You get comfortable on camera by being on camera. My method starts with two questions: do you want to get better on video, and what can you do to get more comfortable? From there you press record again and again, with your focus on the value you bring to the person watching.
- Comfort on camera comes from reps, the same way you learned to ride a bike.
- Ask two questions: do you want to get better, and what can you do to get more comfortable?
- Focus on the value you provide to others and everything changes.
- A 14 day challenge of one video a day gives you rules, reps and comfort.
What are the two questions that make you comfortable on camera?
One of the biggest self-limiting beliefs I hear from creators building their brand is "I'm not comfortable on video. I don't like what I look like." My answer always starts with two questions.
- Question one Do you want to get better on video? A yes is all you need to move to the next question.
- Question two What can you do to get more comfortable being on video?
The second question has the same answer as learning to ride a bike. You got on, fell off, got back on and did it again and again. Day after day, the more times you got on that bike, the more comfortable you became. Video works the exact same way.
The way you get comfortable on video is by being on video.
What if you dislike how you look on camera?
That belief keeps your focus on the wrong thing. Most people are too consumed with themselves to sit there thinking about what you look like on video. Throw that one in the trash.
Put your focus on the value you can provide to others. You can inspire, educate or entertain. When your attention is on the impact you can create, everything changes. I recorded that exact lesson wearing a t-shirt and a hat, and I could still bring the fire because the fire was in my heart.
Underneath the worry sits a deeper question: when I put this out, am I going to be judged? The answer is that it doesn't matter. The act of creation is what matters. That same mindset helps you stop being a perfectionist about every video you make.
How do you get comfortable on camera step by step?
- Answer question one. Decide that you want to get better on video.
- Press record. All you have to do is press that little record button, then do it over and over again.
- Anchor in one question. Ask yourself, "Will this help other people when I create it?" If the answer is yes, go and create it.
- Start with your journey. On day one of my own challenge I wondered what in the world to talk about. The simplest thing was to share my journey and what I was doing to get better.
- Turn it into a game. Choose a set number of days and one video a day, so you know the rules you are playing by.
New things can feel uncomfortable, and a quote I love says uncertainty leads to inaction. When I teach podcasting, an early goal is to get to episode 20. By then you have ridden the bike enough times to see how it all works.
What is a 14 day live streaming challenge?
A 14 day live streaming challenge is a commitment to go live on video once a day, every day, for 14 days. Structuring it as a game gives you clear rules, and the daily reps build your comfort on camera.
Mine started at an entrepreneur event in Fort Worth, Texas. One of the speakers, Patrick, said that going live every single day was part of how he grew his brand and his business. Success leaves breadcrumbs, so I asked myself what I was going to do with that. I had gone live tons of times and loved it, and it was an area where I wanted to be more consistent. Soon after, I started day one, and I completed all 14 days.
I set out to learn three things.
| What you learn | How the challenge teaches it |
|---|---|
| Time | Going live once a day teaches you that you can create time. If something is important enough, you will find time to make it happen. |
| What to say | Share the things you know the most about that can help someone on their journey. You can also give every day a theme. |
| Comfort | Like riding a bike, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. |
For a longer runway, borrow from these 30 day challenge ideas.
Why is getting comfortable on camera worth it?
The majority of people are never going to do this. They stay with the same thoughts: I've never been on video before, I'm nervous, what do people care about what I have to say? That is your opportunity to zig and stand out.
My goals for the challenge were to make live video part of my growth plan, create greater connection with people, and repurpose the best moments for social media. All of it rests on one belief I speak about often.
The more that you do something like riding a bike, the more comfortable you're going to get.
Rob Cressy
See yourself as a creator. Painters love to paint for the joy of painting. Bring that to your videos, focus on the act of creation, and you will stop overthinking your content.
Do this today
- Press record once. Share one thing you know that can help one person, then post it.
- Set your 14 day game. Pick a start date and commit to one live video a day for 14 days.
Listen to the episode
14 Day Live Streaming Challenge
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Read the full transcript
What's up? It's Rob Cressy. And oh, am I excited because today begins day one of my 14-day live streaming challenge. So what I want to do is share with you sort of the inspiration for this. Why in the world am I doing a 14-day challenge? What I hope to learn from this, and ultimately, what are the goals that I'm going to create? And of course, everything that I speak, you can then apply for yourself because there's a reason why I'm doing this.
So let's start at the top. Why in the world am I doing a 14-day live streaming challenge? So this past week, I was in Fort Worth, Texas for the Apex Entrepreneur Fly-In Friday, which is a quarterly event that we have. It was two days of thought leadership of the best leaders and business owners and CEOs in the world. And one of the speakers, shout out to my man Patrick, came on and said, Hey, as part of building my machine and my brand and how I create growth in my business, one of the things that I do is go live every single day.
And remember, success leaves breadcrumbs. So, so often in life, we hear things from people we aspire to do things like, and we have a choice. We can either say, Wow, that's amazing that they did that and saw such great results, and then do nothing about it. Or we can do something about it and say, Well, you know what? This worked for Patrick. Probably will work for me too.
