7 TIPS to be GREAT on CAMERA Immediately
In this How To video, Alli shares several tips on how to become more comfortable talking to camera so that you can be more engaging and entertaining in your videos!
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Hey everyone! I'm Alli. Seven years ago or so, when I started doing film work professionally, I also really wanted to do on-camera stuff. So not just behind the camera, but in front of the camera. Over the years of being on camera, I put together a list that I follow whenever I do on-camera work. So in this video, I'm gonna show the top tips that are really easy to apply right away if you do want to get better on camera.
The first tip is, be prepared before you record a video. At the very least, write a list of key points that you're gonna touch on when you're on camera. Even better than that is to write a script to make sure that when you write your script, you're writing it in a conversational style. So don't be so rigid, and once you've written your script, read it out loud. Actually read the words out loud, because sometimes words will look really good on paper, but when they come out of your mouth, they can sound jumbled, or there can be too many T's and too many words in a row. Specifically, know your intro and outro. Most of the time the intro and the outro of a video get overlooked by people who are new to the camera, and this is where you either are grabbing someone's attention at the beginning of the video so that they want to watch the entire video through and at the end this is where you might put a call to action or let someone know how they can find you in future videos. Think of a specific friend or someone you know that you can speak to as you write your script. I have a friend, I'm gonna call her Jenna cuz I don't know if she wants me to give away a real name; so Jenna will ask me how to use her DSLR, what white balance means, how to use Premiere Pro etc etc. If I get stuck, I think ah ok! should I explain this or should I skip it? I'll think, ok Jenna's my target. She's the person I'm talking to, would she already know this or would it be worth mentioning. This makes it really easy not only to stay in line with the things you want to cover in a specific video but it also helps your delivery come off more friendly and more natural.
My next tip is to remove as many distractions as you can when you're recording yourself on camera. Turn your cell phone volume off so it's not gonna be ringing or buzzing if you're filming yourself. At home, make sure the space that you're filming is quiet and that people aren't gonna be interrupting you throughout your recording. I found it a lot easier, in the beginning, to record videos by myself. I wouldn't have anyone else in the room. It really does take time to get comfortable talking on camera, and it becomes less comfortable if people are around when you're recording. A mistake that a lot of people who are newer to being on camera make is when they're talking to the camera they're checking themselves out. They're talking to a screen that they're looking at, instead of talking to their audience, which is through the lens. So when you are recording yourself on camera, make sure that you're speaking to the lens, not the selfie screen, not checking yourself out on your phone as you talk, or a flip screen. You want to come off engaging and warmer and friendlier in most cases and to do that you want to look and talk to your lens because that's where your audiences.
No matter how experienced you become at speaking on camera, at times you're gonna fumble over what you're saying, you're gonna need to pick up a line or start from the last sentence. So one tip that I found really valuable, I use it all the time, when I'm recording my YouTube videos is to say the sentence before the fumbled sentence. For example, in recording this video, I've made a whole lot of mistakes and I've had to take a second and Rhys them just like this. Still do a test shot when I say test shot, what I mean is, hit record on your camera still do a test shot and what I mean by that is hit record on your camera and on the topic of messing up what you're saying, know that it's gonna happen and it's okay if it happens. It's actually part of the process of getting more comfortable and better on camera.
If you want to come off warmer and more engaging in your video, I know it sounds funny, I know it sounds weird but try it right now. I'm gonna do it, smile with your eyes. It makes a difference, the idea of smiling with your eyes actually changes the way your face looks, and if you smile with your eyes when you're talking, that's gonna come through on camera. Once you have the area that you're filming looking good, you've checked yourself out in the mirror, you don't have anything in your teeth or up your nose, you feel good, still do a test shot. Then watch that back, make sure that you check out your frame, that there's nothing weird going on in the background, that you are happy with how you look, and that you're happy with how you sound. It's not only a way to make sure that your video sounds and looks as good as it could, but it also gives you peace of mind so that you can focus on your delivery and the information that you're sharing in your video.
So there you go. Those are my top tips for how to be better on camera. Thanks again so much for checking this video out and I look forward to seeing you in next week's video.
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