How to Get Comfortable on Camera

You’re about to learn how to get more comfortable on camera, which is step number two, Content Creation and messaging of the Sales Accelerator Process and it is incredibly important because most people shy away from making video because it’s ‘scary’

When they do that they extremely limit themselves from their potential because they know social media prefers video

That may be exactly what you’re doing right now. 

Don’t worry, we’re going to give you three exact steps to getting more comfortable with the camera.

You’re going to learn: 

1. How to gain confidence on camera 
2. Quick tips you can implement today 
3. And why video should be at the center of your content strategy 
   

Getting comfortable on camera is so important, and this is a major step, but without a great strategy to put out these videos, they aren’t going to reach the right audience. 

We have created the exact framework needed to help you become the impactful store owner. If you want to hear more about how the Sales Accelerator process can grow your business, you can schedule a free strategy call here: https://sales.bitbranding.co/ 

Christian [00:00:00] Welcome to another episode of The Marketing Natives. Today, we're going to talk about how to get more comfortable on camera. We have three major things to talk about.

Christian [00:00:08] Two of that might seem pretty simple, but we still give you some insight into how we broke through those barriers and number three is going to be something pretty impactful for people who are very, very afraid of being on camera and having those videos on social media. So stick around.

Narrator [00:00:27] This is The Marketing Natives providing actionable ways to grow, improve and succeed in your business and now your hosts, Christian and Aaron.

Aaron [00:00:39] Hey! So you're going to learn how to get more comfortable on camera, which is step number two of our content creation and messaging stage of our sales accelerator process is incredibly important because most people shy away from making video because it's scary. When they do that, they extremely limit themselves from their potential because they know that social media prefers video. That may be something that you're doing right now. But don't worry, we're going to be going through these three steps that you need to be doing to get more comfortable on camera.

Christian [00:01:08] Yeah, but I mean, before we start, do you remember the first time we're on video?

Narrator [00:01:12] I thought you were going to say, do you remember the first time for something else besides, before camera got in?

Christian [00:01:18]  We were talking about it.

Aaron [00:01:21] Yeah. Before time on camera.

Aaron [00:01:23] I mean, Blab? I don't know. It was a Blab.

Christian [00:01:27] I think for the company, for the business, it was definitely Blab.

Aaron [00:01:30] Yeah.

Christian [00:01:30] And Blab for, I'm guessing everyone that's listening right now.

Aaron [00:01:35] Blab? What the heck is Blab?

Christian [00:01:35] I like to live with, I guess, but it used to be this video streaming platform where you would just go live and then people would just kind of join like every single platform is doing that right now.

Aaron [00:01:48] Random. Yeah.

Christian [00:01:48] Instagram live, LinkedIn live, like everyone's basically doing what Blab used to be.

Christian [00:01:55] So, yeah, I mean, that was the very first thing I remember.

Christian [00:01:59] I feel like I was probably more against all that in the sense that it's just weird and trippy at first, you're just not used to, you're not used to necessarily looking at a lens and like talking to a camera.

Aaron [00:02:14] Hello camera! How are you?

Christian [00:02:16] Especially if you're doing it by yourself and I think that's one of the main things that we're talking about today, is getting comfortable on camera, like as a business owner by yourself, sitting in a room, looking at the camera. I feel like we've always had each other. So that helped a little bit.

Aaron [00:02:29] Right.

Christian [00:02:29] Even in the very beginning, we were doing Blab, which was basically through, we were doing it remotely. Like you were in Dallas and I was in Oklahoma. And yeah, I just remember being a little bit nerve racking in the beginning and not knowing exactly what to do.

Aaron [00:02:48] How do I say it?

Christian [00:02:49] Yeah, exactly and I think that also goes back to public speaking, and we've done a little bit of that. I remember when we did Toastmasters for a little bit, all those things sort of help you get more comfortable on camera. It's not just the fact that there's a camera in front of you.

Aaron [00:03:07] Yeah.

Christian [00:03:07] I think there's a lot of other aspects that make you uncomfortable besides just having the camera in front of you.

Aaron [00:03:13] Yeah. So we're going to go through like three steps that I think not only are applicable here, but also things that we've kind of lived through. So it's not like we're just going to give advice on things that we don't know that'll work. But I do want to preface by saying this, and it is one of the things we'll probably cover, is that it's not going to get easy, but maybe easier. So it's like doing this podcasts and to be completely honest, it's like sometimes we mess up or we're on video and audio and it's just a lot. This has been, I don't know, a lot of videos. But I think the whole point from this and what you're watching is that you know that you need to be doing video and that the video isn't necessarily the thing that's scary. It's like how you perceive yourself on camera, how others are going to perceive you. So these three steps should help you get more comfortable so that you can do more of it, because, you know, that's what you need to do for your business. So number one here we have is to write out what you're going to say. So for us, we knew roughly what we wanted to talk about. We had a little bit for our intro, a little bit for our teaser. We kind of knew what we wanted to talk about so that we don't just get on here and be like "OK, so getting comfortable on camera, what do we talk about?". There's actually like a plan.  I feel like when you plan something out, even if it's just an outline, because that's all we have, is an outline, you feel a little bit more comfortable about it. You feel, I don't know, like it's a little safer, I guess that I'm not going to sound dumb or whatever.

