In grade 5 I had my first major public speaking presentation at school. It was a geography project about my country of choice, Greenland.
I was always an academic student and prepared an in-depth exposition on this arctic country… as in-depth as it could be for a 10-year-old.
All the information was there, but I still had to stand up and present it to my class and teacher. We all know the fear that comes with that.
When my 10-year-old self was relaying this fear to my mum, she told me, ‘everyone else in that room are too busy thinking about how scared they are about their turn. They’re just happy you’re the one up there because it means they’re not.’
This was the first lightbulb moment for me – everyone else was just as afraid as I was.
I was very driven by achieving good grades. For this particular project, a good grade meant good speaking skills, and good speaking skills meant not reading the entire thing from my notes.
So it seemed, the only thing to do to meet those good grades was to memorise my entire presentation.
I could say it in my sleep. I performed it for my parents in our living room flawlessly, again and again – I’m sure they knew more about Greenland than they ever cared to know after that.
The drive to memorise my presentation was the incentive of a good grade. But when the day came to stand up and deliver it to the 30 other kids all waiting for me to stumble so they could laugh – I had no room left for fear.
I’d practiced my speech so perfectly I knew I couldn’t mess up. And even if I did, I still had my notes to get back on track, and my mum’s words ringing in my ears that everyone else in the room was even more afraid.
The biggest fear most of us have about getting up to speak is judgment. Or at least it’s the perception of public speaking leading to judgment and embarrassment.
What my mum said to me when I was 10-years old remains true throughout most of the presentations we give in adulthood. Most often, everyone else in the room is just thankful that it isn’t them up on that stage.
A common misconception about great speakers is that they have a natural talent for it. That they were born that way. When the reality is, apart from a select few gifted individuals, most great speakers become great through repetition and experience.
Most great speakers have rehearsed and delivered the same presentation hundreds of times.
When it comes to speaking on video, it is possible to overcome the fear. Here are some techniques to practice to help you remove your limiting beliefs around being on camera.
What is your Why
You have an idea worth sharing.
The easiest way to share with more people than you could ever imagine is through video.
The first piece of the puzzle to overcoming fear of the camera is to believe, deep down in your core, that your reason why is greater than your fear.
Your reason why has to be stronger than your reasons why not.
If you don’t deliver your message, the person who is meant to hear it, who needs to hear it, never will.
If you look at creating videos as an opportunity to serve your audience instead of viewing it as a chore, you’ll be able to deliver much more compelling content and feel fulfilled doing it.
Talk about what you love
If you are always speaking to your why speaking will come with ease.
If you think about all the mandatory presentations we’ve had to give over our lifetime, at school, university, in corporate positions, chances are it wasn’t on a topic we were truly passionate about.
If it was in our field of study or work, sure we may have some interest, but we probably had to fit our presentation into certain criteria – into a box.
But remember the last time you had coffee with that good friend who asked you how your true passion in life is going. It was probably hard to stop talking about it!
If you make videos because you’re talking about things you love or sharing information you feel compelled to get out into the world, you will enjoy what you’re doing and your audience will feel that joy with you.
Watch people you admire
Who could you spend all day listening to?
Why?
Are they a YouTuber? Public Speaker? Someone else in your industry? What do you admire about them? What makes them look confident when they speak? What makes you engage with their content?
Do they hold themselves in a way that demands attention? Are they passionate about their message? Is it the way they don’t care what anyone else thinks of them? Are they strong, vulnerable, funny, inspirational, worldly?
Write down what attributes attract you to your favourite speakers, and why these attributes are so attractive.
How can you incorporate some of these things that engage you in your own content?
Watch yourself on video
Practice makes progress.
You have to make videos to become better at making videos.
Just start. Film yourself talking about something that excites you – if it doesn’t excite you, you probably won’t enjoy looking back on it. Especially if it’s your first attempt on camera.
No one else ever has to see it if you watch it back and cringe! I never used to like seeing myself on video, but every one I make helps me see where I can improve and helps me become more confident.
The more you see yourself on camera, the more you will become used to it. You can identify what you like and don’t like about your presentation and work on ways to improve it for next time.
And the best part is, you can edit it! It doesn’t have to be perfect, not even close.
When you do look back and critique your on-camera performance, don’t look at it in black and white terms as being good or bad. Everyone starts somewhere.
The most important thing to do is start.
So, are you ready to share your message with the person who needs to hear it?
For more tips on overcoming fear of public speaking listen to episode 15 of Mindset Mastery where I interviewed speaking coach Brenden Kumarasamy.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out this post; I don’t know what to say on camera!’