MBA2727 How To Be More Natural On Camera
9 Jan 2026 · 8 min
In this episode of the $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom addresses the common struggle of feeling awkward and artificial when appearing on camera. He explains why people enter a "performance mode"—the lack of real‑time feedback from a lens makes us overthink, raise our voice, and try to adopt a persona. Zenhom offers a series of mindset shifts and practical tactics to make on‑camera presence feel like a natural conversation. The core mindset shift is the "FaceTime trick": imagine speaking to a specific friend or mentee rather than an anonymous audience, which relaxes tone, facial expression, and body language. He stresses that authenticity (personality) beats a manufactured persona, and shares personal background to illustrate this point. Practical tactics include using bullet‑point outlines instead of scripts, standing while recording, looking directly at the camera lens, warming up voice and face, keeping videos short (30‑60 seconds), and embracing mistakes as normal speech. Zenhom introduces a 30‑day Video Reps Challenge—record and publish a short video daily to build muscle memory and reduce performance pressure. He ties these practices to business outcomes, arguing that natural video builds trust, strengthens brand, and improves overall communication and sales skills. The episode concludes with calls to action: share the episode, subscribe to the podcast, and commit to the challenge.
Chapters
Okay, does this happen to anybody else? You sit down with a juicy QPC, some McNuggets, and those golden fries from McDonald's. Then you take a long sip of your Sprite because you can still hear your mama saying, don't fill up on that drink before you eat your food. But you're grown now, so you do what you want.
Share and share alike with the 20 piece McNuggets from McDonald's for just $6 limited time only. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer.
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Welcome Back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenholm, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. If this show has helped in any way, it would be amazing if you could drop us a quick review on whatever app you're using to listen to this podcast right now. It helps me and my team bring new episodes every week and more importantly, more entrepreneurs will be able to discover our podcast so you can help someone else start their journey. Thanks so much. First things first, you're supposed to feel weird at the start when you're on camera because when you talk to another person in real life, you actually get feedback. Feedback that you don't get when you look at a lens. Like you see their eyes, you see their body language, you see them reacting to what you're saying on camera. You get a piece of glass and a blinking light and your brain just reads this as not a normal situation, not something that you are accustomed to. What happens is you go into performance mode, and your voice might go up an octave. You might start overthinking every single sentence that comes out of your mouth. If you stumble, you really get angry inside, and you start to feel less confident. You start to want to be professional instead of trying to be yourself. So if that's you, it doesn't mean that you're not good on camera or you can't get better. It means you just haven't had enough reps yet. A lot of people ask me, hey, how do you feel comfortable on camera? And honestly, it's a skill that I had to build over time. I've shot probably over a million hours of video. I'm not joking. I've shot over 500 different video lessons for the program. I've done over 500 webinars, live webinars, on camera. So I'm very used to being on camera. It's something that I had to really work on. But when I first got started, it didn't feel great. It didn't feel natural, and I didn't feel like I was doing a good job. But what I'm trying to convey to you is that this is a skill, like any skill, where you can break it down and you can learn it and you can practice it. And that's what we're going to do in today's lesson. If there's one tip, one hack, one strategy that I want to give you today that you could take away and use and leverage and make things so much easier for you, it's this one. It's my favorite trick of all. And that's when I'm talking on camera. I try to pretend I'm on a FaceTime call with a friend or family member. I literally think of a specific person, like a specific friend or a specific student in my program or a family member that I love and I want to help them out. It could be somebody that is my mentee, something like that. And all I do is I imagine that I'm just updating them. I'm explaining something to them and not the audience, instead of thinking, hey, I'm recording a video for social media. I think, hey, man, and let me show you something that really works, something that's going to help you do xyz. That subtle shift does a few things. Your tone becomes more natural, your face starts to relax, your body language starts to soften so you're more approachable. This allows you to stop trying to sound smart, and instead you're just focusing on helping Somebody, you can even write their name at the top of the notes or like with a post it note. This video is for Sara, who's just starting right, her business or starting her fitness journey and feels xyz this little piece of information about who you're talking to and what they're going through. The context puts you in the right mindset and allows you to really deliver on camera feeling more natural and also just being more authentic. And most of all, you're going to be helpful because you're actually putting it in the context of the situation. So when you hit record, you're not speaking to followers, masses of people. You're speaking to Sara in this example. You're speaking to