In this solo podcast episode, Sally Koering Zimney (Be Moved) addresses speakers’ anxiety about virtual presenting and offers five concrete strategies to boost confidence on camera. She frames video as an essential, powerful medium for reaching audiences when live events are unavailable, sharing her own journey from video aversion to embracing it. The five tips are: (1) Keep it simple – use existing technology, simple clothing, and focus on clear audio‑visual basics; (2) Imagine a friendly face beyond the camera – picture a real person to create warmth and connection; (3) Use the rule of three (or five) – structure content in odd‑numbered chunks for memorability; (4) Authenticity still rules – be yourself rather than striving for perfection; and (5) Practice – rehearse, take multiple takes, and become comfortable with the material. Sally concludes with encouragement to overcome excuses, and promotes three support channels: the Crowdcast replay of a recent webinar, her Instagram @bmove_speaking for community sharing, and the free public Movers U community on Mighty Networks, which offers live Q&A, resources, and coaching opportunities. The episode blends personal anecdotes, actionable advice, and community building to empower speakers to master virtual presentation.
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Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving Hey movers, welcome back. It is day 2 of my focus here on how I can help you be supported, and as promised, I want to share with you 5 tips to confidently present via video. So I hope you are hanging in there. I am thinking of all of you so much and lovin' ya up. So let's just dive right in, okay? Because yesterday I was reminding you how important your voice is, that your audience is still there. They still need to hear from you. You are still a leader who needs to use your voice. We're just gonna find them in a different way, okay? And that way right now is video. And if you know me at all, you know how much I love a live audience. I love live events. It is at the heart and core of what we do as speakers, but we we can't do them right now. I truly think it's okay. They will come back. But I think it is really important that we master the skill of video, of virtual presenting, because there is power and purpose in video that can allow for new connections and impact if we can do videos well. And if we can be brave enough to do video. And I get that it might feel like we really have to be brave to do video because I, I understand if that is how you're feeling. Several years ago, I was in that place. I really hated video. I would do them, but I felt really self-conscious and unsure, and man, I was so critical of myself. I didn't like watching myself. I would just find myself saying things like, "What? Is that what you really look like?" and getting in my head more. It just wasn't helpful. I didn't like how I felt doing videos, so I didn't like videos. But I had to embrace video to serve my audience. And as I got focused on, gosh, how can I reach more people and how can I impact the people that I'm serving, Well, video is an obvious tool and it has become really powerful and now I actually really like video. So I want to share with you a few key tips that have helped me do better videos and speak with more confidence in this virtual world. Okay, so number 1 is to keep it simple. Now this seems obvious and it is fairly obvious, but we tend to overdo our approach with video and overthink our approach with video, which keeps us from acting on it and just starting and doing. We've gotta keep your, especially the technology, can be very, very simple. You can use exactly what you have right now. But I just want you to remember simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Your clothing, I think, is best if you can keep it simple, but of course some people break those rules. Your content, keep it simple. Keep your technology simple. Keeping it simple is the key to making this manageable and stepping into it. And part of the reason we want to keep it simple is so that you can focus on really connecting with your audience and not feeling overwhelmed by all the things that we're thinking about, like, oh my gosh, do I have this right, and do I need a teleprompter, and do I need just the right setup. And it's so easy to get overwhelmed when this is a new learning curve for us. And so truly, you probably have what you need, right? And a simple approach, honestly, all you need, the bar you need to reach for keeping it simple is is can they see you, can they hear you, and can they understand you? Clarity. That's what we're looking for, so keep it simple and try not to overdo it and overthink it. Okay, now as I was talking about focusing on connection, it's like, how do we connect with our audience when they're not really there? Which brings us to number 2. Which is to imagine a friendly face beyond the camera, to bring a warmth and an energy to the moment as if we are talking to somebody beyond the camera. This is a bit of an imaginative push, okay? We have to use our imagination to really do this well, but I trust that you as creative people, as speakers, as leaders, we use our imagination all all the time to dream up new ideas and to create plans, and those are imaginative, creative experiences. So I just want you to channel that energy and focus on the people beyond the camera. And if it's helpful to think of one particular person that you're thinking of, awesome, do that. Okay, so you want to imagine a friendly face. Okay, it's really easy to instead really think about ourselves and get self-conscious about what we're doing and people, like real people, looking at us or being overheard, or it can, it can feel a little awkward and weird. And so you've got to really focus. You are talking to a person, even if they are not there with you right then. So imagine that friendly face. Okay. The third thing that I want you to think about and utilize more is the rule of three. So this is really helpful for