Don't let FEAR stop you getting on video

fear filming

In this post I want to look at the whole FEAR thing.

Is it something you struggle with?

You need to get your mind right before we look at anything else.

It’s so true isn’t it that fear can rob us of our dreams, but...

What is fear?

I like this acronym

FALSE
EVIDENCE
APPEARING
REAL

We tell ourselves we can’t do something before we ever try. There’s no evidence to back up our fears, only what’s in our minds.

Meet Jamie

My 17 year old lad is a classic example of this. He has mild Aspergers and that brings with it a lot of fear.

Over the years he’s missed out on so much because in his head something isn’t safe or he can’t do it. For example when we went to Disney Land 8 years ago he stayed off all the decent rides as he was too scared to go on them.

We go to a place called Centre Parcs every December for a family escape and there’s one huge water ride where we all climb into an inflatable raft and get shot down some rapids. It’s such fun that the other four of us usually end up getting to the bottom and rushing straight to the top again, repeating at least 4 times! Where's Jamie? Waiting at the bottom, watching and totally refusing to come with us :-(

My biggest frustration? ... I KNOW THAT HE WOULD LOVE IT but something in his head stops him... FEAR

We went to Cyprus this summer for the second year and my son absolutely loves to snorkel. He can hold his breath and swims down to the sea bed, he is a total water baby! I offered all my 3 kids to join me for an introductory scuba lesson but guess which one refused to come! We were only 5 meters below the surface in a gorgeous sandy cove and he chose to watch from the surface as we discovered a new world.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because, I want you to know that I understand fear and constantly see first hand the damage it can do.

I pray that one day my lad will pluck up the courage to try things like scuba diving and exhilarating rides for the sheer pleasure of it but I know full well that with the overcoming sense of joy and excitement there will also be a real regret for all the times he missed out.

I recognise that for you, the idea of getting on film may be just as terrifying as getting into a roller coaster carriage is to my son.

What can we do about it?

I always tell my son 'what's the worst that could happen?' and then 'how likely is it to happen?' Ok, so he might come back and say that a carriage could come off the roller coaster but then has that EVER happened at Disney? No, I don't believe it has.

It feels real and likely but in reality the chance of disaster is tiny.

Now for you, what really could go wrong when you film yourself?

I'm not thinking of LIVE video initially (I think that should be phase #2).

Honestly, there is nothing going to happen that you can't fix.

If you mess up, you do it again.

If the power goes, you do it again.

If you're not happy after editing, just do it all again.

See, nothing should stop you hitting record and just giving this a go!

Focus on the Possibilities

If you have something useful and powerful to share and there are people on the internet right now searching for what you offer, don’t you think you owe it to them to help them?

I’m sure if you could, you’d happily meet each one of them in person and offer your support but thats too limiting. What you can do through professional video is deliver the same advice in a friendly chat but not to one person, now it’s to the world!

Have ever had a lovely email back from a customer or a facebook comment that made you realise it was all worth it, that's what you aim for! Focus on that and not on the potential worries that might happen.

Believe it or not I battled with this myself over the photography training I deliver. I used to run workshops for 4-5 photographers at once and loved the intimate approach but so many of my online audience were frustrated that they couldn’t visit me in Peterborough that I realised I was doing them a disservice by not offering an online course. But how could I deliver the same quality of teaching talking to a camera?

I decided that I needed to look down that camera lens and imagine just one person sitting the other side. If you can do that then you'll be able to still deliver your training in a personal friendly style. I look away, I check my notes some times and try to keep it real. Feedback is always good and I believe the practice I've put in has paid off.

My challenge to you

No matter how scared you are of recording yourself, can I ask you to try. Seriously, there's nothing bad going to happen and for the first few, do them just for yourself, for practice. That will take the worry away anyway. Then, why don't you put one on youtube, set it to unlisted (so no-one without the link can see it), then email me a link and I'll review it for you.

Will you do that?

Will you make a stand today and decide to start the journey of overcoming your fear, trusting me that it’s honestly not as bad as your mind is telling you?

You may have heard me telling of this Wedding Photographer who was terrified of getting on video but after pushing herself had this to say...

And I've just thought about a guy who was at a conference I covered the other week. They all needed new portrait shots and he was really reluctant saying he didn't photograph well etc. When I took the first one and showed it to him he said, ooh, that's not too bad actually... which really means he loved it!

So give yourself a push, I'll be here if you want some support and think how powerful this could be for you and others.

In this next post I'll be looking some more tips on how to get used to talking to your camera.