On an intellectual level, we all understand how to act in front of a camera. We know how to stand, how to talk, and what to say once the camera starts rolling. But it’s the execution that fails for most of us.
So we put together some practical tips to help you gain enough confidence to finally start your own YouTube channel.
Opening yourself to criticism and hate on YouTube is difficult enough without also worrying about how you’ll look and sound on screen. However, until you jump in the water, you’ll never overcome your fear of water. Until you practice what you already know about self-presentation, you’ll never really learn how to do it.
Here are 8 tips that will hopefully make it easier for you to jump in that water and, as Nike likes to say, just do it.
Write a Script or Outline
Start with a script. Live newscasters and TV announcers have them, why shouldn’t you? In fact, even actresses and actors in films follow one as soon as the director shouts “action!” Why can’t you follow the same formula for success?
What’s more, you don’t have to do it live and no one will berate you for wasting film or going through many takes for a single scene. You can do as many takes as you please. In fact, you can even make your videos private and show them only to people you want to show them to. At least until you’re comfortable enough to show them in public.
The point is, having a script handy will make recording easier and will help you in becoming more comfortable in front of a camera.
So, learn how to write a script and make one today. Video scripts can be as detailed as you like or they could also just be an outline. Once the red light starts blinking, you can just pretend you’re an actor acting out your character or a TV reporter, and start projecting an air of authority.
Speaking of authority, one effective way of building yours online is by improving your social proof. Social proof is that phenomenon where people are more likely to like something if they see that other people like it. It’s the tendency to see an action as more appropriate when others are doing it.
Applied to marketing and to YouTube, in particular, social proof can be the number of views, subscribers, likes, and shares your videos. These factors show people how many others have watched, subscribed to, liked, and shared your videos. It encourages them do the same.
Build your social proof on the platform by buying YouTube Views. They’re safe and effective when you buy them from legitimate sellers, and they’ll help you rank higher and gain more attention on YouTube.
Practice
Before you shoot, practice and practice, and then practice some more. You’re not going to be the only YouTuber doing this and you’re not going to be the last either.
Practice really does make perfect, as cliché as that sounds, but only perfect practice. That means you need to put your all into your ‘Tuber training.
The good news is that you only need to practice before you shoot, and you can re-shoot anything you mess up. Think about the many others whose lives revolve around hard practice, like musicians and athletes who have to do the same thing over and over again until they’ve eliminated all chances of getting it wrong.
But on YouTube, with the ability to edit in-between literally every sentence like some creators do, you have a lot of leeway to make mistakes. Since every sentence can be parsed out in editing if you want to, you can re-do any particular part you mess up until you get it right. Hank Green and many others use this technique constantly.
Yes, you have it relatively easy and talking in front of the camera will be easier still if you practice. Be sure to record some or all of your practice attempts so you can check what you did wrong and how you can improve on it.
Alternatively, you can ask somebody you trust to watch you do it. You’ll get the feel of talking to an actual audience and you’ll also get feedback on your performance.
Imagine Yourself Talking to a Friend
It may feel a little awkward talking to yourself, especially when the room is quiet. So, picture yourself talking to your friend, in a coffee shop, in your living room, in a restaurant, or anywhere you feel comfortable.
Imagine your friend sitting in front of you, captivated by your every word. Not only will you feel natural, you’ll sound natural too. With a bit of luck, that perspective will jump off the screen and make your viewers feel like you’re really talking to them.
Having the ability to really connect with viewers helps in gaining loyal subscribers and turning casual audiences into regular viewers who LOVE your content.
WTF Music theories is my new favorite thing on youtube
— superman (@wgtab) January 21, 2019
If it’s hard imagining yourself talking to your friend, then why not just ask your friend to come over and maybe record with you?
Try Doing it with a Friend
Don’t just ask a friend to come over and hold your hand. Ask a friend to actually be in the video with you. You’ll feel less self-conscious when there’s another person in the video, and you’ll also feel more natural while talking.
Do this until you’re comfortable recording on your own. However, so it won’t look like you’re sharing a YouTube channel, make most of those “practice videos” private. Don’t just stick with one friend, as well. Make it look like you’re having a series of guests.