your content as you're trying to think about how to share this with people, is whatever you're talking about, if you can chunk it out into a rule of three, that is more brain-friendly. It's easier to remember. And when you look around, you're going to see the rule of 3 around everywhere. And there's a reason for that. Okay. There's neuroscientists out there that can tell you why it's more memorable to do 3, but it is. Odd numbers are better than even numbers. So if you can't get your content down to 3, then I'm going to add, I'm going to suggest you bump it up to 5. So use your rule of 3 or 5 as you're developing your content, that'll help you Check off number 1, 2, and keep it simple. Okay? Number 1 as well and keep it simple. So you're gonna keep it simple by using the rule of 3. Check, check. We get 2 of the 5 in one fell swoop. I love it. Okay, now the 4th tip I have for you is a reminder that authenticity still rules. And that means that you do not have to be perfect. You just have to be you. Like, there is no one way to do this. If you look around, you'll see people doing it all kinds of different ways, but they're— the key is that we're doing it the way you would do it so that it still feels very authentic to you. Because of course your audience still wants to be reassured that you are still you even though you're on video. You still have to bring yourself into this medium even though it can feel like, oh gosh, now I gotta really polish myself up and I gotta make sure I'm dressed like this and doing that, but authenticity is still the most important thing that we can do in this moment. And the fifth and final tip for you is to practice. I want you to continue to practice so that you can let go and really be in the moment. You've got to know your content well, just like you would if you were getting ready to do a public event. When you show up on video, it's the same thing. We're managing so much in the moment. You've got to practice so that you can be really focused and really let go and be in the moment. I think a lot of people underestimate the need for practicing and think it's just video and you can just re-record it and do it again. And what I would suggest is you, you dive in and take a few takes. And guaranteed by the third or fourth take you're gonna be clearer and you're gonna know what you're moving towards in your content and your delivery and it will get better. So practice, practice, practice. Okay, those are my 5 tips for you. Keep it simple, imagine a friendly face, use the rule of 3, authenticity still rules, and practice so you can let go in the moment. Alright, and I guess I just want to end with this. So many of you last week during the webinar were just glad to get some permission and a little bit of a nudge to not let the excuses get in the way of starting and doing and trying this new thing, because believe me, I'm always working through my excuses too, but work through them and then ignore Ignore those fears and do take action. And I hope you know I am here to empower and support you. And just a reminder about the 3 things that I'm doing right now to help you be supported. I hope you're seeing that hashtag and you're, you're checking it out because we are here to support you and support each other, right? So number 1, go check out Crowdcast. Search up Sally Koering Zimney on Crowdcast and you will see the replay of last week's webinar and you can follow along so that you can check out future Movers Lives and the next webinar that I'm doing, which will be next week around presenting virtually. So check out Crowdcast, that's number one. Number two, I'm sharing you. So find me on Instagram, @bmove speaking. DM me a photo of you or info about you and info about what you speak about, and then my hope is that we will all share each other. Okay, so, but you've got to be following along on Instagram for that to happen. So go find me on there so that we can really share and support each other. It's such a simple and easy thing that we can be doing. And then lastly, and I think most importantly because it is such a powerful resource, is I want you to come join me in Movers U. I've changed it so that it is now open to the public and it is free. The community side of Movers U is free and open to all of you. And there's tons of resources in there. It's a growing community of people like you who want to transform their approach to public speaking and move their audiences. So it's just, I know so many people in there and I'm like, this is such an amazing group. So I'd love for you to join us in there. Mighty Networks is the platform I'm using and it's awesome. So even if you're just curious about Mighty Networks, you should come join and check out everything that's happening in there. I'll be doing a monthly live Q&A for everybody that is free and open to the public. And we've got weekly themes and sharing resources and tapping into each other's expertise, asking for what we need, sharing what we can give. There's great stuff happening and I want to see you there. So go to Mighty Networks and you can search for the platform MoversU and there is a free community option there. So I'd love to see you in there. All are welcome. When you're ready to dig in deeper with me, there are courses in there, there's coaching groups. So there's so much potential with it. It's going to be amazing and I would love to see you in there. Okay, my friends, you've got 5 tips. You're going to keep it simple. You're going to imagine a friendly face. You're going to use the rule of 3. Authenticity still rules. And you're gonna practice so you can let go. I hope that was helpful for you. Tomorrow I've got another really key strategy for you that I want you to be thinking about, and that is how we are going to adjust our content to the context of now. How do we take this content that we have and adjust it so that it is relevant and resonates with our audience Now I've had a really strong workout. This is important. Really important. So that is tomorrow, and we'll see you again.
