Are You Camera Shy? How To Get Over Your Fear of Being on Video

Are you using video in your business yet? Or are you letting the fear of being on video stop you from using one of the most powerful tools available for self-promotion?

Video is an important part of modern life. We video record our babies’ first steps. We record moments from our lives, such as concerts, beautiful vistas, cute animal antics, and that weird thing happening in the parking lot. Video has become such an integral part of daily life, it is not surprising that it is also an incredibly valuable tool for marketing yourself and your business.

Video Statistics Tell a Compelling Story

One-third of the people on the Internet use YouTube. They use it to learn things. They use it to be entertained. They use it to share moments with family and friends.

Social video is more powerful than any other kind of video. More than 100 million hours of video are watched per day on Facebook. 45 percent of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook or YouTube a week. And 82 percent of Twitter users watch video content. In fact, 1200 percent more shares are generated by video than by text and images combined!

Video increases engagement and conversions. Including video in your emails can result in a 200 to 300% increase in click-through rates. And, including the word “video” in your email subject line can increase open rates by 19%. Adding video to your landing pages can increase conversions by 80%.

Research shows that as much as 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands and businesses they work with. If you are not using video in your business, you are leaving money on the table.

In this post, I will share a variety of tips, techniques, and tools you can use to overcome your fear of being on a video camera and create compelling videos that will attract, engage and convert your ideal clients and customers.

Are public speaking and speaking on video the same thing?

I know people who are very comfortable speaking in front of a live audience who freeze up when they need to speak on camera. And, I know people who are at ease on video but break into a cold sweat if they have to speak in front of a group. So, is speaking in front of a camera the same thing as speaking in public?

Yes and no.

Yes, because you use many of the same skills: Vocal variety, message clarity, and organization, authenticity, etc. If you are a good public speaker, you have what it takes to be good at speaking on video.

However, the answer is also no because you use additional, different skills when recording video, live or otherwise. For example, the experience of the person watching your video is much more intimate than when they are in an audience. Therefore, you need to be much more conversational than you might be on stage. Also, how you maintain eye contact is very different. With a live audience, you have multiple locations you need to look at. With video, you have only one camera lens or your interviewer.

Other differences between public speaking and speaking on video include:

·      Long-form vs. short-form: With a live presentation, you usually have more time and can go into your topic more deeply. Most videos are five minutes or less so you need to be succinct and focus on your keywords or phrases.

·      Recovering from mistakes: When you’re speaking on the stage (or on live video) and you make a mistake, acknowledge it and move on. However, when you’re pre-recording the video, you can fix the mistake by backing up, repeating what you just said correctly, and then edit out the mistake in post-production.

·      Posture: Whether you’re on stage or on camera, good posture is important. However, when you are on video, you will be more likely to be seated, which makes it easier to slouch. Be mindful of this!

The difference between speaking on stage and speaking on camera is much like the difference between acting on Broadway and acting on film or television. When on stage you need to project more and have more noticeable gestures. However, because video brings you much closer to your audience, you need to lower your voice (compared to on stage) and keep your gestures smaller.

What Causes Camera Shyness or a Fear of Being on Video?

The fear of being on video is a form of camera shyness and performance anxiety. There are a lot of reasons you might feel the fear of being videotaped. Here are the most common.

·      Fear of being stared at or seen

For some people, the root of their fear of being on video stems from a terrible fear of being seen or stared at. Ophthalmophobia, the fear of being stared at, and Scopophobia or Scoptophobia, fear of being seen or stared at, are generally caused by a combination of predisposition (genetics) and experience (traumatic events). If this is what causes you to avoid the video camera, rest assured that you can overcome this phobia with a variety of techniques, including those covered in my earlier post on overcoming the fear of public speaking.

·      Fear of blushing

I don’t know about you, but I am an easy blusher. In fact, sometimes I’ll blush without even feeling a thing! Blushing is a physiological response in which blood rushes to the surface of your face causing you to turn any number of shades of pink to red. It is part of the fight, flight, or freeze response and is not under your control.

For some people, the fear of blushing or Erythrophobia, which is a form of social phobia, causes them to fear being on video. The interesting thing about this phobia is that you are not actually of afraid of blushing itself, but of the reactions that you think others will have to your blushing. There are several ways you can overcome this fear, but the bottom line is you need to shift your mindset from caring what others might think about your blushing to caring more about the message you want to convey on video.

·      Fear of not looking good

As far as my research could find, this isn’t an official phobia. However, I know many people who don’t go on camera because they don’t like the way they look. Sometimes this fear stems from low self-esteem and can be overcome through improving confidence. Other times it is due to a lack of knowledge about lighting and other ways to create good quality videos. And sometimes this fear grows out of a phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect.

Psychologist Robert Zajonc first described this effect in 1968. Apparently, we react more favorably to things that we see a lot — for example, our own image in the mirror. When we see a picture of ourselves, it just looks wrong because it is a flipped version of what we are used to seeing as our image. Because our faces are rarely — if ever — symmetrical, this flipped version can feel mildly disturbing and cause you to feel that your video image doesn’t look good.

·      Fear of appearing foolish

Are you an approval seeker? Are you afraid that someone watching your video will think you are silly, foolish, or incompetent? No one wants any of that, however, the approval seeker takes it up a notch and avoids doing anything that they believe will make them look foolish. And that can translate into a fear of being on video.

However, as Shannon Thompson, a mental performance consultant, says, the fear of foolishness is often much greater than the actual consequences of being seen as foolish.

