There are a few guarantees in life.
Death. Taxes. And people suddenly finding something extremely important to do the second I walk into a shoot with a camera.
I see it every time.
I’ll walk through the door and the office collectively decides it’s time to reorganise the stationery cupboard. Someone needs a coffee. Someone needs the bathroom.
Someone remembers an urgent email they absolutely have to send right now.
And at least one person will point at their co-worker and say, “Get them. They’re better on camera.”
It’s really just become a game at this point. I call someone’s name and they suddenly remember a very important task on the other side of the room.
What I’ve noticed though is that most people don’t just dislike being on camera, they’ve convinced themselves they’re not capable of being good at it. They see someone speaking confidently in a video and assume that person was born that way. The reality is they’re seeing the end result, not the dozens (or hundreds) of videos that came before it. Being comfortable on camera is a skill, and like any skill, it gets easier the more you do it. The people who are good at it aren’t special. They’ve just had more practice.
I’ve filmed business owners, tradies, CEOs, receptionists, accountants, project managers, marketers and just about everyone in between.
Let’s be real.Having a camera pointed at your face is weird.
If someone followed me around with a camera while I was trying to do my job, I’d probably develop a sudden interest in hiding behind large furniture too.
But after a lot of time filming people, I’ve learnt something important: There is no such thing as a “camera person”. There are just people who’ve done it more times than you.
That’s it.
The people you see confidently talking on LinkedIn, Instagram or in company videos weren’t born with some magical ability to stare into a lens without feeling awkward.
They’ve just had more reps. They’ve said the wrong thing. Lost their train of thought. Recorded a video and immediately deleted it. Watched themselves back and questioned every life decision that led them to that moment.
Then they did it again.
And eventually it stopped feeling weird. The biggest misconception people have about confidence is that it comes first. They think one day they’ll wake up, feel confident and suddenly be ready to create content.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
Confidence is a side effect. It’s what happens after you’ve done the thing enough times. The first video is awkward. The second one is slightly less awkward. By the tenth, you’re mostly fine.By the twentieth, you’re telling other people to stop overthinking it. And somewhere along the way, the camera stops feeling like a threat and starts feeling like a tool.
The other thing worth remembering is that nobody is analysing your videos the way you are.
They’re listening to what you’re saying, not conducting a forensic investigation into your mannerisms.
The videos that perform best aren’t usually the most polished anyway.
They’re the ones where someone sounds like an actual human being.
The ones where personalityyyy comes through.
The ones that feel like a conversation (!!) instead of a performance.
So the next time I show up to a shoot and you feel the overwhelming urge to disappear into the warehouse, the lunchroom or a suspiciously long bathroom break, just remember:
Being good on camera isn’t a personality trait. It’s a skill.
And like every skill, it gets easier every time you use it.
(Unfortunately for you, I’ll probably keep showing up with a camera until you figure that out.)
🙂
