Do you want to speak on camera and get your videos out there?
Maybe you’ve heard about this – that video’s taking over, and you see it. Videos are everywhere. It gives you the ability to impact the world with a simple tool that’s in your hand at all times.
If that’s the case, but fear is coming up or you’re just feeling uncomfortable with it, today, I’m going to share with you three key blocks that stop people from becoming comfortable putting themselves out there on video and how you can overcome it, so stay tuned.
Talking To Video Can Make You Lose Your Mind
My first videos, I remember when I started – I was sitting there in a dark basement. I had my camera and no lights, no mic, nothing.
And as I’m recording these videos, I’m staring at it thinking, “Is this what it feels like to lose your mind?”
Because I knew nobody was watching. I’m sitting here talking to this inanimate object and I’m feeling super awkward and uncomfortable. Before I knew it, I started thinking “I should just give up.“
All that negative chatter was coming in my mind like:
- “What are you doing?
- “Why are you wasting your time?”
- “No one’s watching it.”
But instead of doing that, a big shift was just learning to say “Yes“, and continue recording. Because it was building something great, and it was all about speaking from the heart.
To help you achieve that, I’m going to break it down into 3 components for you to work on.
Block #1 – The Awkwardness Of Speaking To An Inanimate Object
The first piece that comes up is just the awkwardness that can come up when you’re speaking to a camera.
In this video, I’m not using my phone. I’m actually using a DSLR camera. And a big thing that happens is when you’re looking down the camera lens, you’re not getting that feedback like you normally would from a human being.
When I work with people that want to speak in public, it’s about connecting with the audience and seeing them as, “Okay, this is a friendly audience,” and shifting a lot of their narrative around that.
But with that, you can read the audience. You can see their faces. You can react.
It gives you that energy.
Yet, when you’re doing it by yourself, it’s a very different scenario. You’re speaking to this inanimate object.
Tip #1 – Imagine The Lens Is Your Ideal Client
When that happens, I always look at it and imagine that I’m speaking to my ideal clients.
It could be one person. It could be a group. It could even be myself.
I run a small Mastermind, and a lot of the time, I imagine that I’m speaking to them when they were just starting out. That’s my way of shifting my perception of the camera lens – of making it feel comfortable.
For you, here are a few suggestions:
- Imagine that you’re speaking to one person. That’s the first way, to start moving away from that discomfort, that awkwardness, and start to get comfortable.
- Imagine that it’s someone that you know, it’s that ideal client you have.
- Another trick that I’ve used before is taking a picture of my clients and sticking it below on the tripod. That way, I have a visual reference.
Now, one trap that commonly comes up is when you’re using a camera with the little viewfinder screen. When you have that screen up, it becomes really distracting. Because I’d find myself staring at that screen the whole time.
So my recommendation to you is just speak directly to the camera and imagine that you’re talking to an ideal client. You’ll feel more comfortable and it’s going to lead to better connection with your audience.
Block #2 – The Fear Of Putting Out A Bad Video
Now, the second big fear that comes up is people go:
- “I know my videos are not gonna be great when I start.”
- “It’s going to be out there forever…“
- “What if I embarrass myself?”
I had a call with a potential client once. She was a personal trainer from the United States, and when we were talking, she’s like, “I have over 200 videos recorded. They’re on YouTube, but I’ve never put one public. I’m good. I can record the videos, but I can’t put myself out there. I just can’t hit that publish button and put it out there.“
And when we started to dig into the fears, what was coming up was this fear that,
- “It’s out there… what if it ruins my brand?”
- “What if it’s counterproductive? What are people gonna think?“
All these fears were coming up. But, it’s the simple truth — yes, it IS going to be out there forever. And yes, your first videos ARE going to be your absolute worst.
It doesn’t sound very encouraging to get started, so how can we shift it?
Tip #2 – Accept That Your First Videos Are Going To Be Your Worst
Dealing With ‘Bad Quality’ Videos
I remember when I started The Art of Confidence Speaking show – my first videos were rough.
The audio was off. The lighting was off – it was just terrible and I knew that.
But I put it out there on purpose.
It was actually to the point that one of my clients in my Mastermind reached out to me and said “Hey man, I saw your videos and there’s like a lot of issues there. The mic, the audio’s off, all these mistakes are here. How can you put that out there? Aren’t you worried that people are gonna judge you and maybe not wanna work with you if they don’t see high quality videos?”
But I said, “Look, I totally hear you and I appreciate that, and that’s true. Some people are gonna watch these videos and they’re gonna judge me, but the bigger win is in me knowing that there’s so many technical issues with my videos and overcoming that hurdle to put myself out there.“
And so, when you can put videos out there that knowing that they’re not perfect, just to get started – that’s a bigger internal win for your inner confidence. And it’s going to propel you moving forward.
Because there’s always going to be issues where the lighting’s off, or the mic’s off, or the background’s off, or you weren’t in the right mood. There’s always a lot of factors that are going to come up and try to sabotage you from getting those videos out there.
What it all ultimately comes down to is whether you allow that to stop you or not.