an individual and you're really trying to help that person with their problem. And guess what? There's going to be thousands of people just like her or just like this person that you're talking to. And it's going to resonate a lot more deeply with them because it's not generic information, it's not generic delivery. One of the biggest mistakes people make on camera is that they think they need to be a Persona. They've seen gurus yelling at their phones or talking like a game show host and they think, oh, I guess I have to do that. I guess I have to put on this bravado, I have to put on this confidence. It's not really helpful for you to be something you're not. It's just not. And it's going to feel unnatural to you and you're going to focus on the wrong things. You're not focusing on the content, you're not focusing on helping people out. You're really focusing on how you're coming across. The secret I found out was that what people actually want now is personality, not a Persona. They want to feel who you are. And you might be saying to yourself, oh, I'm not interesting, I'm not funny, I'm not suave, whatever it might be. Don't worry, just be who you are. And guess what? There's lots of people that can resonate with somebody who's just a normal, run of the mill person that is trying to help them out because they see them in their life, they can, you know, relate to that. And they can also appreciate the fact that you're not putting it on. You want to be the person that you are when you're just hanging out with a friend, having a coffee. Running a business is complicated. There's dozens of software programs that you need and they're all so Expensive. And since they come from different companies, they don't always play nice with one another. But what can you do, right? Odoo. That's what. Odoo has all the software business owners need. We're talking sales, CRM, manufacturing websites, literally every kind of software. And it's an all in one platform. So it all works together and it's quality software, so you're not sacrificing. It's simply a better experience than a hodgepodge of programs trying to fit together. You'd expect to pay a premium for it, right? But that's the most amazing part about Odoo. This interconnected suite of business software costs less than the mismatch of disconnected programs you're currently using. So the question is, why spend more on software programs that are less efficient when Odoo's simple software program can handle everything for a fraction of the price? Discover how Odoo can take your business to the next level by visiting odoo.com that's o d o o dot com. Okay.
Does this happen to anybody else? You sit down with a juicy QPC, some McNuggets and those golden fries from McDonald's. Then you take a long sip of your Sprite because you can still hear your mama saying, don't fill up on that drink before you eat your food. But you're grown now, so you do what you want.
Share and share alike with the 20 piece McNuggets from McDonald's for just $6 limited time only. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. The best content online, in my opinion is the content that when you watch it, you forget that you're watching a video and you feel like you're in the conversation. So a good rule of thumb is don't turn into a different human when the camera goes on. If you're calm in real life, be calm on camera. If you're dry and funny and witty, then be that on camera. Don't turn into something that people don't really understand or have never seen before in person. The reason why I'm saying this is because it's hard to maintain something you're not. It's hard to actually be authentic with a Persona that is not you. It's easier to be yourself because you know who you are. You always are acting that way outside of the camera, outside you know things are rolling. You're going to just show up as you and that's good enough. For example, I talk with my hands a lot. That's because it's who I am as a person. It's part of my background, my culture. My parents immigrated from Egypt to the U.S. so Arabs, they move their hands a lot when they talk and they very expressive and they use a lot of volume sometimes. And that's how I am sometimes in restaurants, I'm having dinner and Cole and Nudge would be like, hey, lower your voice a little bit. She's right, I'm making too much noise. But the point here is that that's who I am and that's who I try to be as much as possible on camera. And forget about the cameras. Rolling. It's okay to be a slightly more energized version of yourself on camera, but don't be a different character. Don't be something that you're not used to. If you show that video to a family member or a friend and they're like, hey, this is not who you at the dinner table, right? Then you know for sure that there's a mismatch here. You really need to just try to put away this effort to be a Persona and just be yourself. It takes time, but the more and more you become natural in terms of just trying to let go of this, trying to impress everybody and just be yourself. Be your own character, who you are normally every single day. The easier it's going to be for you to shoot content, the easier for you to resonate with an audience because now you're really revealing the real person behind the camera. Another reason why people sound stiff on camera is they're trying to remember a script word for word. You can hear them thinking like, okay, what's the next sentence? What do I have to say next? What are the exact words? Instead, what I want you to do is switch to bullet points. Before you record, write down three to five bullet points. Know that you have to cover these bullet points and just deliver them in a natural way. This could be like the hook, two or three key points and a takeaway or a call to action. Those are very easy. General five bullet points that you can cover. When I speak