I finally recorded a video for my social media (mainly for LinkedIn). I had procrastinated for ages. I wanted to introduce myself to my followers and give them a better understanding of who am I and what I’m like and I knew the only way to do this would be through video.
The funny thing is I’m happy to stand on stage in front of 100+ people to introduce projects I’m working on or delivering a speech. I spent 12 years in learning & development facilitating workshops, focus groups, board meetings. I’ve been interviewed live at conferences & exhibitions and sat on panels – yet filming myself is whole different level.
Maybe it’s because you have to look and listen to yourself when you watch it back to check it’s okay, and no one likes the sound of their voice let alone watching themselves back!
Even though my whole coaching business is based around confidence – did I lack confidence to do this – well yes & no. I’m not confident all the time and I can procrastinate and let things hold me back. Oh and I’m the first to encourage someone and say pull up your big pants and just do it! Time to get over myself and take my own advice!
In true coaching style, I reflected about why I’d take so long to do this and I have 2 conclusions:
1. FEAR – fear of the what if’s…what if no one likes it? What it no-one responds to it? What if no one want to work with me? What if it’s awful? I’d spent so long talking about doing it to others and why I wasn’t doing it that I’d built up that fear of my own doing. Of course I know that this is all perceived FEAR – the reality is I’ve had lots of lovely comments and messages, it did way better than I anticipated, but even if it didn’t, actually it doesn’t matter, it’s out there now for all to see and the first video is now firmly in the bag and ticked off the list.
2. PERFECTIONISM – I’m representing myself here and I know I have high standards, I’m a finisher completer, and I like things to look good. Picture the scene, I order a ring light, a lapel microphone, I search out the right place in the house to do it, I even buy a piece of purple curtain fabric to create a background, I iron said curtain and find hangers to hang it from door frames, I use an app as a autocue, I get the ladders out to put it on, I research the best company to use to get captions, I watch videos on how to do it well…Oh Gayle, seriously just get on with it!
In all I think it took me about 5 or 6 times to get it right, on some of them my mind went completely blank after I had just said “Hi” (some outtakes there for content). Now I have the set up right, and I know what I’m doing to get captions and how to upload, (despite reading a post just before pressing upload on LinkedIn about how the video algorithm had changed in the last few days and videos get less exposure), that fear of the unknown has gone.
Yes I will still have an element of perfectionism, but overall, I’m just going to be authentically me on future videos. The first time you do something it can be difficult, it might need courage you don’t feel you’ve got, but once you’ve mastered it, next time will be so much easier.
Put don’t worry, I won’t be Video Valerie and upload loads, just when I feel I’ve got some value to add.
