare for: the speaker needs clothing a clip can attach to, ideally a shirt or a jacket rather than a polo neck. Jewellery and lanyards at chest height rattle, and in a quiet room you hear it. We arrive early, run a test and let the speaker say a few sentences off the record so we can hear fabric rustle. That test takes five minutes and saves hours in post.
When it is not enough: in a noisy plant a lavalier faithfully records the machines too, because it does not know which sound is speech. There a shotgun microphone close in, or recording the speech elsewhere, is the answer. Outdoors in wind it needs a furry windshield, and without one the recording is beyond saving.
We never rely on a single audio source. Alongside the lavalier a second recording runs, even if that means a recorder sitting on the table. Try it today: play your last corporate video with your eyes closed and notice whether you catch every word.