on stages, at events, one of the things I try to do with my 20 minute, 30 minute, 40 minute talks is not script it word for word, but to link everything with stories. Because I know my stories, I know things that happen in my life. I could tell that story over and over again. And it's just easy for me to know what to say next because one story leads to the next. And I actually learned this from stand up comedy. I'm a big student of stand up Comedy. And when I watch Standup Connie, I really notice how every joke, every segment, every story links to the next one. And they have these things called callbacks where they always refer back to a joke and usually they end the set or the end the special on Netflix, for example, with a joke that you heard at the beginning. So this is a really good technique just to link things with stories. For longer types of content, but for shorter content, for podcast episodes, for videos, for social media, you can just remember five bullet points you have to cover, have a post it note, maybe next to you. You can look down on it and then go look back at the camera and you can cut when you're looking down. But the point here is that you want to feel as natural as possible when you're delivering and you're not trying to say everything word for word. For example, for this episode that you're listening to or watching on video, I have four bullet points. FaceTime, Trick, Personality versus Persona, Practice Reps, Challenge, and Simple CTA. So those are my four bullet points. As you can see, I've talked about half of these and I've gone into some stories and talked about some examples, but I generally know what I'm talking about. And this is where I'm sticking to these bullet points. That's it. When you use bullet points instead of sentences, you speak in natural language. Now take note, when you're speaking a natural language and using bullet points, you will make mistakes. Sometimes you'll stumble on your words. Sometimes you'll say something that's grammaric, grammarically, grammatically incorrect. There's a perfect example right there. So it's okay. That's how normal natural speech sounds like, and that's okay. Would you do that on the dinner table? Yes, you would. And you have a little bit of a chocolate and a laugh and you would keep on going. And people can appreciate that when you speak in bullet points, you stay present, you stay on point, and you're able to riff a little bit, which feels more conversational. But you always go back to the point that you're trying to make. Remember, the goal is connection with your audience, not perfection. Here's the part nobody wants to hear, but it's the most important part. The only way to be more natural on camera, in my experience, is to spend more time on camera. It's just that simple. You can listen to tips all day, but if you don't feel what it's like while you're on camera and course correct, you're not going to really get better. You don't feel different until your body gets used to it. Right? You have to build that muscle memory. So I want to give you a very simple challenge that you can do with yourself. It's called the 30 Day Video Reps Challenge. Super simple. For the next month, I want you to record one short video every single day. This is a short video, under a minute. And that's great because most reels or shorts on social media are a minute around the minute. Mark, I want you to post these videos. These videos don't count if you just keep them on your phone. You got to post them on Instagram Stories or on reels or on TikTok or on YouTube shorts. Even if it's just to a small following that you have, that's okay. The point is, is that you want to put it out in the world. That makes it real. You're going to get some feedback and you're going to also just get used to just publishing and putting it out there. Meaning like, I'm going to record, I'm going to get it done, I'm going to publish and I'm going to put it out there and I'm going to move on to the next one. The point of this exercise is to not go viral. Okay? The point here is to get the nerves out of your system. You're just getting used to producing content, getting more comfortable in front of camera, using the strategies and the techniques and the tips I gave you today while you're doing it for 30 days and putting it out in the world. So you're publishing and getting used to just not being so overly concerned about how you are coming across. By week three, I'm telling you, you're going to start saying to yourself, wow, this felt terrifying a couple weeks ago. Now it's just another thing I do. It's something that I'm used. And that's the first sign that it's becoming natural. Part of what makes you stiff on camera is the pressure you put on yourself. For each video you say to yourself, this has to be amazing. This has to perform. It has to go viral. This has to represent my brand forever. No, it doesn't. This is just a rhetoric that you're putting in your brain that's not helpful. Okay, here's a better belief you should have when you put out these videos. This is just one of a hundred videos I'm putting out in the near future. It's going to be one of thousands, it's going to be one of tens of thousands. I'm going to Make a ton. And my job is just to get 1% better with each video. When the stakes go down, you start to relax. You start to have a little bit more of a sense of humor. You start to just be yourself and just enjoy the process. Remember, Joy, Remember just having some fun with it. Because the more fun you have with it, the more you're going to do it. So before you hit record, tell yourself this doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be honest, helpful, and done right. It has to get created and be put out in the world. Let me give you a few more quick tactical tips that you can use today to feel more natural. This is in addition to everything