Six Tips to overcome your Fear of being Filmed on Camera
Gear up for your next filming session for work
12 minute read
To produce an effective and professional corporate video, whether it is internally created or it’s had external help from a creative agency, people need to present themselves in a comfortable and confident way as it will have a lasting impression on the overall tone of the video. This report from Hubspot revealed that more than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands. Therefore, you can understand how crucial videos are for companies no matter what the industry. Have you ever had to be filmed for a business or work video? Did you feel it was too much emotionally? SmartCuts Creative has the experience and the knowledge to provide you with dependable answers for all your queries about being filmed on camera.
If we take a look at this roundtable event filmed by SmartCuts Creative for BOBST, a Swiss machine packaging company, you can see they are calm and comfortable as they have come into the filming process prepared.
Being Filmed on Camera
1. Video Content Trends
2. Presentation Nerves
3. 6 Tips for being filmed on Camera
4. Public Speaking Films
5. Media Training Services
Video Content Trends
Having videos on landing pages alone increases conversion rates by over 80%. If it’s not already clear, videos are extremely important for your brands. Being part of a company, you may have to be filmed at some point, and that thought can be quite terrifying, especially if it’s your first time.
Google asked 12,000 people worldwide, from ages 13 to 64, what they watched in the last 24 hours. They narrowed their reasons for watching videos down to the following in this graph.
From the graph, it’s quite clear that people are generally placing more value on content that is more personal.
Having people talk on camera about the brand and the company can be the key here.
But the trick is being able to feel comfortable enough and not stuck looking stressed. Prospects are more likely to trust you, and therefore the brand, if you appear at ease.
The Psychology behind Presentation Nerves
Nerves can happen to anyone. They seem to appear most when public speaking. But you can use those fears to enhance your performance.
The 1973 R.H. Bruskin Associate’s American Fears study has been replicated many times since. It tackles the question, “is public speaking really more feared than death?” Dwyer and Davidson’s more recent replica of the study shows how the general public really do fear public speaking.
Dr. Tsaousides argues that the fear of speaking publicly “often arises when people overestimate the stakes of communicating their ideas in front of others, viewing the speaking events as a potential threat to their credibility, image, and chance to reach an audience.”
Dr. Tsaousides also suggests that certain situations make us more nervous than others due to:
- The lack of experience. Experience builds confidence, and so practice makes perfect. With around 75% of the population struggling with a fear of public speaking to a certain degree, just know that you are not alone in the public speaking debacle.
- The degree of evaluation. For example, if you are presenting in front of people with evaluation forms, then you may feel more stressed. On camera, this could happen at live events like congresses and webinars.
- The new audience. When you know people, it’s a known fact that you’ll feel more comfortable with them.
6 Tips to Overcome your Fear of being Filmed
These days, the use of video for work or business is more prevalent and may be even required to advance in your career. If you need to overcome the fear of standing in front of a camera, then the following techniques, used by others who have been there, can help you do that.
1. Practice, practice, practice. Film yourself often. Use your mobile telephone. The video footage is mainly for yourself. You do not have to share it with anybody. Watch these videos. You will notice things you do not like about your performances. Think about how you can do it better next time. And then film yourself again. Try to make it better the second time and avoid the mistakes from the previous recordings. After many repetitions you will get confident enough to even share some of your videos.
2. Get used to social media live video streaming. This is an easy thing to do. No technical equipment is required. It helps especially people that are new to getting filmed. Check your favorite social media network. It probably offers the possibility to stream live video to your contacts or followers, or to everyone. The first time you will feel extremely nervous. That is completely normal. After a certain number of times of recording yourself you will start to feel comfortable in front of the camera. You will stop worrying about what other people think. You may also find you show a different persona on camera.
3. Do not suppress the nerves! Allow yourself to feel nervous. It is totally normal in the first few seconds to feel your heartbeat rate get higher, sweat more than usual, and breathe a bit faster. Even professional singers with years of experience feel nervous before a performance. Just keep trying and put yourself in these situations. You will see how the nervousness fades. Keep a positive attitude. Think it is normal to feel nervous in the beginning. This helps change the initial nervous feelings into positive energy.
4. Do not remain motionless. You would look uncomfortable. Feel free to move your body. Use it to express yourself. Move your head, your hands, and arms. Behave as you would if you were having a conversation with a good friend. You will look more natural. Think about your posture and body language to exert confidence. Your voice is especially important. The sound of your voice must be natural. Avoid speaking in a robotic monotone pitch. Use different tonalities according to what you are talking about.
5. Enjoy the experience! Try to have fun. Do not take this as a painful, unpleasant activity. Take this as an enjoyable learning experience. It is OK to make mistakes and to learn from them. If the video has things you do not like you can always edit it later. You can remove any unwanted images.
6. Believe you can overcome your fear of being on camera. You must have faith in yourself. Maybe you have never been filmed. Or you did it once and you panicked. You said, “I will never do this again”. Please relax. Give yourself the time to go through the process. Anyone who really wants to conquer fear can do it.
The Anecdote
If you think you cannot overcome the fear of video, maybe this story can give you some encouragement.
This is the story of a man that did not like to speak in public. He conquered this fear by changing his attitude. He tells of his very first public speech. He was very anxious before the event. He spent a lot of time preparing. He had to talk for around 40 minutes to a large audience. The day of the speech arrived, he stood in front of the audience. He hadn’t done this since he was an 8-year old kid for his primary school theater performance.
Back then he forgot his lines during the show in front of all the audience. These childhood memories and feelings came back to him as an adult just before this important professional speech. He was so nervous. He gave the entire 40-minute speech in 8 minutes!
He did not let this get him down. He persevered. He went on to become a highly-paid and famous professional speaker. He gave speeches thousands of times. He became a pioneer in the use of video.
If he could do it, you can too.
Public Speaking Films
Before you leave us today, take a look at these two films that are all about public speaking. Maybe they’ll inspire you.
1. The King’s Speech (2010), dir. Tom Hooper. This film is a great example as it shows having confidence in yourself is everything when it comes to presenting.
2. The Great Debaters (2007), dir. Denzel Washington. Another superb example is this film by Washington as it showcases how the content of your speeches matter. For your corporate videos, this means your scripts matter.
Media Training Services
Finally, maybe you’ve now gotten to the bottom of this blog post and thought, “I feel that I need more guidance”. A lot of the time, the preparation process is about having the right people around you to escort you to a perfect video presentation. SmartCuts Creative offers media training that can come in handy for any form of presenting. Otherwise, the SmartCuts team will always help on the day of the shoot. Just keep in mind that you want to feel and look comfortable on the inside and outside. If you feel at ease, you’re going to look like it on camera.