We talk to our customers all day long about what we do but as soon as the camera starts rolling it seems like our brain becomes detached and we suddenly have no knowledge of our speciality. Coming across as confident in a video gives your viewers confidence that you know what you are talking about and that they should listen to you so today I am going to give you my top 3 tips for getting comfortable in front of camera. Watch the video below or scroll down for the old fashioned text version.
Tip 1. Practise Makes Perfect
When you first start doing something are you great at it straight away? Have you ever picked up a guitar and the spirit of Jimi Hendrix has instantly flowed through your fingers? Probably not. Then why do you expect it to be the same when talking in front of the camera?
Looking into a lens and talking coherently about a subject is a skill and like all skills, it can be practised and learnt. But I can hear you saying ‘I don’t want to put out videos where I look terrible’. I don’t want you to do that either. You wouldn’t buy a guitar and then book a gig down your local pub, you would practise in your room until you think you are good enough to take the leap to the next level. Do the same for video.
So how do you get started with practising? Each day I want you to grab your phone and record yourself. You don’t need to talk about anything in particular, you could even talk about what you had for breakfast if you’d like as the video is only staying on your phone. The idea is that the more you do this the more it will feel natural to talk to a lens.
Once you have built your confidence up you can knock it back down again by watching your videos back. It may feel uncomfortable at first but by watching your videos you can start to critique yourself, that way you can improve the next day. If you really want a laugh, keep all your videos and look back at them a few months down the line so you can see how far you have come.
Tip 2. Plan and Prepare
For the next tip, planning, I am going to stick with the musical theme. If you turned up to an audition without learning the songs with the excuse ‘Oh I’ve heard the tracks a few times, I’ll just wing it’ you would be laughed out the room. Well if you don’t plan before you shoot your video, prepare for terrible results. The very least you should do is write a bullet point list of all the topics you want to cover in the video, or if you aren’t great at speaking off the cuff, write a whole script. I would actually recommend writing a full script anyway as then you can easily turn this content into blog posts.
You don’t have to follow the script exactly but it is good to have a base to work from. For example, when I am filming I have a script stashed away off-screen, I don’t follow it exactly. I will read a couple of lines and then try and make it up on the spot. This makes your delivery sound more natural and conversational.
Once you have written your script, leave it for a day and come back to it with fresh eyes. You will soon notice bits that don’t read right or that don’t sound like you. I would recommend doing at least 2 rounds of edits on your scripts.
Lastly, once you have your finished script, practise it. Even if it is just reading it from your screen. This will help you in 2 ways, firstly sometimes the way you write is different from how you speak. By reading it aloud you will soon notice bits that just don’t sound like you. Secondly, when that red recording light comes on and your mind goes blank you will have a better chance of remembering what you are talking about.
Tip 3. Imagine You Are Talking To Your Customer
My last tip goes back to what I first said at the top of this post, we talk to our customers all the time and in great depth about what we do. So when you are recording, your mind goes blank and you think ‘I can’t do it’, remember that. You have been building up this bank of knowledge of your industry for years and you know what you are talking about.
It may be tough at first but imagine the camera is one of your customers because guess what, the person watching your video could be. Another way to go about this is to answer a question. If you have someone filming you, get them to ask you a question and then duck behind the lens, sometimes this is just an easier way to get started.
That’s A Wrap
Everybody is different and there are many different techniques for you to try but my top 3 tips to get comfortable in front of camera are practise filming yourself every day to get used to talking to a lens, properly plan out your videos by writing scripts and running them through and when your mind goes blank whilst recording, imagine you are talking to one of your customers.
If you are going to give one of these tips a try or if you have your own techniques let me know in the comments. For more video making tips make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos.