3 Ways To Reduce Being Shy In Front Of A Camera

When you start creating video, it’s easy to get caught up with the nervous feeling in your stomach when the big red button turns on and you have to perform.

But what if worrying so much about how you act on camera is just a cover up for not being prepared, over thinking yourself and lacking that feeling of confidence?

I want to share with you, 3 ways to reduce being shy in front of a camera, so that the next time you decide to shoot a vlog, Instagram story or Facebook live, you’ll be ready to come from a place of confidence and eager to speak to the masses.

1) Be creative and develop the ability to act through improvising.

The best part about going on camera and talking about a topic, is the ability to go with the flow and allow what ever comes up to step through you.

Depending if this type of video is organized via script(s), you will be able to just talk on the subject without feeling the need to stop or disrupt your flow within the conversation piece. What I notice in myself when I choose to put together very specific videos is that if it’s a short 5 minute face to face conversation, I can just speak without worrying because I’ve learnt to fill the gaps between my words.

This type of practice came with just going in front of the camera no matter how I felt.

I started with Snapchat when that first came out on mobile phone devices and it really got me comfortable with 5-10 second snippets of my daily life. What’s interesting is you may be thinking about how others perceived me, but I did not even have a slight worry about that, because I was enjoying the process of just being funny on camera for myself.

One year later, I started doing YouTube vlogs and it was really scary for me because I was so afraid of how others would judge me. This sounds like the complete opposite of Snapchat which is strange because you would assume I was ready for this.

The problem was I did not feel comfortable and was not in love with the way I sounded, nor the style of video content I was releasing. I felt embarrassment and it took me quite some time to adjust to this over the next 2 months.

However, I stayed persistent and kept showing up no matter what and that feeling slowly faded away as I became more and more comfortable with finding the right spot for myself on camera.

2) Use meditation as a preparation tool

The best thing you can do for yourself is becoming calm prior to filming. Of course this again depends on the style of video you are shooting. But if it’s something that requires you to just speak passionately and truthfully to the lens, then you may just want to show up feeling relaxed.

Just like going on stage, it’s easy to feel good prior, but then once you step on stage, the actual panic can sneak up on you and hold you hostage as you try to gather your thoughts for what you thought was a smooth speech.

The best trick in my books for calming my body down is to sit down and do deep breath work through meditation. I don’t follow any unique patterns other than wearing an eye mask, a pair of sound cancelling headphones (Mine are drum headphones) and going through a series of deep inhales through my nose and exhales out my mouth.

The reward?

You will center in on what is troubling you while being able to gather and collect your thoughts prior to the video you are going to shoot. The other good thing about doing this type of practice is the peace and serenity it will bring to you while you allow your mind to let go and become one with your heart, allowing focus and flow to arise within you.

3) Show yourself love, you are already good enough

Just like my topic of meditation, when you sit down and silence your mind from the constant chatter as you flush out the anxiety/fearful thoughts of trickery, you allow for love to take over you.

When you allow this, you start to believe in yourself and create that confidence that helps you become creative and lead to a level of improv through talking in your video.

Another spot to focus on is how you actual want to feel while creating your content.

If you are stressed and frustrated with other concerns surrounding you, I feel as if this can become a big road block when you want to simply show up and be yourself on video.

It’s easy to pick up on if the person in a video is coming from a place of sadness, anger, but also love and happiness, etc.

So when it comes to removing that shyness in front of a camera, remind yourself why you are here in the first place and focus on what you can bring to the table.

Because I promise you it can make the biggest difference when it comes to your content standing out from the crowd, but also showing high quality confidence from being in the zone.

Closing comments on shyness

If this has inspired you or given you ideas, I would love to hear more below in the comment section.

If you’re curious about learning more on video, make sure you get on the waiting list for my Video Editing 101 course by clicking here.

Why Your Video Content Needs A Re-purpose Strategy

One of the biggest practices I have learned over the past 3 years with entrepreneurship, is the way you brand and present yourself.

If it wasn’t for you, your message and amazing personality, you would not stand out as someone that has a unique flare.

Unfortunately, the truth behind standing out from the crowd is being able to show something different that catches your audiences eye.

And when it comes to creating content around your message, I can confidently say that there are multiple steps that you might not be taking.

If you plan to create video content for YouTube, it’s important to think about how you can leverage it’s distribution.

What I mean by this, is where else is your video going?

Let’s say this YouTube video is 10 minutes in length, speaking about a topic that is very specific and in depth.

There is going to be moments during that video when you can locate a 1-3 minute segment, that can be shortened and uploaded onto another platform, such as Facebook or Instagram.

When you have a system like this that is actively being used with your content, you not only increase your reach with your video, but you also create an environment for a message to be spoken to your viewers in all shapes and forms.

One of the biggest mistakes I see so many people making is copy and pasting the same exact video/content across different social media platforms, hoping they get results.

Instead, they don’t see as much traction and end up getting frustrated with the failure of their content distribution.

And the cold hard truth, is that each platform is designed to be used differently, content wise, for it’s users.

Example: You cannot upload your 10 minute YouTube video to Instagram because posts are only allowed a 1 minute duration (Unless you use IGTV which has a 10 minute cap).

The trick is to start understanding how you create your content.

Which means you focus on thinking about how you can use it across all these different social media platforms.

With this in mind, you can storyboard and map out the way you will speak, pause and allow for space to create future content for a different platform.

When done correctly, you push more reach with your message, attract the right viewers and have specific crafted call to actions, that can be used to leverage your followers.

In return, you can build a bigger following, generate new leads, and make more sales, no matter what industry you are in.

In the end, when you choose to invest your time in recording and uploading video content, it’s best to have a strategy that outlines why you are making any type of content.

It has to lead the viewer somewhere, especially if you want them to take action later on.

Without this, you are just creating content for the sake of making content.

And while this isn’t a bad idea and does count as ‘taking action’, the take away message is to start thinking about why you are making videos and how you can tie them it into a strategy with your business.