In today’s world, authenticity is becoming more and more important in business. People want to do business with those they know, like and trust…as well as those they can relate to. If you are “perfect,” with never a chink in your armor showing, then you will turn away more potential clients than if you allow yourself to be genuine. Sometimes, being a bit foolish, makes you seem more human and relatable.

·      Fear of not sounding good

Along with not looking good, some people don’t like the way they sound, especially in video. Although a good mic and video editing equipment can help with this issue, it also stems from the fact that the voice you hear when you speak is not the voice everyone else hears when they hear you speak. What we are hearing when we speak is not only the sound waves in the air but also the sound waves bouncing around in our heads. There is nothing you can do about it, so you’re just going to have to break through that aversion.

Another thing that can adversely affect our voices is stress. For many years I couldn’t stand the sound of my voice. It sounded so high-pitched and child-like. During those years I was also under a lot of stress. Once I got out of that stressful situation, my voice changed — and I could hear the difference in recordings I made before and after the stress let up! So, one way to improve the quality of your voice on the video is to make sure that you are calm and relaxed when you start recording.

·      Fear of the unknown

Perhaps your fear of being on video is caused by your lack of know-how. That is a fear that is easy to overcome. Below, I share with you some basic tips for being filmed that you can follow to make sure that your videos are good.

·      Fear of attention or being exposed

Social anxiety is very common and not only introverts suffer from it. Being on camera, sharing your videos on YouTube, and doing Facebook Live events are all strategies for increasing attention and exposure, which is frightening for many people. However, you have to ask yourself:

What is more important to you? Growing your business and making a difference in the world? Or staying small and hidden?

Yes, you will have to push your envelope of fear a bit to overcome this form of anxiety, but if you read on, you’ll find that it isn’t as bad as you anticipate.

·      Fear of being disliked or hated

This is another facet of the people-pleasing spectrum. In the context of using video for business, this fear stops you from being yourself on camera. And, it makes you attempt to serve “everyone” when you ought to be serving only your ideal clients. You have to let go of the idea that some people not liking you or wanting to do business with you is somehow your business. Your business is to attract, speak to, and serve your tribe. And your tribe will never be everyone!

Did you identify your reason for your fear of being recorded? Then you’re in luck! The rest of this article is rich with resources for overcoming camera shyness and the fear of being on video.

The Three Types of Video To Consider

There are three types of video commonly used in marketing a business that will require you to appear on camera.

Talking Head Videos: Used for education and, sometimes, promotion

Interview Videos: You being interviewed by someone else or you interviewing someone else.

Live Video: Created on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter

I’ll discuss each one individually.

Pre-Recorded Talking Head Videos

Talking head videos are used for a variety of business purposes, most commonly in online courses and video podcasts. Some people have built entire business empires using talking head videos!

A talking head video is basically you on camera talking about a topic. It can be a lesson in an online course. It can be an educational video used for search engine optimization. Also, it can be an introduction to you and your business on your home page.

Because you are the focus of this type of video, you need to be clear on the purpose of the video and communicate a succinct message.

Pre-Recorded Interview Videos

Interviewing others on video is a powerful way to leverage the influence of others. By creating an interview video with someone that is further down the business road than you or who has a larger following than you can greatly increase your visibility and credibility online. Your visibility increases because your guest will promote the interview and your video will show up in searches for your guest. Your credibility is increased because you are now associated with your guest.

Being interviewed by someone else on their podcast or in their online summit has similar benefits due to the association not only with the interviewer but all the experts they’ve interviewed beside you.

Live Video

This seems to be the scariest video of all for people to create. The above two types of video are usually edited, which means mistakes can be removed. But the live video shows you as you are in real-time. If you um a lot, it will be there. If you forget what you’re going to say next, it will be there. If you make any type of mistake, it is recorded for posterity. However, this is a good thing! Remember what I said about authenticity above? Live video is about as authentic a video format you can create.

Moreover, the benefits of live video are many.

·      You engage with your ideal clients because people consume your content on your time, not their’s. People who tune into your live videos are more likely to members of your tribe and therefore more likely to convert into clients.

·      Your video has more urgency than videos that are up to be viewed at any time.

·      You stand out because not that many people are using live video right now.

·      You don’t need fancy equipment. Live video can be streamed from your smartphone or laptop with no other equipment needed.

·      It is one of the fastest (and easiest) ways to create content. You don’t need to take time to script it. You don’t need to take time to edit it. You just turn it on and go!

The Psychology of Overcoming the Fear of Being on Video

One way to overcome the fear of being on camera is to work on the psychological roots of this fear and change your mindset so that the fear doesn’t stop you in your tracks. I covered many of the techniques you can use in my ultimate guide to overcoming the fear of public speaking, however, I’ll highlight the more relevant ones for speaking on video here.

Start Where You Are — Don’t Wait for Perfection

If you wait until you are ready to be on camera, you will never record a video. You need to start where you are right now and move on from there. You will get better as you continue to shoot more videos.

When I first started recording videos of myself, I was not where I am now. I was using a cheap video camera I purchased at Big Lots, so no matter how much lighting there was, the video was dark and grainy. I didn’t have a clear strategy for creating videos, so they were haphazard and sometimes unfocused. I was basically shooting them because I thought I was supposed to and I thought they were fun to create.

Today, my videos are much better. I have a better camera (in fact, I often use my laptop’s webcam because it is easier and records high-quality, high-resolution video). I have better lighting, which I got for a reasonable price on Amazon. I even have better microphones (I alternate between using a headset, a hand-held, lavalier, and a Blue Yeti). Can I do even better? Sure, but I’m starting from where I am and letting “perfection” evolve over time.