One of the perks of my job is that I get to travel around the country meeting lots of new people and having some fascinating conversations about all sorts of things, not just property development. However, occasionally I get a chance to do something a little different, and last week was a case in point. I found myself being filmed at a swanky hotel deep in the leafy Hampshire countryside for a sizzle reel about a new podcast I’m doing. Now, I know what you’re thinking. It’s only the first paragraph, and he’s already plugging his podcast, and of course, you’re also thinking, what on earth is a ‘sizzle reel’ when it’s at home?

To be fair, I didn’t know either. However, it turns out it’s our video company’s informal name for a short promotional video about a product or service. Or a podcast, in my case. Anyway, I dutifully turned up and met the video production team.

The premise of the podcast, which is called ‘Driven To Success’, involved me being collected by my driver from the hotel and then pretending to conduct interviews from the back seat of a limo as we drove around.

Things took a slightly more challenging turn with the arrival of Phil, a burly ex-special constable who had retired from the force some time ago and who had turned his hand to the highly skilled art of drone filming.

He explained that one shot he wanted to get was of yours truly in the back of the limo with both windows open. The drone would then pass into the car through one window and out of the other, filming me as it went, which led me to wonder how dangerous it would be.

I was also conscious that my facial expression, when captured by the drone as it passed about two inches from my face, might be more appropriate for a horror flick than a promotional video. Luckily, as it turned out, the creatives got their heads together over lunch, and decided that the talent (me) and bot features (the drone) wouldn’t be required to share cabin space after all, much to my relief.