‘Do I have to? I hate having my picture taken!’
There are a lot of people in this world who can relate to that reaction. Many of us do not like seeing ourselves in photos or videos because we are worried about how we appear to others.
Unfortunately, if you want to become a TedX Speaker like world-renowned public speaking coach Jose Ucar, you cannot afford to be camera-shy. Thankfully for you, Jose himself is keen to help you overcome your fear.
Have A Strategy For Going On Camera
“I’m not going to tell you how I overcame camera shyness because I never really had it,” Jose admits. “I was in love with the camera growing up and I still am today. What I can share however is my strategy to do it successfully regardless of the circumstances, people and places. It is not something that can be learned overnight.”
He continues, “I also wish to share that I do experience fear and it changes depending on the size of the challenge, but I can teach you how to thrive in fear and use it to your advantage.”
“When I say strategy, I am talking about the NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) term that refers to the sequences of thoughts that we repeatedly play in our heads to achieve a consistent outcome. Cool concept, right?”
Jose Ucar’s Video Recording Strategy
- Long before I’m in front of the camera, I have an intention to share something I’m passionate about.
- I replay the concept and ideas in my head with great enthusiasm. I’m living the moment in my head. I call this acting as if it’s happening right now.
- I set a date and time for the recording.
- I do several state management sessions through visualisation before I get in front of the camera. I visualise myself having successfully recorded the video over and over again until I feel fully confident. I did this with my TEDx talk so many times that, when I stood in front of the audience, I felt as if I had been there so many times before.
- I see through the camera lens and notice how it expands, reaching larger and larger audiences, which excites me and makes me feel purposeful.
- Voila!
- As I’m recording, when I make mistakes, I understand they are normal and repeat to myself a very important belief of excellence: there is no failure, there is only feedback and learning.
- I also remind myself that the more I do it, the better I will get at it. It’s just like going to the gym: I’m building the speaking in front of the camera muscle. Time, consistency and patience are key.
- Strategies are different for everybody, of course, but it’s very likely you will have things in common with someone who is successful at something.
Change The Way You Think
“To conceive change at a deeper level, you have to work from the inside to change your external response and results,” Jose explains. “Here are some very useful questions you can ask yourself to become aware of what of your thought processes and begin to change your unsuccessful mental strategies:
- What happens right before you are in front of the camera? And does it serve you? If it does, great. But if it doesn’t, what would you like to change it for? What would you like to have happen instead?
- How would you like to be on camera? When you are speaking at your best that’s like what?
- To achieve this, what can you do more of? What can you think more about?
- What can you do less of? What can you think less about?
- What can you create? What can you eliminate?
“I want to encourage you to become aware of the sequences of thoughts you run daily to achieve your results in life and to begin to bring about change by yourself. Tune in and transform yourself from the inside out. I invite you to do this first and then ask others for tips about their mental strategies. This will help you unveil their excellence.”
“I would like to leave with you with a quote from world-famous motivational speaker Les Brown: ‘Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears’.”
If you would like to improve your communication skills, take Jose’s free Speaking Score Quiz.