Christian [00:04:40] Yeah, I think we've done everything. We've done writing out specifically what we're going to say. We've done videos like that where we write every single thing. We may even have a teleprompter.

Aaron [00:04:51] Yeah. Hello!

Christian [00:04:51] And it's and it's super easy. We've done things like this and this is actually a little bit more written out. In the past we've just done a few bullet points of the idea and then we just kind of let the conversation flow. We've also done live videos where we just had a topic and we were just going to talk.

Aaron [00:05:11] Natural. Yeah.

Christian [00:05:13] So it really depends on the type of video too that you're creating.

Christian [00:05:16] But I think one, obviously, knowing where you're going to talk about is important and having just a little bit of, I definitely wouldn't recommend the live with just one topic and that's it. I would definitely recommend still having some sort of backup on, OK, if we are done with this topic earlier or like, what are some things to jog memory or to kind of, you know, get the conversation flowing and going? I think that's always important and from what we've done, we've done all three or four different options. Obviously, being the most prepared is usually really, really good, especially if when you're doing video, obviously you want to talk about certain things and talk about your expertise.

Christian [00:05:59] Also talk about stories like I'm horrible with stories.

Aaron [00:06:03] Mentally or remembering?

Christian [00:06:04] Remembering stories and things that happened in the past. So thinking ahead of time, like, oh yeah, I can talk about this story or I can talk about this story, so it gives me a little bit more confidence on things that I can talk about and not sound like I don't have anything to, you know, putting tribute to to this conversation.

Aaron [00:06:24] Yeah. That's a good point and I think that whenever we're saying that, like, don't get caught up in doing so much of the planning that you don't actually do it.

Aaron [00:06:34] So if it takes you 10 minutes to come up with something, 10 minutes of planning is better than nothing and just go out and do it. So that's really the first step here is, like I said right away, you're going to say spend 10-15 minutes on it depending on the topic, but you should be an expert of what you're talking about anyway. So like you've done it before. So, for example, if you're going to do video for, like sewing, you know, a lot of our clients are like this, comment. So it's literally like live selling to somebody or they have an idea of the type of merchandise they're going to show. Or if you are somebody who's, we've used an example in the past of like a notebook or a bottle, like if you're going to talk about those things, you should probably know the product and the order you want to go in, like the features, the benefits or whatever else, so that you don't just jump on video and be like, hey, this is the best water bottle ever or these are the best outfits ever and you don't have anything to talk about, like the size or who it's for or anything like that. So absolutely get prepared.

Christian [00:07:30] Yeah. And then, step number two: practice practice practice. I think we've done how many. Probably 500, 400, 500 plus videos?

Aaron [00:07:37] Oh way more than that. We have, I mean on YouTube, it's probably, we can actually see three or four hundred videos. But then we did Blab videos just off the cuff, Facebook videos of all those things. I would probably venture to say closer to a thousand videos because we have like archived actual shows that are like, at this point, six hundred or so. So I mean, regardless, it's been more than a couple and just give you some ideas like you guys are probably much better than us and your natural state. You know, we've done quite a bit and it's taken a lot. But the more that you can do, like I said, it's not necessarily easy, but the easier. I don't know. I don't think that you gotta set a certain amount of videos that you need to do, but don't just do like once a month or two every couple of months. That's not going to move the needle for you and the point for video is that, like, you want to put your face in front of your customers. I was listening to a podcast or a videocast yesterday. It was with Gary V. So some of the guys in the may know him, some may not. But basically he was talking about one thing that he would be doing is learning how to figure out where your audience is on social media.

Aaron [00:08:55] So I'd say let's turn on Facebook and figure out how to post really good pictures and really good content for that audience and then spending a little bit of money in advertising for you to reach those people. But if you can do that, you can grow your business and he even went to the point where if you're not posting videos and pictures about your business, it's not a matter of if, but when you will go out of business because it's just become so ingrained in what we're doing. So the more practice you can have with that, the better you're going to be, the more you're going to resonate with your audience and the more you're going to grow.

Christian [00:09:27] Yeah, I think either read this recently, that you need to practice being good at it, too. So.

Aaron [00:09:37] Elaborate.

Christian [00:09:37] And that goes back to step number one, which is to prepare yourself. It's not about just making videos for the sake of making videos. I think it's also about making the best videos that you can every single time.

Aaron [00:09:52] Right.

Christian [00:09:52] That's what is really going to move the needle.

Christian [00:09:55] I remember the phrases like practice makes perfect, but it's like, no, the best practice is what will actually move the needle. Like, there's a complete rephrasing of that saying of "practice makes perfect" like that no that's not true. You're never going to be perfect and just mediocre practice is not going to get you to be really good. So I think practicing with intentionality and being prepared for it is what's really going to move, you know, and get you more comfortable. So every time that you're practicing, don't look at it as like, oh, this is just practice. Like, no, like this is a practice.

