Sunny Lenarduzzi: You may or may not know that when I first started my career, I was
actually a journalist or a reporter and I have interviewed a lot of people on camera
and I've been on the camera for a very long time. Cameras do weird things to people, so
I wanted to break down through all my years of experience four ways to instantly look
better on camera.
Quick tip before we dive in. There is nothing more uncomfortable than watching someone who
is uncomfortable on camera. Your viewers and audience want you to look relaxed so they
can sit back, relax, and enjoy your content. You got this.
The first thing that will instantly make you look better on camera is something I call
the “S & B Combo.” There's a funny thing that happens when you get nervous, and sometimes
you forget to smile and you also forget to blink. The reason video is so powerful for
your business, your brand, and it's just a really big part of our world now is because
it makes you build a trust factor with the person watching. But people don't trust you
if you look like a serial killer.
Is this the way you look like when you're really, really nervous on camera and you can't
quite think of what to do with your hand ... That was so hard!
Keep your mouth relaxed, think of something happy, smile, and it sends an actual physical
reaction through your body to just sort of breathe and that does make you look more comfortable
and more confident on camera. The reason that video is so important in building your business
and your brand is that it builds trust, so you want to make sure that you don't have
the serial killer vibes and that you have trustworthy vibes on camera.
How do you actually implement this when you're still not used to it? All you have to do is
watch yourself back. What I would when I was first working in media is I would do a bunch
of different exercises on camera, I would interview friends and family on camera, and
I would see what my presence actually looked like and I would pick out the things that
I liked and then work on the things that I didn't like. Don't shame yourself, don't be
embarrassed, it's not natural to talk to a camera, so it feels weird at the beginning.
Bosses, let's have a moment of honesty. Have you ever watched your footage and thought
to yourself, “I look a little like a serial killer.” If you have, put serial killer
in the comments below. I'm one of those people.
The second way to instantly look better on camera is to stop thinking about the camera
as a camera. One thing that I would do when I was first starting out talking on camera
is I would either visualize or I would actually put a picture of a friend or a family member
on my camera, so it made me feel like I was talking directly to them. Makes things a lot
easier, makes you feel a little more comfortable and at ease, and it makes you remember that
you're not talking to millions or hundreds of people even, you're talking to one person.
That's how you build a connection with video, that's how you build a connection on camera.
If you can visually think of someone in your head who would make you feel comfortable,
maybe it's your mom or your best friend or your boyfriend or your husband, whoever it
may be, think of them. If it makes it even easier, put the picture near the camera so
it makes you feel like that you're having that one-to-one conversation. Comment below,
let me know who you are thinking of when you feel you're most comfortable and you're most
confident on camera.
The third way to instantly look better on camera — I'm going to stand up for this
one — is your posture. When you feel uncomfortable, your tendency is to sort of protect yourself
and move your body inwards. That makes you hunch and look down and not make eye contact.
You don't trust people who don't make eye contact with you, so when you're on video
and you can't look directly at the lens, which is really looking at another human being in
the eyes, you come across as shady and untrustworthy. First things first is the eye contact piece
of it which means you need to have your chin up, buttercup, and you also need to make sure
your shoulders are back. So if I'm feeling uncomfortable on camera, this is what it looks
like.
I'm seriously and expert and you should probably really listen to me ...
Most importantly, you're looking directly at the lens. Do you feel like I'm talking
directly to you right now? If you do, let me know in the comments below. That's what
good camera presence does, it creates this kind of a connection, but you need to actually
make eye contact in order to do that.
The final way to look really comfortable on camera is preparation. What I used to do is
when I was going live at some location in the middle nowhere and there was a bunch of
distractions around me, I actually would keep my notes in my back pocket, and I'd also give
another copy of my notes to my cameraman or I would tape it somewhere in and around the
camera on the tripod. I usually didn't end up even using those notes, but just the safety
and comfort of knowing that they were somewhere that I could look at in case I froze, which
has happened before, it made me feel a lot more confident and comfortable and made me
present myself in a much more comfortable way.
Preparation is key, so knowing what you want to talk about, and also keeping in mind, you
are an expert at whatever topic it is that you're talking about, so know that and really
kind of pep talk yourself, and that's part of preparation. Pep talk yourself into knowing,
“I know what I'm talking about, I've been talking about this for years and years and
years, if someone asked me at a party what I do for a living or what I'm passionate about,”
you could go on for days. It is no different when you're talking to camera.
So prepare, prepare, prepare, and the one thing I will say about preparation ... I often
get asked this question and a lot of you bosses had asked me this ... Should I get a teleprompter
and should I read from notes when I'm filming my videos? I actually don't think that you
should because it makes you come across much more stiff and you're more focused on getting
the words right on screen than you are coming across natural and comfortable.
What I do instead is when you're doing a pre-produced video, the wonderful thing is, film it in
small sections. That way, you're not trying to memorize and entire script and go through
the whole thing at once; I can't even do that. What I do instead is I break it down by intro,
which is a few sentences, I know those, I know the gist of what I want to say. I film
it, if I screw up, I film it again.
Now, I'm issuing you a challenge boss. The only way to get comfortable on camera is to
see yourself on camera a lot. What I want you to do is pull out your phone and use Instagram
Stories or Snapchat, whatever platform you want to use, film yourself, and save it or
send it directly to me or tag me some way somehow @SunnyLenarduzzi and show me that
you've done this exercise, because I promise you, the only reason you're super nervous
about being on camera is because you haven't done it a lot. I've just been doing this for
over a decade, so for me it ain't no thing. But when I first started, I totally got the
nerves.
Now that you know how to be comfortable on camera, make sure you check out my last video
on how to make a professional video at home because you are ready to go now. You have
all the steps that you need to be comfortable on camera. Click the link around this video
to check out the video on how to make a professional video at home. It shows you everything you
need to know, and then you're set to go.
If you liked this video, remember to hit that like button below, share it with your fellow
bosses or someone who does really get nervous on camera, comment below with your favorite
tip or your favorite trick or hack that I shared, or one that you have that you can
share with our community of bosses on how to get comfortable on camera. If you're new
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Thank you so much for watching, you got this, I've got your back, I can't wait to see your
videos, and I'll see you soon, boss.