Though being on-camera can be terrifying, it’s a great way to make you and your company more approachable as well as show how dynamic and trustworthy you are.
Ready to take the plunge? Then keep reading!
Boost your confidence on camera
Whether you’re making YouTube videos, sales videos, videos for internal communications or social media, use these 6 tips to boost your confidence, help you feel comfortable, and most importantly, be yourself on camera.
- Talk to Yourself
- Choose a location
- Be bad and make mistakes
- Practice – the more the better
- Get clear about what you’re saying
- Don’t watch your video at first
1 Talk to yourself
One sure way to get a quick confidence boost is to start talking out loud about what you’ll be covering on camera. Talk while walking to get coffee, getting ready for work, taking a shower, and driving to the office.
Talk long enough that you start getting really interested in what you’re talking about. Let your ideas flow. The longer you do this before you start filming, the more comfortable you’ll be when the camera starts to roll.
2 Location, location, location
Choose a filming location you’re comfortable in. If you’re relaxed in your environment, you’ll feel more confident in front of the camera. Make sure the background looks clean/not too busy and there’s enough light on your face. Natural light is best. Choosing a familiar location can be an instant confidence boost.
3 Be bad and make mistakes
Go ahead, be terrible! Be awkward! Stutter and stumble. Mess up, a lot. And then, press delete. It takes a while to get comfortable on camera so “delete” or “trash” is your friend. The more you mess up and then change what you don’t like, the better you’ll become. Eventually, you’ll start speaking with confidence, and you’ll know it because it feels good!
4 Practice, practice, practice – the more the better
If you want to know how to build confidence and self -esteem on camera, the answer is practice! Film yourself over and over until you’re comfortable. Practice in front of the camera, often. Practice helps you transition from being stiff to being comfortable and confident. When you’re more comfortable, you can be yourself on camera, which is the point: to be yourself. You’ll know when you get there because you’ll start having fun. If you’re not comfortable doing this on your own, get help from a friend or contact us for help.
5 Get Clear about What You’re Saying
Knowing what you want to say is truly the most important thing. You’ll need to practice what you’re talking about so that what you’re saying is clear and easy to follow. Figure out what you have to say and then create bullet points to get organized. Know your subject well enough that you can talk about it with ease.
Clarifying talking points is one of the best confidence-building exercises around to help prepare for being on camera.
6 Don’t watch your video at first
When you’re just getting started, don’t stop to watch the video, just keep talking and filming. When it gets easier and you start having fun, then you can start reviewing the videos to see what is working and what isn’t. Everyone is terrible at first try, second, third, and fourth try, so it’s pointless to critique your first efforts.
Conclusion
Practicing these confidence-building exercises will help you to more quickly step into the engaging, dynamic, and comfortable version of yourself on camera.
Unless you’re an actor playing a role, being yourself is the fastest way to getting confident and believable on camera.
Once you make the crossover from awkward to engaging, you’ll feel it and it will give you a huge confidence boost. Remember though, this doesn’t happen in 10 minutes. Practice!
If you’ve taken all these steps and still feel stuck or want to take your performance to the next level, give us a call for a free consultation or for guidance.
For more information click the button and book your FREE 15 minute call to see how I can help you.
For additional articles on this topic:
7 Tips for Acing your Next Media Appearance
What are Sound Bites and 5 Reasons you Need to Use them in Your Next Interview
7 Body Language Tips: Remarkable Results Fast