I taught you today, in addition to the 30 day challenge. Let's go. First one is I want you to stand up if you can. I'm standing up right now. Most people are more expressive when they're standing. Your breathing opens up. You have more energy. Your gestures feel more natural. Personally, I like standing up because of that energy feeling, and it just feels more natural because I was a school teacher for 10 years and I was standing when I was teaching. And this is just something that I've been doing for a very long time. So I like standing. Tip number two, look through the lens, not at your own face. So if you have a webcam above your screen or your monitor or whatever it might be, don't look at the, you know, video feed of your face because you're going to be very critical about what you look like. You're going to be thinking about your face. This is especially important if you're looking at your phone. Look at the lens, right? If you even flip the camera so you don't even see yourself like the back of your phone like this. That's even better. Listen, we've all been guilty of staring at our own image instead of the lens, checking ourselves out, making sure that we look presentable. But do that before you hit record because that really kills connection, because you're not really making eye contact with the lens. And therefore, when somebody's watching the video, they feel like you're talking directly to them. It's okay for you to take a first take. The first one doesn't have to count. You don't even have to hit record. You can just say what you want to say before you hit record, then hit record, then start to talk. Even if that first take after record is not the way you want to do it, that's okay. Do it again while it's rolling and you can edit later. Tip number four, warm up your voice and face a little bit. I know that sounds silly, but it really works, you know, Shake out your shoulders a little bit, roll your neck, feel a little bit more relaxed. Say a few sentences out loud before you film. Smile, really, and relax. This kind of allows you to warm up your face muscles. I find this incredibly helpful because it allows me to enunciate my words a lot better when my face muscles are a little bit more triggered or I've kind of used them a little bit before. I hit record tip number five. My fifth and final rapid fire tip is to record shorter videos. I hinted at this before. You should just aim to shoot 30 to 60 second videos. It's okay if they're short. Nail a short, punchy video first and you'll get confidence because you're like, hey, that was pretty good. The longer your videos, the harder is for you to have a video that you're satisfied with because there's more room for error. There's more room for you to kind of go out of bounds. So start with shorter videos. Before I wrap up, I just want to just address the elephant in the room. Why does this all matter? Because I believe video is one of the fastest way for you to build trust with your audience, to stand out, to grow your business beyond just great products, but having a great brand. Most people will never get comfortable on camera because they're not going to put in the practice and the work that we talked about today, which means if you do it, you'll already be ahead of them. When you're natural on camera, magic happens. People feel like they know you. I can't tell you how many times people have stopped me in person or seen me at a conference and they say, like, I've been listening to you for years. I feel like we've been friends. They feel like they know me because of how I've constantly worked on this, trying to be myself on camera or even just on audio with the podcast. When you work on this, people start binging your stuff because they start to feel like they want to build that relationship, but they're enjoying the content more because of your delivery. They think of you. When they have a problem to solve, they go to your podcast, they go to your website, they go to your products or services. And when you make an offer or call to action, it doesn't feel like a stranger selling to them. It feels like friend recommending something that can help them out. That's incredibly powerful. If you found today's episode helpful, help somebody else by sharing it. Share with somebody you think is struggling with being on camera or is on the same journey as you. Send them a message. Use that share button that's on the app that you're using right now to consume this episode and go ahead and share it with them. I'm sure they'll thank you for it. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. If you invest in this journey, in this practice, this 30 day challenge, I'm telling you, it's not only going to make your videos better, but you're going to be a better communicator. You're going to be better at sales, you're going to be better at just being somebody that people like being around because you have practiced the art of communication. In my opinion, communication is the number one skill because you can have a great product and have a great service, but if you know how to communicate it, then it's pretty much worthless. So throw away this idea that you're not good at this or you're not talented. No, it's reps plus intention. That's what I found. That actually makes a difference. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically. And it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.
Okay? Does this happen to anybody else? You sit down with a juicy QPC, some McNuggets and those golden fries from McDonald's. Then you take a long sip of your Sprite because you can still hear your mama saying, don't fill up on that drink before you eat that food. But you're grown now, so you do what you want.
Share and share alike with the 20 piece McNuggets from McDonald's for just $6 limited time only. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer.
