The fear of being on video is totally real! I have cried about not being good enough on camera, so if you feel unable to get in front of the camera you are not alone. Here are three tips to help you move beyond those feelings of being awkward and inadequate!

It’s all about video they say! You watch those big name fronting their big shows, we see them deliver these super polished interviews with other big names and while you feel very inspired by it all, you just freeze when it’s your turn in front of the camera! It took me a long time to get going with this, and I see it all the time when filming other people…

Allow your self to fail

Don’t go into your first video with a mindset of “this will be my first and most important video”. Mark out time in your diary to record some video that won’t be used for anything! this is super important. Go into it knowing that this is video purely with the purpose of learning and exploring and no pressure!
Don’t ever talk negatively to your self about how to look and sound, none of the “why can everyone else do it, and I can’t”!!! You totally can, it just takes time, like anything else in life it takes practice, but somehow it has become one of those things that we just expect ourselves to do..no idea where it has come from. Perhaps because those big names make it look sooo effortless, but it isn’t effortless…. and back in their days they would have done a lot of failing too ;o)

No one knows you are recording this

Remember that no one else knows that you are recording this video (well unless you choose to practice live), so no one knows if this is coming out good or bad. Until you feel happy to put it out there, no one will know about it – you can click “delete” in a second and it will all be gone! No one is judging you.

Allow it to take time

It might take you ten goes before you feel happy with your video. It doesn’t matter! It’s all excellent practice, if you record your same video 3 times every week for ten weeks, then you will know your material backwards and you will probably be getting bored of wasting energy feeling anxious about it, and the whole thing begins to feel familiar.
Don’t put some kind of “I need this out there by 1pm today” the very first time you are doing a video!

Planning will make you feel better

• If you have blocked time out, you won’t feel it’s “wasting time”.
• Pick a top to wear that makes you look good.
• Do your hair and make-up, but not on a big scale, just everyday nice!
• Put your self in good light, you will feel better about how it all looks.
• Choose somewhere with a plain/attractive background – this will make your video look calmer and more professional.

Be super kind to your self about this. For some this is really difficult stuff. Give your self a big imaginary marshmallow cuddle, and take it one step at the time, and allow your self to not get it all correct immediately. No one needs to know you have recorded this! I have hours worth of video that has never made it into the world :o)

You might also enjoy the post about Mindset shift for being in video.