Master the Art of On-Camera Confidence with Laura Doman
Feb 20, 2023
Want to be more confident on camera? In this Cash In On Camera episode, Laura Doman and I come together to provide tips and tricks to help you overcome camera shyness and nervousness. Laura is a voice-over and on-camera actress with credits in film, TV, commercials, and industrial videos.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll hear…
▶️ [1:21] All right. Well, I'm gonna blame it on being a Gemini. I've always liked doing more than one thing at once and usually two things. And well, in the Gemini nature, you're balancing what looks like opposites, but not necessarily so, because the way I see it, it's all communications. I've always had a love for business, but I was always the performer, and I was that kid that was on every stage. I was in high school behind the PA announcements, keeping kids hopefully awake during homeroom. And I chose a corporate career because I loved it, I was ambitious, and I like making money, which can be very hard to do in your first few years in entertainment, as anybody who's ever tried would probably tell you. But the way I saw it was that not only do I get to understand people's businesses, and they were all so different, but I had a chance to be able to do a little razzled dazzle just to close the sale. And so in my mind, I thought every presentation was a bit of an audition and every sale a booking, Except I got paid for the auditioning part. And I just love both and they go very well together. Just like entertainment goes together with the law, cuz you're in front of people and you're communicating.
▶️ [4:13] Oh, absolutely. It's so important because the video is king. I mean, if you look on social media, most of what you see and what's being promoted is the video and everybody's jumping on that platform. We're all on Zoom calls. We're all gonna be talking to people in person. We have online meetings, so it's so important to be able to do that. A lot of people just don't wanna be seen, and they're not quite sure how to conduct themselves, so they freeze up. But there are several things that you can do. First of all, if you're really nervous, there are a bunch of relaxation techniques. There are also some techniques that I'd like to share from the acting world and even the voiceover world that can help really anybody be able to make a more effective video. And then there are certain types of tips and tricks and tools that you can use behind the scenes to help you out, especially if you're just trying to get more comfortable.
▶️ [7:42] Those are some of the simpler things to do. Now, some of the other stuff that is a little more aerobic, we'll get your heart rate going, we'll help you feel flushed, will help you feel good, believe it or not, and that would be some old-fashioned pushups. I mean you, you could do 'em on your knees if that helps. But a few pushups just to get yourself moving and pumped. Even a few sit-ups, if that's too much, just try some squats. Standing and squatting, and if you wanna hold onto something, that's fine, but the whole idea is that you're gonna be in your body cuz the body is your physical vehicle and a very important means of expression. So that's how I'd get the body started.
▶️ [10:31] You can move your mouth from side to side. You can massage in here. Yeah, whatever it helps to be able to tie the vocals with your physicality. And when you feel like you're all loose, you're ready. By, wait, there's more. It's your friend. The water bottle. Yeah. This is a big one. As voiceover artists, we don't go anywhere without our water. It's so important to hydrate and it's important to start again about two hours before you start talking, cuz it takes a while for those vocal folds to just feel the dream. But keep it handy. And whenever you can, you wanna drink water. And I'm sorry for anybody who likes coffee and that includes me. I like my hot chai tea or hot chocolate or anything else like that. Stay away from that for a while. It'll just dry you out. The same thing goes for any kind of food you might like. So if you're into peanut butter, wait until afterward. Fresh fruit, and celery, it's more than just a pallet cleanser. I mean, all that can help, and another trick would be green apples. I don't know what it is about green apples, I'm sure there's somebody in your audience who does, but it does allow all the good stuff to come forth in your voice, and it never hurts to have a little bite or two here and there if you're having a little bit of problem.
▶️ [14:16] Before you, before you tell us those tips. Yeah, sure, sure. I wanted to just share that I think the benefit of the world we live in now, social media, is that it isn't expecting you to be a broadcaster. It's not expecting you to be a professional voiceover artist or a commercial actress. It's not expecting you to be a professional broadcaster that you can. In the world we live in today, it's expected and beneficial for you to be yourself. So these tips are going to be helpful to you, but the underlying theme here is that you just really can be yourself. The biggest challenge that I think a lot of people face is just they are so nervous that they're not willing to take the first step, two steps in front of that camera to begin with. That's the problem from a business perspective because you do want visibility. You want to be able to speak on shows, podcasts, YouTube on a pod, whatever it is, you need to get out there and speak about your message. So I love that you've shared these tips with us. So go ahead and share with us the tips, the confidence, tips that we can all use.
▶️ [16:19] Now, normally that could be a good friend. Pick a good friend that you have. I think of Stephanie. I think of Melissa. They're two great friends, very different people that I use as my go-to. You can even have a picture up if that helps, right next to the camera. But you're gonna wanna talk to them as if you are sharing something really interesting, something that they could benefit from. And by the way, they really wanna hear what you have to say. So when you're talking to that little light over there, or that camera lens, just in your own mind, in your own imagination, see a good friend. Maybe even your spouse, maybe your mother. It doesn't matter, but it will get you over the hump and then you'll feel like you can just talk to like yourself, not like a presenter. Yeah. One thing people wanna hear is a conversational tone. They wanna hear a real person sharing something really cool. They don't wanna be told. If you're taking a look at what Gen Z and the millennials have always said, "Don't talk at us. Don't try to sell us. Tell us why we should listen to you because of something you experienced." that's probably the number one tip I would give.
▶️ [20:16] And then finally, I already talked about this a lot. It's just to be yourself. And what that means is to bring your own personality to whatever you're doing. Now, if you're a spokesperson and you have to be very straight-laced, that's fine, but nobody says you can't have a little bit of humor here and there. Your expressions themselves can tell people so much, and again, they're gonna look at your eyes to see if they should believe you. If you're doing something off of a script or if you're gonna be using a teleprompter, put your own personality in there the way you normally speak. You don't have to read it at an even-spaced clip like this because that sounds robotic. People, we've got AI that can do that for you. You probably don't wanna listen to it or watch it for too long. Just speak like you normally do, and there are certain things that you can use that make it really interesting. And I call that dynamic delivery. Pause. People are wondering, "Well, what's going on? What's next?" You can even build up to something and then people are gonna wanna hear what the next point is. You can use different volumes and pacing and tone to get your message across and understand what you're talking about. I mean, that might sound silly, especially if you're just talking as you. But no. What is the message that I am trying to communicate? Who am I talking to and what do I want them to take away from it? These are all the essentials of communication. What do I have to say? Why do I have to say it? Who am I saying it to? And what would I like for you to do afterward? That call to action. And if you put it all together, you are gonna be very effective. And nobody needs to know how nervous you were before you got started.
▶️ [23:38] Awesome. Laura, thank you so much for being on Cash In On Camera today. These are great tips. I wholeheartedly support these tips and I absolutely agree with you a hundred percent. At the end of the day, you really want to be comfortable and you wanna be yourself, and those are the things that will help you to build that confidence. But to your point earlier, You do need to step in front of the camera, you've got to do it. You do have to be consistent and it is going to develop over the course of time. The most difficult part for a lot of people who are nervous is just the getting started part, and you've given some great tips on how to prepare your body, how to prepare your voice, and how to prepare yourself for doing that. But at the end of the day, you do have to just start. And you're not going to melt, you're not going to perish by getting in front of the camera and doing a TikTok or doing another YouTube video or speaking on a podcast. It's all gonna be okay.
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