A lot of people want to start YouTube channels and to make videos, but they're held back
because they're not very confident on camera.
Hi, my name is Morgan.
And in today's video, I'm going to teach you some strategies of things that you can do
to increase your confidence on camera so that way you can make awesome videos.
So I came up with six tips that will help you be more confident on camera.
And I was trying to think of a little acronym for these, so I came up with the term PALMER.
Yes, it's a last name.
It doesn't really make a lot of sense, but at least you can remember it.
Arnold Palmer.
That's it....
All right.
So let's talk about the P, which is your Performance.
This really is one of the biggest things for building confidence on camera.
A lot of people, when they're not confident, you can see it in their performance.
You can see that their shoulders are hunched, that they're talking really quietly, that
they're not exuding and really owning the camera and owning the space that they are
in.
And really the biggest piece of performance is energy.
The energy that you think you have, actually, isn't going to translate on camera.
So you need to amp up your energy level because you will find that if you think you're being
really over the top, when you watch it on camera, you actually look pretty normal.
So if you normally talk like this and you're pretty quiet and subdued, you're going to
need to raise your voice a little bit.
You might feel like you're almost shouting, but it's going to be okay because on camera,
it's going to look completely normal.
Another piece with performance is you want to have energy in your hands and your movements.
Don't sit with your hands on your lap, low energy, very monotone like you're a newscaster
because that is boring.
So you notice for me, I'm always using my hands.
I guess I'm just a hand talker anyway, but I've always gotten really great feedback that
people enjoy that because they like my energy and it helps them stay interested in the video
that I'm talking about.
And you'll notice when I do things with my hands, sometimes I'll point right here.
Number one, point number two.
I'm helping to have visual cues to tie into the things that I'm talking about.
So again, your performance really is one of the biggest things on camera and you might
feel super goofy doing it.
You feel like you're over the top.
This is obnoxious, but trust me, do a take: do one take of you being completely normal
as you normally would.
And then another that's basically you on caffeine.
Okay?
So you need to go get some caffeine or pretend that you have caffeine.
Just amp it up a little bit, or maybe try a few takes where I'm amping up level one
and level two, and then go back and watch those and see the difference.
And I assure you, it will be a better performance.
It will be a more interesting video.
And as a result, it will increase your confidence.
All right, next step in my PALMER confidence method is Appearance.
The way that you look and your appearance on camera really will affect your performance
and your confidence.
I know for me, if I don't look good, sometimes I don't feel good.
And I definitely not saying that your confidence, your self esteem, your self worth is tied
to how you look, because the way we look changes over the course of our lives.
However, if you're put together and you show up your best self, you will show up more confident
on camera.
So for me, when I'm making videos for my appearance, I just get ready.
I do makeup.
I do my hair.
I take a shower.
I do all of those things that really just make me feel good.
When I look in the mirror and for some people, this may totally differ.
Men may just need to put a comb through their hair and they're totally good.
Women might want to do a little more or a little less.
I know female YouTubers who don't wear any makeup and are some of the most confident
YouTubers and people that I know.
So this really depends on you.
I'm not saying wear a ton of makeup or look like you're going to prom.
Just do those things before you shoot your video, because it will just be another thing
that will help increase your confidence and all of these things stack upon each other.
And if you do them all, you'll go from having a little confidence to having all these building
blocks of confidence and you'll have a lot.
So whatever it is for you to put your best foot forward for your appearance, make sure
to do that.
All right, next up is the L, which is Lighting.
Guys.
Lighting makes a huge, huge difference in how you look on camera.
You can have no lighting, you can have good lighting and you can have bad lighting.
And I really suggest going for good lighting, which doesn't mean that you have to have a
fancy studio lights set up.
You just have to make sure that you utilize the best lighting available to you.
And I've mentioned this before in my, "how I film" YouTube video, but really all that
you need is a window.
A window with natural light is going to give you beautiful lighting.
Professional photographers, use it; I know YouTubers that, use it; really big YouTubers
just use a window.
And that is good enough.
So don't absolutely not.
But having that illumination on you and your face is really going to brighten up the scene
for your viewers and it's going to make it easier for them to see.
And we've all watched videos that have very, very poor lighting and it really just makes
it feel like a lower quality production.
So for me, my lighting set up is pretty simple.
I have two soft boxes right here, and then I have a beauty ring and that's about it.
And that is the lighting that I love because when I look at the footage, it looks good
and I feel good.
So as I'm shooting my videos, I feel very confident because I know the lights have my
back.
All right, next up is Material.
You have to know your material ahead of time.
If you come into a YouTube video and you've never practiced, or you don't even know what
the topic is, you're going to be less confident because you're probably going to fumble through
your lines.
You're going to have to do quick research to see what your video topics should be about.
For some people, this is really, really important.
Some people can just sit in front of the camera and off they go.
It's not a big deal, but if you're struggling with confidence, knowing your material is
going to give you confidence.
Think about public speaking and giving a speech.
If you just go into a speech and wing it and you don't know the topic and you don't know
the material, you're really going to stumble over your words.
