Tips to Get Over Camera Shyness

Are you thinking of creating video content shortly? Is there something that is stopping you? Here are some practical tips to get over the camera shyness to begin with.

If you are familiar with my blog, you might know that I haven’t been blogging much this year. That’s because my focus got shifted a bit towards Youtube, precisely ‘Booktube’.

It was not like I wanted to become a YouTuber/booktuber or anything like that. Blogging was, is and will remain my first preference. But, somewhere in the middle of the journey, I just felt like I should learn how to face the camera.

Are you an Introvert?

I am naturally an introvert person. I don’t mess up with people. I thrive to become a better version of myself every passing year.

If you are someone like me and planning to start making videos anytime soon, keep reading this post.

Ok, so, towards the end of 2018, I was sure about starting a youtube channel. But, the very thought of facing the camera was haunting me like anything.

Being the kind of introvert I am, it took me a whole long year to take a firm decision about starting my channel.

Something clicked my mind by the end of 2019.I realised that things might not be the same in the coming years. Today I have all the time to experiment with things. That might not be the case in the upcoming years. Life might change, you know. I didn’t want to regret not doing this today.

You should lay down the foundation when you have some sort of control over your life. Once you begin and stick to it, things will fall in place eventually. Remember, NOW is the word.

Failed attempts | Mirror talks

Experts say, talking in front of a mirror helps to gain confidence. I tried that initially. But unfortunately, that was more like breaking the little confidence I had in me. The more I tried, the more I felt this is not for me. I don’t know why.

If practising in front of the mirror works for you, go for it. Do it every day when no one is around. Yes, because you are just beginning. You don’t want another human to judge you at this point.

In my opinion mirror talks majorly helps in practising public speaking. Speaking on camera is nowhere near to public speaking, believe me. It is just a small step to practice normal speaking.

The practical approach to getting over camera shyness

If your goal is to face the camera, then practice facing the camera! This is how it worked for me.

Make the best use of your phone. Film yourself talking about something for a few minutes. Watch that video again and again before you film your next video.

When you are analyzing your trial video, forget about the grammar and language. Instead, focus on your body language and facial expressions.

Most of the times our initial worry is all about how we look on the camera rather than what we speak. It is very important to be comfortable with your body language and facial expressions before you focus on the content.

Multiple trials

Do as many random trials on your phone filming yourself. Record, delete, record.

Don’t worry, once you see yourself for a couple of times, you will start feeling comfortable about your camera appearance.

Make sure there is no unnecessary body movements or giving away any kind of weird facial expressions while speaking.Try to balance these two aspects and then get ready for further trials.

At this stage, film as if you are going to post it on the internet. Here is how you need to prepare yourself:

• Write a script suitable for a small content. Say, a 3-minute content.
• If you aren’t getting the flow when you speak, write a word to word script.
• Remember, while creating a video on youtube on any other platform (unless you are going live), you need not speak continuously in one go.
• Speaking even two sentences in one shot will do. Rest is all in combining them to make a full-fledged video.
• Watch your video once, twice, thrice and be a self-critic.
• Once YOU think you have done a decent job, show your video to another person whom you trust. Get their feedback and work on it.
• Take your own time to settle in this journey.

I have a video on my channel about how I script my videos. It is a very very basic scriptwriting process for absolute beginners. If you are interested you can check it out.

Now, let’s work on the actual video

Once you make yourself familiar with the camera approach, it is time to shoot the first video that you are going to put out for your audience to watch.

Fine, I was nervous too ? (like, seriously nervous). It is completely fine to be a little nervous about your first video.

My first video is there on my channel (in case if you want to see and figure out that you can do much much better than that).I don’t want to share it here, as I am very conscious about that video even today and probably all my life.

‘The 21-day miracle by Ed Rush’ talks about the power of practice. Click here to read the book summary.

How to go about your first video?

Do not think too much about the technicalities when you are filming your first video to upload. If you already have supporting equipments (mic and tripod to be precise), fine.But if you don’t have them, it is absolutely fine. Just keep your phone somewhere on an elevated place (I used a pile of books), and start speaking.

It is best recommended to start with an introduction video where you tell people about yourself.

Keep it short, just start with who, what and why factors about your content. Once things fall in place, you can do a detailed intro if needed. For now, this is more than enough.

Edit and post

Do the basic editing (there are tons of apps available). Inshot is a beginner-friendly editing app. You can also use VITA or Vlogstar for initial editing on phone. Combine the clips if you have shot them in chunks and hola your first professional video is ready to air. Congratulations!

If you aren’t yet convinced, maybe you can read this article for some extra boost.

Conclusion

It is just a matter of taking your first step. I hope this article will help you to take your first step towards video creation. Do let me know if it helped you a little bit to get over your camera shyness ?.

You can find me on Instagram

Thank you,

Maya Bhat

I am a freelance content writer, currently exploring the field of Instructional Designing. Bookshot is my passion project. I love creating content about reading, writing and content creation.