Naturalness in front of the camera. Three hands on tips to try right away!

Before I get into the actual topic of being natural in front of the camera, a quick update! My life has changed quite a bit. As the saying goes, „The gap between the life you are living and the life you want is called choices.“ I have made the decision to expat to Bali, digitize and internationalize my business. Means, I am currently training & coaching mainly digitally, exploring the english speaking market and reaching more people to help them present confidently.

In addition to the new environment, the new year also brings fresh momentum and motivates me to produce new content like new course videos in German and English. So much for the mini version. Oh well, Happy New Year by the way! 🍀

Change of topics: Camera training!

The trigger is a video ad that I saw on Instagram. A video ad from a great influencer who I follow myself because she lives in Bali and covers very authentic exciting topics. In this ad she talks about her online course, so she is promoting her own "baby", her own product. What's interesting is that she speaks to her hundreds of thousands of followers several times a day into the cell phone camera in Instastories, completely naturally and off the cuff. Interestingly, the feeling is different in her online course advertising, in which she presents herself in front of a "real" camera. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Suddenly, the effect is rather stilted, the stance seems unsteady, and most strikingly, the voice breaks. What is happening all of a sudden?

Generally speaking, for someone who never speaks into a camera or never or rarely speaks in public, the cell phone camera is already the first big hurdle. This is very noticeable in my trainings. Being recorded and talking into a cell phone cam is ... difficult, uncomfortable. For those who are used to the cell phone camera, the "real" camera is the next hurdle because it is associated with "Oh God, this MUST be professional now." Bigger camera requires more professionalism? Not really. Because when it comes to speaking, nothing should really change, regardless of whether it's a mini or giant TV camera.

Here are three tips for you how to come across natural in front of the camera 👇

 

✅ TIP NUMBER ONE Find natural stand pose!

The base first. Place your phone in front of you and see how you stand. Are you very centered with your hips and standing rather stiffly? Or do you have one leg loosely bent and are you standing in your hips? Try out with which leg, right or left you feel more comfortable "bent in"? Which is your side? Let your arms hang loosely down and really just focus on the leg position for now. Find your natural stance! If you have found it and you feel it as "good looking" in the cell phone camera, then this is from now on the position that you use as your pose.

 

 

✅ TIP NUMBER TWO Straighten arms & shoulders!

Next, turn your attention to your arms and shoulders. The shoulders usually belong quite a bit backWe all tend to overhang forward far too much. That makes us look tired, limp and insecure. So, shoulders back, even if it feels exaggerated.

IMPORTANT. It can quickly feel a bit overdone and unnatural when you do something new. What feels weird to you, looks really good in the camera. By the way, this also applies to photos and thousands of appearances and hundreds of photo shoots have proven this to me. So don't be afraid to stand up straight.

You also need to try it out for your arms and hands. Look at yourself in the phone camera. Position your hands in the center of your body, in the area of your belly. They should not be too high (towards the chest) - it bends the arms too much - and they should not be too low (towards the lower abdomen) because that looks floppy. Observe what looks good on you, your fingers may touch eachother nicely. No tangling and cramping! Loose. For me, for example, the index finger of the right hand and the middle finger of the left hand often touch.

It can also look great to let both arms hang loosely when you start speaking and only take them up after a few seconds. You can also start with one arm hanging loosely and one arm bent. Play around and see what looks good and what you feel comfortable with.

 

✅ TIP NUMBER THREE Strengthen your natural voice!

Never present your text out loud for the first time in front of the camera. This can easily go wrong because the voice is not warmed up. Every artist who performs on a stage practices before the performance (in the form of sound checks and rehearsals). From now on, please do the same, because you don't want to go into the recording "cold". In addition, you are well advised to recite your text aloud several times, even if it is only three sentences.

This has the effect that you know what you are saying and are already mentally secure here. Text uncertainty or too little practice in advance in general can cause too much nervousness, a too high or breaking voice. We want your beautifully natural, strong, confident speaking voice.

Also Recite the text several times aloud in the same way as for the recording, then - grooved in - start to speak.And if you notice that the first versions are not yet as desired, repeat. In between, take breaks, drink water, dance around, jump, roll upside down, in short: wake up the body and make funny noises or laugh out loud. May sound weird, but it can work wonders for your looseness and energy when you're shooting!

And if you haven't had enough yet, HERE you read how to bring naturalness into your language. Super important!!!!!! 

 

NOW YOU!!

I'm happy to hear about your experiences and suggestions for topics that will help you get ahead! Also feel free to tell me here in the comments or on social media what & how you have tried and share your photos, videos and your Feedback gerne auf Instagram tag me, then I can repost you on Facebook, LinkedIn or also in my reactivated Facebookgroupwhere already more than 700 members want only one thing: to present confidently 😉

Join HERE https://www.facebook.com/groups/DeinAuftritt