Aaron [00:10:25] Practice like it's the game.

Christian [00:10:26] Yeah. This is the real deal.

Aaron [00:10:27] So that's good. One and two is kind of like a fusion. So let's move on to number three. But like number one and number two, if you just do those two things, I think you're going to be a lot more comfortable on camera and like Christian said move that needle. But number three, and this is a big one, it will take a huge leap here, but be more comfortable on camera. You need to go to Facebook. OK, so I want you to do this. And you guys, obviously, if you're driving now or wherever you're at, like stop the car first, but go to your phone, record a video, obviously play it out, obviously practice it, but then just set up your phone and record it. I remember doing this for Toastmasters, just recording myself and then watching it and whatever else is like so cringe worthy just to watch yourself. But do that and then go to Facebook. There's an option on there. If you need that, just just reach out to us or on Instagram @BitBranding and you can turn it on me mode, and when you turn it on me mode, only people who's going to see your content are you. So you can take that video, upload it to Facebook and it's published on Facebook. Psychologically, you're like, my videos on Facebook. So it's just like one step. It's like almost publishing it. But then when you feel comfortable enough and you're like, OK, I've watched it, I see it on Facebook and you're kind of over that fear. You're like, OK, well, I mean, just what's one more button? You go back to me and highlight it and then you put everyone and then that makes the video public. So now it's like, OK, we just got to click one button and it's out there for everybody. I've kind of just done this not for myself personally, but like I talked about this with some people who have gotten less comfortable on video or like we're not comfortable on video yet and they said that it really helps them because they created a video, which is a huge step. They uploaded to Facebook, which was like, you know, you probably like breathing harder, like anxious and I know talking to a lot of our clients at the beginning, they're just like, this is so stressful. This is whatever. Like, I just can't do it. But then they just upload it on Facebook under me. They see it. And then, when they feel comfortable enough, maybe two, three, four or five of those, didn't you click one of them and push onto everyone and then it's like, OK, it's out there. So like, what happened? I didn't hurt myself. Nothing happened. But you just took the huge step and that's really the start of being able to become more comfortable, I think.

Christian [00:12:43] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We talked about this in the past and it's just such a simple thing that you really don't know if it's going to really help you or not, but I mean, it really does and what Aaron was talking about is just the privacy settings for that particular post, right? And just making sure that it's on "me" so that you're the only one who sees that. But you still see it on the Facebook platform.

Christian [00:13:02] You see yourself, you see the video, you see the thumbnail right there on Facebook. So it just makes a little bit more real and I think that's very powerful. I was going to say something else a little like, oh, you can also do this to get more comfortable on camera. I forgot what it was.

Aaron [00:13:20] You need more selfies?

Christian [00:13:21] Like a little bonus.

Aaron [00:13:21] Oh, bonus.

Aaron [00:13:22] OK, well if you think about it before we end this, like we can maybe just Jack can edit it back in or something. But, I really want to make sure that you guys remember we're not uncomfortable with the camera because it's scary. I mean, like this camera is going to hurt us. We are afraid of what other people are thinking. So you got to realize that this isn't about you. It's about reaching your audience to share with them your amazing products and how you can help them and selling more of your products and the impact that you can have by selling this product. So don't do your customers a disservice by not knowing more about your product to make purchases, to have a deeper impact, because sometimes it's just that last hurdle of getting on video that why people can connect with you. So remember, the camera is not going to hurt us. It's just the way you perceive people. But everybody knows videos are hard. And so, the sooner you can do it, the sooner you can connect with people, the sooner you can grow your business, you can make more sales.

Christian [00:14:17] Yeah, absolutely.

Aaron [00:14:18] All right, now you're comfortable with the camera, hopefully, or maybe you took some steps, but this is a major step and without a strategy to put out these videos, they aren't going to reach the right audience. We have created the exact framework that you need to become the impactful store owner. If you want to hear more about how the sales accelerator process can grow your business, just click the link below and we'll take you guys the next the rest of the way.

Aaron [00:14:44] All right, so if you are a first time listener, please make sure that you hit that subscribe button wherever you're watching or listening to this at, that way you don't miss out on any of our content that comes out every single week. And if you've been listening for a while, please make sure to go over to Apple podcast, leave us an honest rating and review. This helps us reach more people, and if you've been listening for a couple of weeks now, we are changing up the format of our content. We are trying to spice things up and also just dive deeper with our messaging. We're really trying to help those online store owners generate more sales online. So if you are an online store owner, you sell products to people, you ship them all over the U.S, all over the world, we have created this podcast to help you do more of that. So make sure that you do subscribe. Make sure you live an honest rating and review, and if you find value in how to get more comfortable on camera, shoot us a screenshot of this or shoot us over a video @BitBranding on Instagram. We'd love to check it out and hear from you guys. That's all we have for this week. We'll talk to you guys next time.

Narrator [00:15:43] The Marketing Natives' podcast is a production of BitBranding.

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