247: 20 Ways to Show Up on Camera Confidently

Foreign I am Tina Tower and I would love to help you today to gain more confidence on camera. It is something that I think stops far too many people from sharing their message with the world. One of the cruel things that I think about online courses is that those that market well win. And what I mean by that is for people that show up, what I see is sometimes people can show up so well and can do such good marketing and show up so confidently with such conviction, but maybe don't have all of the integrity of the back end and as much substances and expertise as what other people will have and then vice versa. I see so many people that have so much expertise, so much integrity, could add so much to the world and the clients that they're serving, but lack the confidence to fully show up. And so I want to give you today 20 tips that I have learned in how to show up more confidently on camera. I will say showing up confidently on camera is something that I have learned. It is not a natural skill. And so let me run you through all of them. So the first one is practice. It is really down to that. When you first hit record on your first video, it's going to feel very momentous. When you do it hundreds and hundreds of times, it loses part of that fear factor that we have at the start. So a lot of it is practice on video. Or you could practice speaking in front of the mirror and looking at your facial expressions and your hands. I personally don't watch film back anymore because sometimes I'll go, what are you doing with your face? Why are you doing that? Do you actually do that? And then I'll judge myself too much. And so it is much better for me to just do it and not watch it back. So the first one is practice. The second one is, is to breathe. Now, I know that we spend all day, every day as humans breathing. However, I do think that I know one of the things when I I used to start speaking was I would feel out of breath. And so breathing is extremely important. There is a couple of things to do before you start. There's two breathing exercises that are my favorites, not only for camera confidence but also really in any part of life that we're going through. So those two breathing exercises that are my favorite, the first one is one Huberman Lab is my, like one of my favorite podcasts. And Adam Huberman, he talks about this, like anxiety reducing breath, the breath that is absolutely proven to lower our cortisol levels, lower our stress levels, lower our anxiety, and bring our nervous system back to an equilibrium. And that is breathing in and filling your lungs and then totally emptying it. And so it's two breaths in, one long breath out. I'll do it. You can do it with me now. It'll feel fabulous. So you breathe. I can't talk and do the breath at the same time, but you breathe in. So see, it's like all the way in and then getting just that little bit more in and then letting it all out. Let's do it one more time because that just felt fabulous. We'll go so good. We don't take nearly enough breaths in our day, like the deep, good, cleansing breaths. The other one is if you're feeling like your heart is starting to race in different things. So I will often do this in between takes when I am doing a large batching day in camera. So say I am filming an online course and I have hours and hours to do. I'll do this in between to just really reset. And that's box breathing. So it's, it's going around a square. Depending on how used to deep breaths you are, will depend on your cadence for how you go around. So for me Personally, I'll do four breaths in, hold for four, out for four, hold for four, in for four, hold, hold for four, out for 4, hold for 4, and around and round we go. If you're not used to breathing very deeply, you could start with two seconds on each. So let's just do a two second one together just so I can demonstrate it. So we go in for two, hold out, hold in, so and around we go. Breathing will get you there every time. The third is to watch yourself back. Now, like I just said before, I find that very difficult to do. However, it is something that I did when I first started because I wanted to identify those areas of improvement. So once I could identify those areas, I could fix them up a little bit. Now I don't watch everything back because one, it would take way too much time, but secondly, I am happy with how I do it. And so if you're looking to improve and get the edge on absolutely everything, watch yourself back and you can go, okay, I see that I might look off to the side a little bit too much and daydream or I might scratch my nose too much, which is something that I do. I get allergies a lot and so I will often like twitch my nose in videos a lot. And it's something that I was like, okay, I've got to do that less. But then I end up going like you know, when you've got an itch that you can't scratch. And so I'm going to get to being natural in video as well. So we'll get to that. Number four is decide on what keeps you on track. So, so is it something like a teleprompter or is it dot points? Me personally, I do all of my videos, all of my podcast episodes, everything from dot points on slides in front of me or I will like if I'm doing a podcast, for example, I'll often just have those dot points, like five or six of them on a post it note. And that is what I go off for the whole time. And so I like that a lot more naturally than a teleprompter. It takes a certain skill skill to be able to read something word for word and have it not sound like you're reading. And so if you don't have that special skill, I would stick with the dot points to keep you focused and keep you on track, but also to keep it natural and allow yourself to ad lib in between. Number five is have good equipment that works well. So for me personally, at my desk right now, I've got my camera that's always set up in front of me. I have my mic that is always next to me. I have my tripod, I have my lights, I have, I have everything right there ready to go. Which means that if the inspiration should strike, I am ready to rock at any time. What I found was when I used to put everything away and I would have it all there, it just, it increases another barrier and goes, oh, I can't be bothered doing all of that. And often when we're going to record ourselves, we will take mostly any excuse to not do it. So