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How to Be Confident on Camera (5 Tips)

2022-11-08 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 10:29 · watch on YouTube

Topic: YouTube, writing online and creators (also: Mindset, motivation and happiness) · mode: List of tips or lessons · tags: His own products discussed

Ali, once one of the shyest people he knew, says camera confidence helps at work, in content creation and in life, and gives five tips: think of the camera in coffee mode or presenter mode, embrace imperfection, speak through a smile, use body language and warm up, adding that it all comes down to practice, such as sending video messages to friends.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Camera confidence used to be his weak point and changed his life

  • ★★ Ali calls camera confidence one of the most important skills for levelling up your life: he was one of the shyest people he knew, got much better at it over time, and it changed the course of his life. — 00:00:00

00:00:26 — Why camera confidence is important: work, content creation and confidence in real life

  • ★★ With remote and hybrid work, Ali says, camera confidence shines through in Zoom meetings, business presentations, sales and deal negotiations in almost any kind of work. — 00:00:26 · Zoom
  • ★★ Job interviews are now mostly held on Zoom, Ali says, often with presentations and group rounds, so speaking on camera as confidently as in real life helps you when applying for jobs. — 00:00:26 · Zoom
  • ★★ For YouTubers, TikTokers and Instagrammers, Ali says, video platforms reward being charismatic on camera; even a faceless channel's confident voice makes the content more engaging. — 00:00:56
  • ★★★ Ali was shy at school; talking to a camera every week since he started YouTube five years ago raised his confidence in public speaking, talks and unfamiliar social settings. — 00:01:22

00:02:20 — His new online course on camera confidence

  • ★★ Ali has just released an online course on camera confidence, compiling five years of YouTube, presentations, talks and sales into modules on mindset, technique, drills with feedback, analysis, case studies and guest experts, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. — 00:02:20

00:03:15 — Tip 1: the two modes of thinking, coffee mode and presenter mode

  • ★★★ Ali's first tip is to think of the camera in two modes: in coffee mode he imagines the camera is a friend he is having coffee with, which suits a Zoom presentation, a negotiation, sales or a heartfelt video; presenter mode has higher energy. — 00:03:18 · Zoom
  • ★★ Ali says that speaking on camera generally loses you two points of charisma out of 10: talking at five out of 10 in energy comes across as three. — 00:03:48
  • ★★ To sound natural on camera, Ali says, you often have to ramp up your energy: his presenter mode is about six and a half or seven out of 10. — 00:04:17
  • ★ Ali's mental model for presenter mode is giving a presentation to three or four medical students; he suggests finding whatever model works for you. — 00:04:41

00:05:05 — Tip 2: embrace imperfection and channel your own personality

  • ★★★ Ali's second tip is to embrace imperfection and channel your own personality: newcomers to the camera, including many Part-Time YouTuber Academy students, put on a fake persona, like a 1950s BBC presenter. — 00:05:05 · Part-Time YouTuber Academy
  • ★★ In a presentation, Ali advises using the jokes, terminology and phrases you use in real life: leaning towards the casual end engages an audience more than over-professionalising yourself. — 00:05:49

00:06:18 — Tip 3: speak through a smile

  • ★★★ Ali's third tip is to speak through a smile: anything said with a smile sounds more confident and engaged; it feels fake and makes the cheeks hurt at first, but it also lifts your own energy. — 00:06:18
  • ★★ Ali says the tech YouTubers Marques Brownlee and Mrwhosetheboss, on YouTube for about 10 years, have radically changed their camera presence, and a major change for most people growing confident on camera is using hands and body more. (hedged) — 00:06:48 · Marques Brownlee

00:07:03 — Tip 4: body language, from Marques Brownlee and Mrwhosetheboss

  • ★★★ Ali's fourth tip is body language: relax your shoulders and gesture with elbows down in a comfortable zone, since static or fidgeting hands look weird and limit the energy you give off. — 00:07:17

00:08:15 — Tip 5: warm up by singing along to music

  • ★★★ Ali's fifth tip is to warm up: before every filming session or high-stakes Zoom presentation he plays music on Spotify through his Amazon Echo and sings along while setting up, to reach a higher energy zone. — 00:08:15 · Spotify, Zoom
  • ★ Tony Robbins has YouTube videos of his full-body warm-up, jumping around, hopping and spinning, another way of reaching a higher energy zone. — 00:08:45

  • ★★★ Every camera tip, Ali says, comes down to practice: people who compare their first try with someone experienced think they lack the gift, but speaking on camera is a skill anyone can develop with practice. — 00:08:45

    “No one comes out of the womb with the ability to speak on camera.”

00:08:57 — It all comes down to practice; bonus tip: send video messages to friends

  • ★★ As a bonus tip, Ali suggests practising by sending friends video messages with a little life update instead of WhatsApp voice notes or texts. — 00:09:14 · WhatsApp

00:10:00 — Course plug and sign-off

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Camera Confidence · coffee mode · presenter mode

Also: Amazon Echo · Arun Maini · Marques Brownlee · Part-Time YouTuber Academy · Spotify · Tony Robbins · WhatsApp · Zoom

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