Speaking on Camera: 9 Tips to Help You Master the Art – Podcast 81

If you haven’t already honed your ‘speaking on camera’ skills and become a creator of videos to promote your expertise or business, perhaps it’s high time you did. Here’s why:

Newsflash! Video has become the number one form of content consumed online and is set to account for over 80% of web views by 2020 (per Cisco)!

The upshot, if you rely on people learning about your products or services online, is video needs to play some part in most every marketer’s content creation strategy from here on out.

And just in case you need further convincing, check out these recent stats collected by Insivia:

YouTube claims video consumption on mobile devices is growing by 100% per year
Per Forrester, including videos in your emails can double or triple your response rates
Unbounce reports that adding video to a landing page can boost conversion rates by 80%
75% of Executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week
Forbes found:
- 65% of Executives visit marketer’s websites after viewing their videos (and 4 of 10 then make follow up calls)
- 59% of Executives would rather watch a video that read text

And all of these trends (and more) towards video consumption are being further fueled by Facebook – who’s avowed intent is to be the number one place where videos are watched online.

So that’s all very compelling. But before you rush off to create awesome ‘how to’, ‘tips based’, ‘content sharing’ or other videos – it’s time to mention an elephant in the room.

Isn’t Talking on Camera Hard to do?

Ah yes, stall the cameras and not so quick with your tripods – that’s a widely held perception!

And little wonder, since very few people in business have had any training on creating videos (beyond shooting odd snippets of family footage).

Consequently, few executive know what it feels like to be comfortable in front of a video camera. Rather, the experience of facing a lens can induce an instant source of heebie jeebies! And it’s easy to understand why.

Why Public Speaking on Camera May Feel Alien to You

Based on a great deal of feedback from business leaders who have attended my executive public speaking courses over the years, the most common causes of fearfulness about speaking to camera I encounter include:

It feels unnatural, weird and/or unnerving to speak to an ‘inanimate’ or even ‘cold’ lens versus people
The prospect of making mistakes that might be captured forever on video
The possibility of forgetting what you want to say and looking foolish to viewers
The notion that audiences might not find their videos interesting
Looking and/or sounding awkward or badly

Glancing through that list, do some or all of these sound familiar to you?

Well, with a view to helping you get past these or other reasons why you may not already have embraced making videos…

…It’s my pleasure to share my recent expert interview with executive video coach, speaker, current President of Professional Speaking Association Ireland, author of Confidence on Camera, and a great pal Lottie Hearn – when we delve in what you need to know about honing your video creation skills, even if you’re a complete beginner!

How to Speak to Camera Like a Pro

Listen in as we discuss:

How thinking ‘personal’ can help you to speak to camera with less fear
Why you need to care about golden triangles and having fun to engage audiences
What’s behind you and what you should do about it
A simple tip that’ll keep you more organised when making videos
Why video cameras rob you of energy and how to win it back
How to match your emotional intent to the messages you want to share
Simple ideas to create great lighting for videos with little/no budget
Why you should take notes when watching stuff you like on TV or Youtube
The power and attraction of guilt-free experimentation
And more

Learn How to Speak With Greater Confidence on Video or to Live Audiences

If you’d like to discover how you can speak with greater confidence on video or to live audiences, contact me at eobrien@thersc.ie – I’ll be delighted to help.