One of the top three ranked fears people have is public speaking. Talking on camera, knowing that a large audience will be watching you, puts most of us in a stressful situation.
This is related to a condition in which a person has an excessive fear of being closely watched, judged, and criticized in social situations.
You have to face the fact that unless you are born with natural skills, or are trained to talk publicly, when you are asked to participate in a testimonial video, it makes you nervous.
On the one hand, you know how important and effective it is to share your thoughts with others, but on the other hand, when the filming day arrives and the camera is switched on, you feel awkward and unprepared for the situation — and it shows.
Your audience will sense the strange body language or the different tone of voice, either of which will hinder your performance.
The good news is that there are ways to mitigate the levels of fear. Overcoming your initial fear of being on camera will dramatically boost your energy and the effectiveness of your appearance on video.
The fact of the matter is that once you overcome your fears, you will actually start to enjoy yourself talking on camera. You will get this great sense of accomplishment and relief, of being yourself and getting your message across in the best way.
So here are some tips that may help you perform at your best on camera:
Knowledge. The more you know about the filming day, the less stressful it gets. It starts with the location — where the shooting of the video takes place. Then there is the story, the narrative of the video.
Ask to receive the interview questions or topics of discussion in advance. Who’s going to be on set while the video is being shot? What should you wear? It’s always a good idea to bring another set of clothes, just in case.
The production company should brief you on all the small details way before your filming day.
Preparation. Once you have the topics of discussion or the interview questions, think about what your answers should be. Write down a few bullet points and key messages that will help you remember what you want to say.
Preparing a script and trying to memorize it will probably not work as you will get stressful trying to remember the exact words. Talking freely and just using bullet points to help you remember — that’s the way to go.
Practice. Once you have your answers prepared, practice out loud, talk to a person you trust. This is something everybody understands but fails to execute. If you believe that just thinking about the answers is good enough, it’s not.
Practicing your answers out loud improves your ability to cope with stress on camera. It will bring your level of confidence up considerably.
Talking off camera. When filming an interview, there are a few ways to position the camera. In an on-site interview, your interviewer will sit in front of you and the camera will be slightly off, so you don’t need to look straight at the lens, but rather talk to the interviewer in front of you.
Assuming that your interviewer is a good listener, he or she will make you feel as if you two are just having a conversation, and will make you forget about the cameras and the surroundings.
If this is a remote interview, you will probably talk on your smartphone. This is exactly like having another Zoom call with your friends or colleagues. There is no difference. You should focus on the conversation and try to forget the fact that it is being recorded.
There are some things that out of your control. But having done all the above — knowing exactly what is going to happen on the filming day and the process of the interview, getting the questions in advance, and preparing your answers — all of these are under your control.
I know that this may sound strange to you, but, once you focus and perfect the above and forget about the outcome, you’ll find yourself much more relaxed when coming to the interview.
You see, whatever is going to happen next is out of your control, and once you realize that, you will be less stressed about how you are going to look and sound on camera. You have done your best — and that’s what will be seen in the video.
Inspiring testimonial videos are all about the story and the narrative. All you need to do is be prepared, be authentic, and be yourself.
We have created a seamless workflow for filming and editing quality testimonial videos. We strongly believe that good preparation of the interviewees makes your video stand out.
Want to create inspiring testimonial videos? We at ViDiMONi can help!
