Overcome Camera Shyness: Boost Your Confidence on YouTube

Hey there, fellow creators! Meredith here, and I bet you’ve stumbled upon this article because you, like me, know the struggle of finding your confidence on camera. Spoiler alert: It’s totally okay not to be a natural when it comes to speaking to that lens. In fact, I want to share my journey from awkward camera newbie to feeling right at home during our virtual chats. So, let’s dive in and discover how boosting confidence is not just a goal but a journey every content creator undertakes.

Watch the Video: Overcome Camera Shyness: Boost Your Confidence on YouTube

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Embrace the Learning Curve: Nobody’s Born a Camera Pro

I recently re-watched one of my very first videos. And in that video I was not someone who was confident and comfortable on camera. Yeah, we’ve all been there. The key is that even though you might not be confident on camera right away, you can be confident that you can figure it out. Practice recording, watch it back, and repeat.

Getting comfortable being yourself on camera takes time and practice. We often try to overprepare. We think of all these things we’re going to do to make our videos seem more professional and put together. This could be deciding on what we wear, what we have going on in the background. And it’s really how you interact with the camera that makes the viewer want to connect with you, subscribe to your channel, and follow your content.

In my recent Crush it on Camera series, I delved into setting up a set-it-and-forget-it “YouTubicle.” This is a crucial step in boosting confidence. By removing barriers to actually hitting record, doing the practice, and showing up as yourself, you pave the way for genuine, confident content creation. So if you haven’t checked out my Crush it on Camera series yet, be sure to do that.

Boosting Confidence: What Chat GPT Has to Say

I wanted to see what advice Chat GPT has to add to this topic. Here is what it said:

Practice: The most obvious yet effective tip—practice. Record videos knowing no one has to see them, play them back, and learn. It’s a process, and improvement comes with each attempt.

Relaxation Techniques: Chat GPT says this can help reduce anxiety to help you appear more relaxed. I actually don’t really agree with this. Because if you’re too relaxed, it can come across as low energy, or that you don’t really want to be there. Sometimes even standing up while you’re recording can make you have a more commanding presence. It will also help you appear to have more energy in your videos.

Positive Self-Talk: I agree with this one. Confidence begins in your mind. Positive affirmations and self-talk are powerful tools to overcome camera shyness.

Prepare: You don’t want to be over prepared. But sometimes when you’re looking through YouTube and you’re trying to come up with topic ideas, you might find something that seems like a really good idea. However it may not be something that you’re 100% confident in talking about, and maybe you have to do a little bit of research to figure out exactly what you want to say. Whereas If you just create content on the things that you don’t need to prepare for at all and you just show up and turn the camera on, you’re going to come off as more confident. Because you literally are more confident talking about that topic.

Seek Feedback: Chat GPT says to share photos or videos with friends and family members for constructive feedback. I sort of half disagree with that. I would not show your YouTube videos to your friends and family. You think you’re afraid of what trolls are gonna say who are complete strangers, your family members might be even more brutally honest.

Focus on the Message, Not the Medium: Concentrate on what you’re saying or doing rather than the fact that you’re being recorded. I think that’s a great tip. Sometimes people say to just talk to the camera like you’re talking to a person. But we don’t talk to the camera like we talk to people because that would be weird. But I do like the idea of taking the attention off of the fact that you’re talking to a camera. This puts the attention on the the message and content that you have to share. And knowing that you’re creating that content for people.

Dress Comfortably: Wear clothes that make you feel confident and comfortable. I definitely agree with that.

Learn from Others: I 100% agree. What are other people doing on YouTube outside of your niche? How are they interacting with the camera? Take some tips from them.

Technical Knowledge: Understanding camera angles, lighting, and other technical aspects can make you feel more in control and less intimidated. And my Crush it on Camera series covers all of those things.

Seek Professional Help: Getting help from a professional is always a good idea. But honestly, if you were my client, I think I would just say that you need to practice. You just need to practice.

Conclusion

So, fellow creators, remember that feeling nervous on camera is normal. It’s normal to feel awkward, because it is awkward. Nobody was born knowing on how to talk to a camera. But whatever it is that you want to have happen as a result of making videos and talking to camera, whether it be growing your audience, growing your business, working with people, or helping with people, that’s what you need to focus on. And I 100% believe that creating videos, especially on YouTube, is the fastest way to connect with people, grow an audience, and build your thriving online business.

If it’s the gear setup that is holding you back, I have a step-by-step Crush it on Camera guide to help you create a YouTubicle for yourself. Make some decent looking videos, and you’ll be surprised how confident you feel to keep going when the videos that you create actually look good and sound good. You’re going to feel good. So let’s do this.