Now you’re ready to hit the “record” button and start rolling. Your lights are set-up, you have your environment ready, your script or outline is in-hand, and it’s show time.

If you don’t have much experience in front of the camera, you’re going to face many challenges at this point, just going through your outline and talking in front of the camera. It takes practice to become comfortable in front of a camera, but in this module, you’ll learn some valuable tips on how to speak, body language, and how to relax.

What to Wear

It’s important before you start to give your clothes some consideration. What you wear can be distracting, or it can even mess with the lights or camera.

First, whatever you wear tells your audience something about you. If you’re in a suit, it says that you’re a professional and someone who can be trusted. If you’re wearing an everyday blouse, your audience might feel like you’re just like them. If you’re dressed too nicely, your viewers might find it hard to relate to you.

Assess the tastes or your audience and consider your niche. Suiting up works well for niches like online business, finance, or internet security, where trust and professionalism are important. For more everyday topics, try dressing down so that your audience can relate to you.

Whatever style you choose, make sure the clothes you’re wearing are flattering to you. Wear clothes you’d wear in everyday life when you want to look your best.

Here are some general guidelines:

• The colors and patterns of your clothes should harmonize with the background
• Bright colors are okay, but make sure they don’t clash either with other clothing items or anything else in your environment
• Avoid intricate or tight patterns that can cause problems with the camera
• Watch out for copyrighted clothing. You might not want to wear your Adidas shirt or Nike cap
• Always do a final check before shooting

Speaking in Front of a Camera:

Get Comfortable. How you feel will translate to how you look. If you’re nervous, your viewers will know it. Make your environment as comfortable as possible. Don’t wear clothes you don’t ordinarily wear. Create some kind of ritual to get yourself in a relaxed state of mind before shooting starts and warm up so that you’re not starting cold.

Watch the Umms and Ahhs. Watch out for involuntary “umms” and “ahhs.” These are fillers we use in everyday speech, but when you watch them back on video, they seem amplified and they make your video annoying to watch. We do this subconsciously, so you may not realize you’re doing it at all. Play back your first recordings and try to catch them. You may have to consciously keep this in mind while recording (scripting also helps).

Pay Attention to Pace. You probably don’t pay much attention to the pace at which you speak in everyday life, but for shooting video, it’s something to watch. As a general guideline, you should speak at a natural pace, but a pace that’s slightly slower than your usual speaking pace. Again, listen back to your recordings and modify accordingly. Whatever pace you choose, stick to the same one throughout your video for consistency.

Modulate Your Voice. If you want to create an extremely dull video, talk to the camera in an unmodulated monotone throughout. Speakers on camera purposely modulate their voice, often more than what is natural, in order to make it more interesting to listen to. You may naturally speak with a great deal of intonation. If not, you should practice modulating your voice. Listen to professional YouTubers and listen to how this is done. Modulate only a little bit so that it’s natural and not exaggerated.

Body Language

Your body could be telling your viewers something you don’t want it to, so it’s very important to control your body language.

Sit up Straight. Sit up straight with good posture just like your parents taught you to. Don’t slouch. Slouching makes you look like you’re not confident. Make sure you keep it natural. Try straightening up now and you’ll see that it has an influence on your mind, making you feel more confident and positive.

Keep Your Head Steady. There are some parts of your body that you can move around, like your hands. But you don’t want to move your head too much as it looks extremely unnatural. Remember, your face is the focus of the shot.

Stay Balanced. Don’t shift your weight back and forth if you’re standing. This is extremely distracting. Maintain your posture and keep yourself equally balanced on both feet.

Use a Mirror. You might consider placing a mirror somewhere nearby so that you can see what your body is doing. You can also practice in front of a mirror to perfect your body language. Using a mirror can help you cut down on time because you can correct your body language as you shoot, instead of seeing afterward on playback.

What to Do with Your Eyes

Look at the Camera. The camera is your audience. You’re talking to it as if it’s a friend of yours. For most of your video, your eyes should be on the camera. Make eye contact and imagine it’s a person you’re talking to. This feels strange at first, but with just a little practice, you’ll get used to it.

Okay… You Can Look Away. While the camera should be the focus of your attention, you can look away when it’s appropriate. You don’t want your eyes to be unnaturally glued to the camera. If you’re showing a product or using a graph or other visual aid, feel free to look away and in the direction of what you want your audience to see.

Don’t Forget to Blink. Amateur video stars, in focusing on the camera, often forget to blink. Don’t try to break the camera lens with your iron stare. Blink naturally just as you would in an ordinary conversation.

Facial Expressions

Smile! No matter what kind of video you’re making, you’ll look better and it’ll be a better video if you, the presenter, are smiling. Learning to talk and smile at the same time can be challenging but it looks so much better.  It doesn’t have to be a huge ear-to-ear grin the entire length of the video – in fact, that should be avoided as it looks unnatural and false. But in general, you should have a natural, relaxed smile on your face. As strange as it will feel, you should practice smiling in front of a mirror and develop your camera smile.

Study Your Face. This is probably the least comfortable aspect of getting yourself used to video. We all have involuntary facial tics and habits that we don’t realize we make. A tiny tic can not only be embarrassing for you when put under the spotlight, but it can be distracting for your audience as well. Study the way you talk and make a conscious effort to eliminate anything that could be distracting. The same goes for body language, such as clearing your throat, wringing your hands, or bobbing your knee up and down rapidly.

What to Do with Your Hands

The hand is a wonderful part of the body that we humans use for just about everything. But the minute you turn on the camera, you may feel like your hands are huge and in the way no matter where you put them, or what you do with them. A great deal of on-camera body language issues revolve around hands.  I had a friend of mine call to give me some advice on my videos.  The only thing he said was that my hands looked huge.  At the time it was my first set of video’s so I was happy that my hands was the only thing he could point out.

First off, don’t try to hide your hands. Don’t stuff them in your pockets or put them under the table. Keep your hands visible, even if they’re just resting on your lap or on the table.

Like your face and voice, you may want to study your hands in the mirror or in your trial videos. Is what you’re doing with your hands natural? Are they in the way? Does anything about them look strange when you play the video back?

It’s fine to gesture with your hands as you would in ordinary conversation, but keep hand gestures natural and moderate. Use them to emphasize points if it feels natural, but don’t overdo it. Too-big gestures are distracting and make you look nervous.

Further Tips on How to Act in Front of the Camera

• Record a few trial runs and play them back and watch and listen. It may be painful at first, but this is how you refine your on-camera presence and learn to control your voice and body language.
• Use a timer when you run through your script or outline. Try to keep it as close to one minute as possible for your first videos.
• Even when just practicing, you might want to hit record. You could accidentally end up with a wonderful take when practicing because the pressure is off and you can be natural.
• Take sips of water between takes to keep your voice sounding loud and clear.
• Also between takes, do a little recharge. Close your eyes, look down, take some deep breaths, and regain your focus.
• If you’re going to do any walking, put down tape or other markers on the floor and create a path to avoid any goof-ups and block your scene.
• After a few takes, and especially if you’re finding some part of the video challenging, take a break and reboot. Come back to it refreshed.
• Don’t be too much of a perfectionist. Aim for “good enough.” It doesn’t have to be perfect but just has to get the job done.

This last point is especially the case for your first video. The first one will likely be a little rough and you’ll get better at it as you produce more.