Public speaking. Heights.
Flying. Camera shyness. All four fears can hurt your career. This article will cure your camera shyness so that you can get started making videos.
Let's face it... we're becoming a video based
society. People don't want to read
anymore. They want to listen. And to
watch. And if you're not using video in
your marketing, well, let's just say that you're missing the boat. You still have the opportunity to hop on but
you better get moving because the boat is leaving the dock. But my guess is that you already know you should be creating videos to promote your business, right?
But what if you're shy in front of the
camera?
I'm going to give the secrets
to make great videos and overcome your fears once and for all.
If you get one major takeaway from this, let it be this... Practice. It's the single best
way to overcome your fear. But let's
cover some of the other little known techniques that will make this process
easier for you.
1. Try this - instead of speaking directly to the camera,
try some of these other methods. The
first method is to have the camera film you not directly from the front but
from an angle as if you are speaking to someone in the room with you. Let me give you an excellent example of this
technique. I came across this video a
few years ago and I had no problem remembering who it was. Now that's GREAT marketing. If 3 or 4 years pass and you still remember watching
a video, go watch it again! Because
there are lessons to be learned there.
That's the key after all, isn't it?
To make a memorable video?
Take a look at this video from the CEO of Exit Realty, Steve
Morris. You will see him use this method
of not looking directly at the camera.
Now, he has some awesome production in the video... stills and action
shots. But he never speaks directly to
the camera. Tell me if you don't think
this is a very POWERFUL video.
Another key advantage of this technique is that by not
looking at the camera directly, you don't have to memorize any lines! And you won't look as if you are reading off
cue cards. You can feel free to read
your lines and your viewers will never know it.
2. Another great way to overcome camera shyness is by interviewing. Who should you interview? How about a satisfied customer? Or what if you interviewed local business owners in your market area and recorded them? Think about it...
wouldn't that make a phenomenal marketing campaign? The viewer's attention is focused on the person you
are interviewing rather than on yourself.
So that makes it easier to be in front of the camera. But what a promotional opportunity! You would be meeting business owners, you
would be helping to promote their businesses and you would be giving potential
customers an opportunity to get to know you all at the same time. If you decide to pursue this strategy, please
contact me and let me know how things are going for you.
3. Whether you are
looking directly at the camera or not, or if you are interviewing, remember to
speak clearly and most importantly don't move your head a lot. I have a problem with this, probably my New
York upbringing but if your head moves around a lot in a video it's very distracting
to the viewer. I'm always having to
remind myself to keep my head still. Also, don't interrupt your interviewee. Look at them while he/she is speaking and
while asking a question but remember that you also need to occasionally glance
at the camera. This helps to maintain viewer attention.
4. Don't over-analyze how you look or sound! Remember the first time you heard yourself on
a recording? Remember thinking how awful
you sounded? But if you kept making
sound recordings you got used to it.
Because after all... you do sound like that. You only sound different inside your
head. So if you act natural in front of
the camera, your personality will come through. And you want that. (Hopefully, you have a good personality!) When you're interviewing just focus on having
an interesting conversation - the rest will fall into place.
5. Get someone to film you.
There are so many videos on the web where the person is in front of a
webcam or a mounted camera and most of them are utterly forgettable. If you
want to create a series of tips filmed in short clips, its fine to use a
webcam. But if you're going to speak for
more than a minute, don't do a talking head video. People want to see action, or at the very least
some varying camera angles. A live cameraman
is key. You'll also find it more natural
talking to the cameraman rather than trying to talk to a camera. You'll wind up making better eye contact with
your audience and your facial expressions will look more natural.
6. Start off by making
short videos. Here's what usually
happens to people that start creating videos. They initially don't think they
have all that much to say, that they don’t have a lot of material. But once they start talking, they tend to
ramble on thinking that the more they say, the better. But longer videos are
more difficult to make because you need to remain poised for much longer, plus you'll have to remember a lot more. Creating short, to the point videos is not only much easier, its what viewers want. If your subject matter can't be said in less than a
few minutes, figure out a way to break the video up into segments.
7. Don't forget... there's always editing! When you create your first video you'll make
mistakes. Don't stop! Just keep talking. Ideally, try to restart from the point
where you made the mistake and just start speaking from that point, the mistake
can be edited out and you won't lose anything. You'll also be able to add transition slides
to fill in any spots that seem awkward.
8. Practice makes 'almost'
perfect. I say 'almost' because in video, there is no perfection. You do the
best you can do and that will be better than what you're doing now. Just keep
trying. You will get better with practice, I promise you. And the sooner you
get started, the sooner you will overcome your camera shyness. Video marketing is without a doubt, the most
important form of media today. You have potential customers browsing around the
web looking for answers to problems. The sooner they find you, the better for
them and for you.
Here's a little story that should help you get started. One
day I came a across a video of a guy that I won't name because I don't want to
embarrass him. I began watching a video
of his and started laughing. This guy
was comical. But the thing is, he wasn't
trying to be funny! He just looked and
acted so ridiculously that it made me laugh.
I remember thinking... who would ever do business with this guy? Well, fast forward a few months. Turns out a great friend of mine knows this
guy personally. I made a comment about
how ridiculous his videos are. Guess
what? My friend told me the dude brings
in over $200,000 a year promoting
products on the web! With nothing but videos! Over $200,000. And here I thought the guy was an idiot!
Don’t let camera shyness get in the way of the biggest
business opportunities you have.
