When All My Videos Got Corrupted, I Discovered My True Voice | Anouska's Story

One very interesting thing that happened is that I shoot around 4 to 5 videos in a go. I just could see the difference, the kind of difference, the way I'm speaking and, you know, the way I'm telling, narrating that story. It's like I lived that entire movie once again.

As my mentor say, if you keep messing with age, it became a message.

We wait for the clarity to come to us. But the real thing is that clarity only comes after we take action.

But there are a lot of people out there who still feel that, why do I need to work on my confidence? Why do I need to work on my video skills? Why do I need to work on my storytelling and communication skills?

Unless you have the clarity to speak, the confidence to speak, you will not have moments like these.

Hey everyone, welcome to this Finisher Interview Challenge where I personally interview all the great achievers, all the people who have gone through this 21-day challenge. If you're not aware, In Confidence Storytelling Hub, every month we have a 21-day video challenge where people get the chance to practice, to learn, and to share about different aspects about public speaking, communication, storytelling, and all. And people who complete this, they get a chance to be directly interviewed by me. And in that series, I have another person who is, I would say, probably the one of the youngest member of the community but has been growing amazingly. Her name is Anushka. So let's welcome Anushka. Hi Anushka, how are you doing?

Hello Haritosh Srivastav, I'm doing good, I'm doing awesome.

Awesome. So yeah, just, just to add some fun for members, this is our second attempt to interview. Last time we had a fantastic interview but due to internet issues it didn't work out. So we are hoping everything will go well. Let's be authentic, right? I always talk about authentic storytelling. So awesome, Anushka. So tell us about yourself, what you do, where are you from, in about 1 to 2 minutes.

Uh, hello everyone, I'm Anushka. I was born and brought up in Bangalore. I come from a family of 4. I have a younger brother and, um, he's 8 years old, so there's like 15 years difference. And I have some working experience in international sales, export-import, and I am currently trying to self-publish my poetry book. So I'm working on that now. And apart from that, you can catch me reading fiction all the time or writing some poems and, you know, just asking everyone to read it. And, um, I enjoy watching cricket, and that's, that's it.

So, uh, how long have you been part of Confidence Storytelling Hub?

I joined Confidence Storytelling Hub on 16th July 2023.

Wow.

And, uh, do the math. I don't like maths. It's been 2 years.

2 years, 2 months.

Yes.

Awesome. And I do remember because you came as a guest for one of the events we did, Unleash 2023.

Unleash 2023.

Right. And then I think you participated in some of the, one of the challenge, on the spot challenge, and then you were given a scholarship as well. So yes, just over 2 years. So, and you've been participating in many of the sessions and many of the challenges, and you were also part of this 21-Day StoryPro Challenge. So tell us about what was your experience in being part of this challenge.

I have never, you know, taken camera to be my best friend. And doing this was very uncomfortable for me at the starting. It was, and it is not uncomfortable only when you're making the videos. It's also a bit, you know, odd seeing yourself for the first few times in a video. So I had to come out of that thinking. And one very interesting thing that happened is that I shoot around 4 to 5 videos in a go. So what happened, I tried to send them through WhatsApp and the files were corrupt. I don't know what happened. And then I'm trying to, you know, send it through email, and I thought at one point I'll just give the Drive link in the group, but that did not work too. And something in me was telling, you know, Anushka, maybe you have to reshoot all these videos. And I was like, oh, Not gonna happen, not gonna happen. I, I can't, I can't go through this again. But, uh, nothing was working and I had to reshoot all the videos. And, uh, it was day 4 video, uh, it was the story of Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion. And, uh, when I reshoot that video and I, I just could see the difference The kind of difference, the way I'm speaking and, you know, the way I'm telling, narrating that story, it's like I, I live that entire movie once again. And when I saw this, this shift while reshooting the videos, I made day 5 video, day 6 video, and, and that experience is very valuable for me, uh, not only what it can teach you in video making, but just an amazing experience.

As my mentor say, if you keep messing with age, it became a message, right? So that's how it is. You start messy and just, just bear with it. You may not like your voice, you may not like your video, but when you keep on doing it, it gets better and better and better. Now you already talked about the challenge. But tell us more about— did you face any other issues apart from— yes, this was a technical issue— any other issue you faced during the challenge and how did you overcome those?

I think the biggest challenge was allowing the small mistakes to be part of the video, because when I first started shooting and I would miss a word or skip a word or you know, just start overthinking, is that right? Is that grammatically right, Anushka? And then I was like, no, I literally like slammed shut the laptop and I was like, no, I can't do this. So getting out of that entire thought process and allowing some mistakes to slip through in the final video, it was something that relieves you actually. It's not, you're not burdened by that perfectionism anymore. So once you allow them, you, you're free actually. So you allow yourself to make mistakes and then you're like, okay, this is happening good, this is going good.

Yep, been there, done that so many times. And to be honest, yeah, I still have sometimes when you start making video, you'll make a lot of mistake, so you restart. But the point is, yes, don't stop there, just, just restart. But So yes, totally agree. And I think what you were saying is making sense that when you get out of this perfectionist mode, you feel liberated because we are self-bound by this feeling that, oh, it has to be 100% perfect. It has to be this certain way. It has to be so sophisticated. But you're like, yeah, this is me. This is how I speak. This is how I am off camera, on camera. When you meet me in person, I think this is where the liberation starts to happen. That we start removing the mask that we are trying to wear. And that's where it becomes a truly great experience.