You're going to say um a lot.
You're probably not going to make sense at all.
It's not going to be a good experience.
While on the other hand, if you write your speech out ahead of time, you practice and
you practice and you practice when it comes time to give your speech, you're going to
appear a lot more confident because you know the material.
So for me, for material, I don't write out a script.
I liked my videos to be more off the cuff and more natural.
Whatever comes into my mind when I'm recording, I say it.
I like that a lot better than reading scripts personally.
So I just have bullet points of the main things that I want to talk about.
So for example, this video, when I was preparing for it, I just listed out all of the main
things to be confident on camera.
And then I turned that into a little acronym, good old PALMER.
And then another tip that I do is throughout the day is in my head.
I will start rehearsing the different things that I want to say.
So that way I don't come into my recording totally cold, never having talked about this
material before.
I kind of have a running monologue in my head of what I want to say.
Or if I'm alone in the house or I'm in the car driving, absolutely will I practice parts
of my YouTube video out loud just by practicing speaking your material out loud.
It's going to help you be more confident because you'll already have gone through the material
a few times.
So you're less likely to mess up and you will be much more confident on recording day.
Another tip for material is that the more you are a subject matter expert in the material
that you're going to be talking about in your video, the more confident you're naturally
going to be.
So if I decide to do a video on astrophysics, well, I probably not going to be very confident
about that because I'm gonna have to do a lot of research.
And even then I'm not an expert.
So I'm probably going to fumble my way through.
I'm going to be questioning myself as I'm doing it.
"Am I saying the right words and the terminology?"
And I'm just not going to be very confident when I do that video.
For example, in my corporate job, I was one of the co-hosts of their YouTube channel.
And on the YouTube channel, we covered a variety of topics for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
And we would spend a whole day batch recording videos on various topics.
And sometimes I had a say in what video topics I would do.
And other times they were assigned to me and I definitely was way more confident in the
videos that were in my wheelhouse versus the ones that were assigned to me.
And I just had to learn the material really fast and fake it.
So make sure that you are an expert material, and I'm not saying that you can only do videos
that you were an expert in, but if it's something new to you, make sure that you do enough research.
So that way you are enough of an expert when it comes time to record.
And then likewise, make sure that you are mastering the material and kind of rehearsing
it before you get up and show up on camera.
Those things will definitely make you more confident on camera.
Next up is E for Environment.
The environment that you're in really does affect your confidence and your performance
on camera.
So for example, for me, the majority of the time I film in the exact same place, I am
very comfortable with this setup.
I know exactly where my lights go.
So there is no question of whether this shot is going to look good because I already know
that this is the place.
This is where the magic happens.
I am very comfortable in my house, but for example, if I'm vlogging and I'm in public,
I'm less confident because there's people watching me.
So I really do like to record my videos when it is just me at home.
Even if there are people in the other rooms and they're not listening to me, it gets in
my head and then I don't have as good of a performance.
I notice that I'm talking quieter.
I don't want them to hear what I'm saying.
This is my job.
This is what I do.
But I'm still I'm not as confident when other people are around.
So you need to know what are those factors in your environment that you need to set yourself
up to be the most confident.
Now, another important piece about environment is limiting distractions to your environment.
So for example, I'm a mom of two young kids.
And if they happen to be in the other room with a sitter, they know that I'm here and
they will come in and interrupt me and it will completely throw me off my groove.
And then I am less confident when I am trying to do the other takes that I need for my videos.
And also, I know that Friday is not a good day for me to record because my neighbors
all use the same landscaping company and they all get their landscape done Friday morning.
So it's a few solid hours of lawnmowers and weed whackers and all sorts of noisy things
that I know can be picked up on my microphone.
And I don't like that.
So I specifically pick days and times to shoot, right?
I know my environment is in its best place.
There's going to be minimal distractions and I'm going to beat my most confident.
All right.
Now the last piece of the PALMER confidence method is the R, which is Repetition.
You need to practice and practice and practice.
And over time, as you shoot more videos, you will get more confident on camera because
you know what you're doing, even me who had a previous YouTube channel and I had done
videos in my corporate job, I can definitely see a difference in the videos from when I
first started nine months ago on this channel versus now.
And especially as I'm coming into record, I was a lot more nervous to film videos than
I am now because now I really have all those things figured out.
I know what lighting is, my preference.
I know how to maximize and optimize my appearance.
I know what's the best environment to shoot it.
All of those things with practice and repetition, I've been able to figure out and now shooting
YouTube videos is very easy.
And I have a lot of confidence when I sit down in front of the camera every single time.
All right, guys, that is my PALMER confidence method.
Just to recap, the six things are performance, appearance, lighting, material, environment,
and repetition.
If you found this video helpful, be sure to give it a like, and let me know what the comments
below, which of the six pieces of the PALMER method you found most helpful, and you are
going to apply.
And of course, be sure to subscribe to join the tribe.
I bring you videos every Wednesday, talking about online and video marketing.
That's all I have for now.
And I'll see you next time.
And I totally broke my own rule.
It's Friday...here come the weed whackers!