You can also collaborate with other YouTubers like you, anyone who is just starting out and especially anyone who lives in the same area. On the off-chance that a newbie creator doesn’t like the idea of helping another one out, you can always turn to established creators. Some YouTubers welcome collaboration with a check, but there are also others who would gladly do it for free, just banking on the chance to grow their audience.
Who wants to collaborate on YouTube?? #youtube #collab #smallcreators #SmallStreamersConnect
— Draxxly (@Draxxlyy) January 20, 2019
Get involved in the community so you can find people to collaborate with easily, and take some time to learn more about YouTube collaborations to grow your audience.
Ignore the Hate
Putting yourself out there can be very terrifying. Being vulnerable to whatever comments your viewers feel like hurling at you, even more so.
Don’t let that stop you from becoming who you want to be, though. You can’t please everybody so just do your best to ignore the hate. Remember that the primary opinion that matters is your opinion. If you think you did great, then that’s enough, and you should perservere. If you’re not going to value your own opinion, who will?
Ignore the hate even if the comments are personal and hurtful. Take it from Taylor Swift. Haters gonna hate. There’s no point trying to please them. Just pray and slay
Remember that Nobody’s Perfect
If you’re feeling uncomfortable creating a channel because you think you’re not much to look at, remember that nobody’s perfect.
So your lips are too thin or your cheeks are overly chubby. So what? Most successful YouTubers aren’t gorgeous movie stars — few people are in general. Nonetheless, if you feel you simply can’t broadcast on YouTube because of your looks, consider wearing makeup. Big YouTube personalities and television anchors alike do it, so why shouldn’t you?
Do you know that you can also start a channel — and be popular — without ever showing your face or revealing any personal information?
Cryaotic is one such YouTuber. He plays games on YouTube and sometimes plays with PewDiePie, the most popular YouTuber on the planet. Together, fans call them “PewDieCry.”
Cryaotic has gotten so famous that even though he tried to keep his identity a secret, his fans still found out his real name, age, and location.
PewDiePie also started the same way. He revealed his face once when nobody knew him yet. When he started making gaming videos and became popular, nobody knew what he looked like until he did a “face reveal.”
(that wasn’t actually it)
You’d learn a lot from watching the first few videos of popular YouTubers. For instance, you’ll find most people don’t start out very well-liked and loved. However, as their channel grew, so did their “YouTube skills.”
Everyone had to start somewhere, the important thing is to start.
Find Your Motivation
Why do you want to be on YouTube? Do you just want to have fun, build your own brand, or be famous and successful? Do you want to be on YouTube to make serious money? Or maybe you want an outlet where you can express yourself?
Whatever it is you want to do on YouTube, ask yourself how important it is to you. Will you let other people’s opinions stop you from achieving what you want in life? Will you let your own concerns about your appearance or current ability sabotage your chance at success?
As Steve Jobs once said, our time, here on earth is limited. Don’t wait for tomorrow to try your luck on YouTube.
Grow your own YouTube channel today, if that’s really what you want to do. Kickstart your success and buy YouTube Views, which will attract real organic news. A high view count will encourage people to watch, attracting everyone who wants to see the new hot thing.
Do everything you can to succeed and do it now. Tomorrow will not wait for you.
Don’t Overthink It
Stop overthinking and just start doing! You already know you want to start a YouTube channel, especially if you’ve read this far, so just start one already.
You won’t accomplish anything by thinking of everything that could go wrong. Sure, the possibility of failure is real but failure is not permanent, and what if you succeed? What if people like you? What if you become popular? What if you become rich?
Focus on the positives and make the decision to start your own YouTube channel today.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!
It takes a different kind of courage to start a YouTube channel, but mastery of that fear will only come from standing in front of a camera and creating your own channel. So step out of your comfort zone and confidently go where you haven’t gone before.
Broadcasting yourself on YouTube will become easier the more you do it. The more you do it, the more you’ll expose yourself to criticisms and the more you’ll realize it’s not the end of the world.
So take the plunge and step out of your comfort zone. It’s where real growth happens.
Date: September 28, 2017 / Categories: Tips, / Author: Chell