Awesome.

So Anushka, when I talk to a lot of members who take up this challenge and complete this, they always have some or other moment where they're like, wow, this was one aha moment, or this was one wow moment. So what was that moment for you?

Uh, it was towards the end of the challenge when I had this sudden spark and motivation. It was a spark from a long time that I wanted to open a YouTube channel. I've been thinking it about a year or two, and but never could actually do it. Towards the end of the challenge I was just thinking about, you know, making these videos and everything, and I just was in my bed and I took my phone. I wrote, "Day 1." This is going to be the video title, and these are the 3 main points that I'm going to discuss in the video. And I just got up the second day, made that video, and uploaded it on YouTube. And such a spontaneous thing that happened Right after the challenge, I was like, this is, this is why you did that challenge. This is the result of the challenge.

I think I keep talking to a lot of people and I think many of them had similar aha moments that now somebody started like you started YouTube channel. Somebody actually started, if you remember Dinesh Wadhwa, he's now writing a book based on this challenge, going through this challenge and somebody else is creating an archival of all this video. So that's when people, when people start to come out of this inhibition, that's when they start to create great things. Awesome. So tell us about the change afterwards or the impact after you have completed the challenge. Now we know you have also created a YouTube channel, but what is that internal impact do you feel after completing this challenge?

The biggest lesson I think in, in going through any process is that we think we wait for the clarity to come to us, but the real thing is that clarity only comes after we take action. So whatever clarity of thought or information we are wanting, that lies before— sorry, after the action, not before it. So the biggest internal lesson is internal enlightenment, you can call, is that take action and the clarity will come to you.

Clarity comes only after you start taking action. It's not like, yeah, you're going on road and something will struck you and you'll get enlightened. Once you start taking action, you'll start getting the vibe of it and you'll get the enlightenment, so-called enlightenment. Awesome. So, Anushka, you are one of the youngest members of the community. And, uh, you, you're doing such an amazing work. Uh, but there are a lot of people out there who still feel that, why do I need to work on my confidence? Why do I need to work on my video skills? Why do I need to work on my storytelling and communication skills? What's your message for them?

I have a story to tell. Please. Just because of this, um, I saw my social studies teacher of 10th class. When I was going to watch a movie with my friend and she was in the line and she was ahead of us. So if we did not— if I did not go and speak up to her, she wouldn't have known that I was standing there. So I was just, you know, telling to my friend, "Oh, you look, our social grade, 10th grade social teacher is there." And she said, "Oh, nice." I was like, "Let's go speak to her." And she said, "No, no, no, I'm not going to speak." and she did not have that confidence to go and speak with her. So I said, no, I'm going to speak. I don't care if I'm speaking, you know, with Tony Robbins kind of speech, but I'm just going, approaching her. So I went to her and I said, ma'am, sorry to bother you, but you were our 10th grade social teacher. And, uh, just so good to see you, ma'am. And we had the most amazing conversation, and it was so good to see her. Uh, so what I'm trying to say is that until unless you have the clarity to speak, the confidence to speak, you will not have moments like these. You will not have the confidence to speak up for anything, to meet your old friend, to, uh, speak again, speak for something or speak against something. You will not have that kind of confidence and clarity of thought until unless you actually learn communication skills. You are confident and you, you just have to build it to get to this point.

Beautiful. If I have to summarize that, I would say that yes, if you have the confidence, it will help you get your voice and share your voice with the world. Awesome.

Yes.

So, uh, my last question to you, Anushka, is, uh, you've been part of Confident Storytelling Hub for over 2 years now. Uh, would you recommend— and be honest, you don't have to just say yes, but be honest and say, would you recommend people to join Confident Storytelling Hub?

I have. I have already told my friends. They are, they are just busy, you know, now. And because of, they have taken tuitions and classes and I've told them you have to join this. And the biggest plus point of Confidence Storytelling Hub is that you have weekly live sessions. It's not like a course that is going to sit in your laptop forever and ever and you're not going to, you're not going to, you know. You're going to speak with real people, you're going to learn from them. It's just so amazing to be here. I, I already recommend people. There's not—

Thank you, I truly appreciate that. And Anushka, even though you are way younger than many of the members in the community, you have really shown leadership, uh, by participating, by showing up, and by completing this challenge. And I can only imagine the great things that are, you know, in store for you. So wishing you all the best. Thank you once again.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Awesome. So that was Anushka, who is the youngest finisher of this challenge. If you are one of those who would like to improve your communication, would like to learn about storytelling, and most importantly, find your confidence and voice. I would love to invite you to be part of Confidence Storytelling Hub because as Anushka said, this is not just a so quote unquote a course. It is a community where we have so much of interaction, so much of challenges, so much of things to learn and grow with. So if you are one of those, just reach out to us. We are available on all social media. And as I say every time, Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. And our tagline, Story Power to You. Thank you so much.