Dealing With The Fact That Your Worst Videos Will Be Immortalized
Your worst videos are going to be out there forever. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s actually a good thing because you’re actually able to document your rise. You’re able to document where you started, knowing that, “These are the worst videos I can do (right now). And as I move forward… as I start building, they’re only going to improve.“
And this has been something that I’ve been doing for many years. Every year I look back on my previous videos, I go, “I can’t believe I put that out there. It was so terrible.“
And that’s something that’s just happened year after year after year. Just like public speaking, you get more comfortable every time you do it – the only difference is, with videos, you’re actually documenting your rise.
So while you may feel uncomfortable doing videos – if you hide from that, you’re actually missing a massive opportunity to document your progression.
You’re also going to miss your opportunity to be a role model to others. Because what’s going to happen is other people are going to see you.
You’re going to improve. And you’re going to become more confident.
One day, your audience is going to see your latest video and go, “Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re so good,” And then they’re going to watch your earlier videos and realise, “Wow, they started off nervous, uncomfortable, awkward, and look where they went!“
That’s the biggest thing – video is such an amazing opportunity to get your message out there and make an impact. When you have the courage to put out your worst videos at the start, people are going to be able to look back and see your progression.
That’s the part that you’ll be able to play as a role model. And that’s the biggest gift you can give to uplift everyone around you.
Block #3 – Cringing At Your Own Videos
Now, the other piece too that comes up is watching it. People go, “Okay, I wanna put these videos out, but I don’t wanna watch it.”
That’s counterproductive.
We have to watch it because it’s only by watching your own videos that you can see what you did well and what you can improve on.
Now, where this goes sideways is most people watch their videos – and immediately start identifying everything wrong with it.
In my Speak With Confidence course, one of the first things my clients do is create a laundry list of everything they hate about their videos, and it’s often very natural for them to do so:
- “I hate the way I look.”
- “I hate the way I sound.”
- “I hate what I wore.”
All of these things come up. And that’s okay. It’s simply something that’s become a habit over time.
Tip #3 – Flip The Script
To address this laundry list where you see everything you hate about your video when you watch it, we need to flip it around.
Start with:
- “What did I do well?”
Then, the next piece is,
- “What will I refine? What will I improve?”
The important thing is that you start with your wins. Because that’s what’s going to build your confidence to keep moving forward with this.
So I urge you – watch your videos. It’s an absolute gift. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. But this discomfort is something that’s going to help you grow.
Hate Watching Yourself On Video? It’s Because You Hate Yourself.
Let me put this out to you – I had an acquaintance of mine that works in media. We were talking about this exact topic and this is how it went:
Her: “Oh my God, you do video work with your clients?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Her: “I hate seeing myself on video. I never watch it,” blah, blah, blah, blah.
Me: “Okay, well you might hate watching yourself on video, but it’s because you don’t like yourself.”
Yes, I know. It probably wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say. But it’s true.
There’s some pieces in there where the inner critic is coming up, and it comes out in the form of not wanting to watch your own videos.
It’s how I used to feel. It’s what I’ve seen in my experience – is this fear, this resistance; these nerves that come up from watching yourself on video. And it’s directly proportional to that inner critic.
The more self-critical you are, the harder it’s
going to be to watch yourself on video.
— Lucas Mattiello
This is why learning to speak on video is such a powerful, deep inner healing.
It’s one of the best forms of personal development.
Because the more comfortable you can be to see your videos and go, “Wow, okay, this is what I did well; this is what I need to work on.“, the more self confidence you’ll have.
And instead of cringing at yourself every time you make a mistake, you start laughing at it. That’s what’s going to propel you to become the most confident version of yourself.
So what I suggest is you go straight at it.
If you feel uncomfortable watching yourself on video, just go right into it and ask yourself, “What did I do well? What can I improve on?”
Because the more self-love you show yourself, the faster your progression is going to change.
Let Me Answer All Your Questions
So, there’s three key tips about shifting your mindset around to be more confident on video.
One thing that I’d like you to quickly do, is in the comments below, answer this question:
What are the biggest fears that are holding you back from putting yourself out on video? From getting your phone and maybe doing an Instagram video or Facebook live, YouTube?
I’d love to hear your responses.
And if it’s something I haven’t covered already, I promise you I will respond with future videos.
All right, so with that, have a great day and get started. Because the faster you start, the faster you’re going to progress and become your best self.
Much Love,
Lucas
P.S. If you’d like the fast path to speak with confidence, here are 5 ways I can help you:
- Grab a free copy of my ‘6 Steps To Speak With Confidence’ guide
It’s the 6-step process I use to take clients from anxious on stage to rock-solid confidence — Click Here - Register for my free online training
Learn how to 10X your income, impact and exposure through confident speaking – Click Here - Join the ‘Art Of Confident Speaking’ and connect with leaders who are improving too
It’s our new Facebook community where smart leaders learn to level up their insight, impact and influence — Click Here - Join my 3-day ‘Speak With Confidence Program’ and become a Case Study
It’s the fastest way to become a confident communicator… If you’d like to work with me and a small group of highly motivated leaders like yourself — Click Here - Join my Confident On Camera Coaching Program – Click Here