you want to have good equipment that works well for you each and every time. Number six is wear your favorite clothes that are aligned with you. Now what I mean by that is to dress in attire that makes you feel comfortable and makes you feel professional. I don't think you should show up in your pajamas unless that is part of the messaging that you're doing. But what I do think is that we should wear things that are an elevated version of what we would normally wear. So clothes that we would be seen in often. So. So I will often wear jeans in photo shoots and videos because I wear jeans most days. I rarely wear heels now, so I don't wear heels as often in photo shoots. So I try and make it as comfortable to my everyday life as possible. Number seven is to visualize so before you step out into the, in front of the camera, I want you just to take a moment, especially when you're doing those breathing exercises is a great time to also chuck in some visualization and really visualize the success and the positive outcome that you want. So visualize yourself standing there tall like that, Head high, heart open like, imagine the string lifting you up from your head. You're ready to serve. Everyone's friendly, everyone wants you to win. Let's go. Visualization will help you massively. Number eight is to start small and get bigger. So I had someone ask me this question the other day and saying, when I go live on social media, how long should I go live for? And my answer was, I mean, 20 to 30 minutes is great because it allows people to come on and get exposure and allows those followers to get notified and you'll have more views on that live. Her face was going, how am I going to talk for that long? Because she hadn't done it before. And this is where I'm like, you know what, you need to start small and then grow from there. And so you may do a minute the first time when you first starting videoing, like start with just 60 second promo videos. They're your ones to start doing first. Start with 60 second lives. Just go live and go, all right, how can I do it? I didn't die. I'm okay. Let's go again. And then as you get practiced, you can do more and more and more until you could sit there on live for hours because you're so comfortable talking to that friend on the other side of the screen. Number nine is to get the right assistance. So sometimes you'll diy. I actually find it much easier, especially when I'm videoing. So not photography. I need a good photographer. But when I'm videoing, I actually find it easier to do it solo. I get a bit weird when there's other people around. Like, I feel a bit awkward and it's not rational because I know that there's a lot of people that are going to be watching my videos. However, when people are watching me in person and they're all standing while I'm talking and just like standing staring at me, I find it really off putting. But if you are going to get, you know, someone to operate the camera, if you are going to have, whether it's a videographer or a photographer, get someone that makes you feel comfortable. Get someone that builds you up, makes you feel confident. They're like, you're doing great. This is awesome. You look fabulous. You sound even better, like you want that hype girl. Really, it does make a huge amount of difference when you've got that. Number 10 is messaging is the most important thing. So when you are doing your videos, your message is so much more important than how you look. I know you can think of that with a lot of people if you start observing people on videos that you like. What we see in ourselves, most people won't actually see in us. You know, whether it's a line on your face or a blemish or you've gained five pounds or whatever it is that you are hung up on and worried about, when you step in front of the camera, people aren't noticing those things. What they're noticing is your message to them and how that's making them feel. And so really focus on getting across your messaging so much more than how you're looking. Number 11, lighting is your friend. So experiment with different angles and different setups to find what works best for you. For me, personally, natural light is my favorite. It is much than studio lights. So if I have studio lights blaring in my face and the really sharp digital SLR camera on me, man, there's nothing to hide there. And back in 2019, I made the vow to not use filters anymore, which means everything's there for everyone to see, which I'm very, very happy with that decision. However, natural light is much kinder for that. It's also easier to go longer. So I find with if I have to use, say it's a dark day and I need to put lights on, that I can get, you know, by the time I get to about two hours in my, I'm starting to get a bit of a headache. I'm starting to get a bit tired. So natural light, I have way more longevity with that as well. Number 12 is knowing that mistakes will happen. So remind yourself that you know you're going to mess up a little bit. It's okay to make mistakes, and it's practice that makes. Well, I won't say practice makes perfect because I actually don't think that there's perfect. But practice makes progress. Let's go with that one. Plus, blooper reels make for fabulous content. So whenever you. We've all got the ones where we're like, oh. We're like, oh, gosh, whatever it may be. And they. They make great content when you put them all together as a blooper reel. So nothing's wasted. Number 13, learn from others. So pay attention to people that you see on video that you go, wow, they're a confident speaker. What is it about that that is appealing to you? Do you like people that use their hands a lot? Do you like people that are more polished? Do you like people that are more natural? Do you like. Pay attention to what you like and what you don't like so that you can start to learn and implement that and implement their techniques into your own presentation style. Number 14 is pace yourself. So I am always amazed at the amount of energy that filming and photo shoots zap. Like, sometimes I will finish a day of filming or even a half a day of filming and go, gosh, I'm exhausted. Like, that took so much energy. And so really pace yourself with batching everything together so that you go in prepared and you're not having to create as you're going, but all you need to do is show up and present in that time and then pace