Short YouTube how-to by Lauren Bateman offering practical tips to appear natural and comfortable on camera. Main advice: practice by recording frequently, look directly at the camera, prepare with bullet-point notes/rehearsals to avoid tangents, and be authentically yourself (show personality and energy).
Youtubers ask me all the time Lord, how do you look so natural on camera? So we're going to talk about that in this video.
Now, I'm very fortunate that my background is in music performance. I did perform on stage in front of 20,000 people, but even when I pressed record on my camera the first time, I was like a bumbling idiot. What I'm going to do today is show you a very, very simple chord. Not a chord, a song. I didn't realize how hard it was to actually talk to a camera. And what I recommend people do, they're like, how do you get comfortable? The best way to get comfortable talking on camera is to talk on camera. Do this as many times as possible. It probably took me 30, 40 videos to start getting into my groove and getting comfortable on camera. Now, big tip I'm going to tell you is to look at the camera. If you're using your phone, make sure to find the camera camera hole on your phone. Because when you look at the camera like I'm looking at the camera right now, your audience is going to feel like you're talking directly to them. The camera I'm using has a flip screen. So if I start looking over to the flip screen, people are going to know that I'm looking at the flip screen versus me looking at the camera. So when you're doing content, always, always look at your camera. Another way to be great on camera is preparation. A lot of times if you just wing going on camera, you'll 10 go off on a tangent. And when you go off on a tangent on YouTube, that can immediately start tanking your watch time. Now, I don't write out big, huge scripts when I'm doing my YouTube videos or my guitar lessons, but I do have bullet points of what I want to talk about in order. So this way I can stay on track and focused on the points that I want to hit. And this way I don't wander off on some random tangent. I would highly recommend rehearsing your script, particularly for someone who does get nervous on camera. The more comfortable you get with talking and talking to a camera, the easier it goes. So recommend running through your script maybe a couple times, doing a little role play. The first few times you record videos again, the more you do it, the easier it's going to come. And you may not need those rehearsals. You might just be able to go off those bullet points. Hey guys, hope you're enjoying this video real quick. If you haven't already subscribe to the channel, turn on the notifications. This way, YouTube will let you know when I release more videos just like this. And a third thing I'm going to tell you on camera is just to be you. Remember, your audience is going to like you. Your demeanor, your emotions, your energy. Don't be someone else. Just because you see someone else doing content and you think it's blowing up doesn't mean you have to go and do things exactly the way they do them. I found that I became more and more comfortable on camera when I started acting more like myself. For example, I have a video where I actually hit myself in the face with a guitar pick. Four beginners as I hit myself in the face. Now, most guitar teachers on YouTube would probably edit that out, but I actually left it in because, one, it was pretty funny and two, I just wanted to show students that I'm human, too, and that, like, I do stupid stuff as well. I get so many comments from my students about how they appreciated that I left that in there and did not delete that out. So don't try to be perfect. Just be you. All right? If you have a witty humor, put that witty humor into your videos, your people are going to love it. If you are high energy, throw even more energy, okay? Because people love, you know, if I'm. I'm Italian, I talk with my hands. People love movement. If I sat here and talked to you like this, you would click away. You got to have some energy. You got to have some emotion behind what you're doing here on YouTube. Because if you don't have energy, if you're on film and you're like talking like a zombie, people are going to click off, they're going to go watch something else. So you have to be energetic on film, too. This way you keep people's eyes attention, you keep your audience, and also more of your personality will start coming out. Bottom line is, keep pressing record. The more experience you get, the more comfortable you're going to get on camera. And eventually you'll be able to do stuff just like me. Hope you guys like this video. YouTube's going to pop up a couple more suggestions over here. Go check those out and hope to see you guys soon.