And I'm someone who, anytime I go to any sort of conference or quite frankly, read a book or listen to a podcast, I'm immediately thinking about, All right, what am I going to do to take action on this? So immediately I was like, Boom, live streaming is an area where I want to be more consistent. And this is something where I love jumping on live streaming. I've done it tons of times. But this was almost like another re-reminder to get reactivated.
And so often in the name of self-mastery and growth, we can be good at something, but our consistency may wane. Where you're like, You know what? Yeah, I used to do that, but I'm not doing that anymore. Well, for me, this is what I'm going to do. I want to get back into live streaming because I love it. And ultimately, it's a great opportunity for me to help a lot of people along the way on their journey.
So to make this fun, because so often when we create a goal for ourselves, Boom, I want to get better at live streaming. You're like, All right, well, now what? What do I do now that I say that I want to do this? And we may even delay doing the first time because oftentimes when something is new, it can be uncomfortable. And there's a quote that I love. Uncertainty leads to inaction. When you don't know what you're doing or you're new to something and it can feel challenging, you're likely to not do something.
And I even know, even with this very first one, I'm like, What in the world am I going to talk about for this first one? Boom. The simplest thing that I can do is share my journey and what I am doing to get better and to grow my brand.
So with this, what am I hoping to learn? And there's really three things as it relates to using live streaming as part of your creator tool belt. And with anything that I do, I always think of it in terms of a tool belt or a skill set, something that I'm going to use into perpetuity.
So number one is time. When I look at the reasons why I or others would not live stream, at the top of the list is likely time. Where am I going to find the time to do this? Boom. By doing this for 14 days, once a day, every day for 14 days, you're going to teach yourself that I can create time because if something is important enough, I will find time to make it happen. And so often, we just need to use our vision to say, you know what? It's 5:17 p.m. and I've got 11 minutes until I go and pick up my kid from basketball. Whatever. So boom, you're starting to create the time for yourself.
Number two is, all right, well, what in the world do I say? And one of the things that I speak out loud every single day is, I am that the world needs more of me. Because if you have something inside of you that can help even one person, it is your duty to share it with the world. So for me, it almost doesn't matter what I say because I'm going to transfer this positive energy to you.
But God forbid we get a little bit strategic and say, hey, maybe I'll theme every day of these 14 days. Or what are the things that I know the most about that I can share with others that can help them on their journey? This will help me in getting better at knowing what to say every time I jump on a live stream.
Hey, just want to thank you for tagging me in your posts from the podcast. It's pretty awesome that the podcast has made an impact across the world and you're growing and learning so much. Please keep the stories and tags coming. I love you. Now back to the show.
And number three, comfort. A lot of people who have never done a live stream before, they're just not comfortable doing it. So the more that you do something like riding a bike, the more comfortable you're going to get. So by structuring this in a 14-day game, now all of a sudden you're like, oh, I know the rules of which I'm going to play with. So the goal is to get more comfortable doing this. And as you do it more often, you'll know what to say and you'll create the time for yourself.
So the last part of this is the goal. What is my actual goal? So I know those are the things that I'm going to learn from this, but the real goal of this, of doing a 14-day live streaming challenge. Number one, and I mentioned this with the tool belt, is to make this part of your growth plan. So shout out to my guy Patrick for saying, listen, I've been doing this into perpetuity, one live stream a day, and it has helped grow my business. It will for you too. So live streaming is extremely powerful.
And guess what? The majority of the people are never going to use this. Ding, ding, ding, light bulb moment. There is an opportunity for you to zig when everybody else is doing nothing, where it's so easy to be comfortable. Oh, I don't know how to live stream. I've never been on video before. What do people care about what I have to say? I'm nervous. I'm overwhelmed, whatever it is. Cool. Use all those self-limiting beliefs that others are going to have and say, boom, I'm going to stick out and stand out, and I'm going to live stream.
And oh, by the way, we all know that the social media platforms love giving more organic reach to live streaming, right? Well, why is that? Because now viewers are spending more time on their platform. So by design, if we are smart marketers, you say, well, if I'm doing this, I'm going to get more reach and awareness than any other type of content post that I create. That's just wise.
Number two, I'm looking to create greater connection with other people. So with me, my agenda is to help you on your journey. And if anything that I say resonates with you, then I encourage you to reach out to me and let's have a conversation about anything. If we have never spoken before, boom, this is the opportunity for us to do so. If we have spoken before and you say, hey, Rob, I want to deepen our relationship, boom, let's do that. If you see opportunities for us to work together, you're looking to get into taking yourself to the next level as a creator or working on your insight and your personal growth, boom, reach out to me. We would love to be an asset to you on your journey.
And then number three thing that I'm going to do, I'm going to repurpose this live streaming content. So once a day for 14 days, I'm now creating a live stream. Well, I'm going to save that file. I'm recording this in HD. I'm then going to have my graphic design team say, all right, I'm going to go through this and look for the magic moments where Rob, you're shining the most, where we pull this out, boom, we throw that on social media to where you can help others on their journey. So really, this is day one of my live stream. I look forward to sharing each of the next 13 days with you.
Transcript cleaned up for reading.