yourself so you're having breaks in between. Rejuvenating, recouping, re energizing, and then go in again. Number 15 is remembering. People want to see you win, so try. And I know because I've gone through this as well, in worrying about judgment and critics that are on the Internet, even people that are in your real life, you may be starting out and worried about friends and family seeing you and judging you in a harsh way. And so what I want you to know is that most people want you to win, and we need to focus on that more than the critics. So when you visualize your audience who are friends, who are supporters, it is so much easier to show up and to present than if you're like, oh, my God, what are they going to say about me? What are they going to think? Are they going to think I'm this? Are they going to think of that? You know, you just want to. You want to show up and go, all right, I'm doing this for people that want to hear what I have to say, and I want to be able to show up and serve today. Number 16 is focus. So when you are doing those batched filming days or photo shoot days, practice those mindfulness techniques so that you can stay present during filming. This is massively helped by turning everything else off. So no notifications on your phone, having your computer put away, knowing everybody in your life, knowing that today you have to focus and treat you like a bride on her wedding day. No interruptions, no bad news. Just let you go into that bubble and get it done. Okay? Number 17 is props and backgrounds. So I actually love props. I love especially in photo shoots, using props to illustrate your message. And your point is just so much more fun than just standing there and smiling. And so I love props, but also take into account your background, everybody. I think that when people see you, they're going to judge you and your background and how everything looks straight away. They're going to say, are you my vibe, yes or no? And so you want to make that yours. So even if you are using, say a rented space, I've done a lot of filming in Airbnbs before. I will always take home, take from home, like trinkets of my own. Treasures that I love, books that I myself read, books that I myself have written. I will take them all along and put them in the background so that it looks like mine. And so really have a think about that. What are the visual aids that you can use to not only make the environment look like yours, but also will boost your confidence being solid in your own space. Number 18 is looking natural. Now, I think you should show up authentically as you, but an elevated version. So there are some days where I will batch record content. There are other days where I will batch get shit done. So they're the days that I will have my hair up in a bun, I will have my activewear on, I'll have not a scrap of makeup on and I will just come in. Maybe I'm wearing ugg boots, I don't know. Depends on the weather. But that's GSD days and other times when I want to show up, then I will make sure I have done my hair, I've put my minimal makeup on, but I am showing up as the elevated version of normal self. However, what I would say is really try and show up as you. So the photo shoot that I don't use is the one where I had fully professional makeup done. And as someone who wears very minimal amount of makeup, it doesn't look like me. I look like I am about to take center stage at the drag show. It's got, I've got so much makeup on that I felt really uncomfortable. But I was told like, this is, this was in the early days and I was told this is what you do when you have a photo shoot because the camera needs more makeup, of which I do agree, if you go completely sans makeup, which I have tried once, it does look very different. And so I will just go like a little elevated version and look as much as myself as possible. There was some where, you know, I had such beautiful professional photos done with perfect natural looking makeup on all of this sort of thing. And then I would show up to speaking engagements and feel like, I had to say, like, I'm a little bit sorry about my face. This is not what the brochure showed you. And so I want them all to look like me as much as possible and so really show up as yourself. Number 19 is clear, is kind. So focus on speaking slowly and clearly rather than trying to be clever or rather than trying to be perfect. So if you swallow like I just did, then, or if you take a breath mid sentence, or if you itch your nose during filming, keep going, don't stop and go, oh, gosh, I'm going to have to do that again. Don't edit it out, keep it in there. Because that's what we as humans when we're having conversations with each other, that's what we naturally do. So it's a lot more comfortable for the person on the other end of the screen to watch that rather than if you're like perfectly saying everything while reading the teleprompter and like eyeballing down the barrel of the camera without blinking like a crazy person. It's very off putting. So if you can be more natural, like, just go for it. It will make the person watching a lot more comfortable as well. And the Last one, number 20, is to look at how far you've come. So I think it is so brave and so bold for somebody to choose to be extraordinary, extra than ordinary for someone to go, you know what, I have gifts and expertise and I'm going to be vulnerable and put myself out there and share that with the world. You're in that position right now because this is what you are tuning into, which means you're having the gumption to put yourself out there bravely and open yourself up for criticism and judgment. But in the process, you are going to help and serve so many people. You are going to inspire so many people. But along that way, don't forget to let you inspire yourself. Because every time you show up and every time you do something you've never done before, every time you go to hit record and share your thoughts, that is a time when you need to look at yourself, check yourself and go, look at me, look at me. Go and look at what I'm doing. And before long enough, you do that enough and you will feel confident in front of the camera and you'll be stepping in there and going, I'm ready to rock. All right, friends, get in front of the camera, go and share your message. The world needs what it is. That you have to share. Have the best day.