How to not be awkward in online videos

If just thinking about being in a video for your organization stresses you out, you’re not alone. I’ve felt that way too! But you shouldn’t let that stop you from diving into videos as part of your digital marketing strategy!

Here are four best practices I’ve used to not be awkward in online videos.

Don’t overthink things

Anyone else find themselves stressing about things because they’re overthinking them? No? Just me? It can definitely hurt your video if you overthink things!

Overthinking a video shoot usually means you try to ‘act’ your way through it instead of just being yourself. I’m not an actress and neither are you. So don’t try to act! Just relax and be a confident version of yourself.

Don’t fret about the script

Plenty of people stress out about what they’re going to say in their video. But this isn’t someone else’s big Hollywood production, it’s your marketing video! So don’t stick so closely to your script that it feels unnatural.

In fact, whether you use a script or not, just remember that you need to get your point across in a confident way. That means that even if you do have a script, it’s okay to stray from it.

Bring a support team

If you’re nervous about being in a video, it can be tempting to tell all your friends and coworkers to stay away from the video shoot. But that’s actually a horrible idea!

I’ve found it helps quite a bit to have people at your video shoot to support you in a positive way. Even if they’re cracking you up and making you mess up some of the time, in the end they’ll help you be much more natural on camera.

Be funny

Finally, it’s definitely okay to be funny. In fact, it goes a long way to helping you feel more comfortable!

And if you’re not funny at all, you end up with a very dry video. Nobody wants to watch a dry video. Nobody you would want as a client, anyway. If you want clients with a sense of humor, then you need to have a sense of humor in your videos.

I think of video shoots as a job interview that never ends. Not that the video shoot will never end. That would be horrible! No, it’s that the video will be online from then on. So whether you’re shooting your own video or have a professional agency helping you, hopefully those tips will make it easier for you to be comfortable on camera rather than awkward.