Speaking in front of a camera can be unfamiliar and uncomfortable for many people. EVERYWOW’s media training helps you feel comfortable in front of the camera to share your content effectively. To give you some tips for your appearance in live streams right now, we have summarised the most important points.
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Why should you get media training for live streaming?
When an event is live streamed, many new challenges can arise. For some people, being in front of a camera is very uncomfortable, even if performing on a stage is not a challenge for them! There can be many reasons for this: the audience and their reactions are not directly visible; speakers can watch themselves speaking; their private living room is visible in the background.
To get the best out of your live internet event in any situation, all aspects must be right. This includes not only the technical and aesthetics in sound and lighting, but you need to feel comfortable in your streaming environment. A perfect live broadcast generates no results if you don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera.
If you look insecure in front of the camera, the audience will focus on that, not on your words. Your content will fall short. If presenters mumble, read a manuscript in a monotone voice, slide back and forth excitedly in their chair, or hide behind their hands, viewers will become unfocused or annoyed. It doesn’t matter how important your message is; if it’s not delivered well, it won’t get across to the audience.
Our top five tips in a nutshell
Media training gives you all the tools you need to be confident and convincing in front of the camera. Here, we have summarised our most valuable tips for your live appearance:
1. Preparation is the most important part
In a regular live stream production, a concept, a topic, and the speakers are chosen well in advance. Tasks are clearly assigned, and the speakers and interviewers prepare themselves independently; they are used to this or similar types of performances. For most people, a live stream is not a familiar situation.
Our personal media training prepares you for such live recordings. However, we can’t complete your preparation for you. If you receive an invitation to speak at an online event or participate in a discussion, take enough time to prepare for the event. Think carefully about what you want to say and take notes so you can speak freely. Imagine what situations and questions you might face, gather enough information about all relevant topics. In the end, prepare as if you were speaking, performing, or being interviewed live and on the spot.
2. Clothes you feel comfortable in
Lots of media trainers will tell you that the most important thing for a successful performance in a live video is your appearance. They usually ignore that not everyone can simply put on the right outfit to meet the audience’s expectations. Your priority should be that you are comfortable in what you are wearing. Of course, a well-groomed and well-chosen garment is appropriate to a certain extent. However, you do not need to pretend, or drastically change the way you dress to meet expectations.
We are happy to go through different outfits with you and provide guidance on how they work with the camera and light. Unfortunately, there is one absolute no-go for appearing in front of the camera: plaid or tightly dotted patterns. Even the latest cameras can’t reproduce these patterns correctly. In the end, it is still our job to adapt the technical aspects to your choice of clothes in the live production and not the way the technology would like to. After all, it is personalities and not clothes that make people.
3. Deliberately placed gestures
Be yourself! Use your body language as you normally would. However, there is no harm in moving a little more in front of the camera. Of course, you should not appear nervous or fidgety, but using deliberately placed gestures to emphasise certain points can be very effective.
Consider beforehand whether you prefer to stand or sit. If you are standing, it is important to make sure you stand still and upright: do not lean or cross your arms. Maybe you don’t know what to do with your hands: hold a pen or do a little pose with your fingers. If you are sitting, you can put your hands on the table in front of you. The main thing is to use your gestures consciously and otherwise adopt a calm, self-confident posture.
4. Speak confidently and carefully
Excitable speakers chop off sentences or their voice sounds higher. Therefore, make sure you speak slowly, emphasise individual words, and include pauses after your sentences. This allows you to calm down and think, plus listeners can process what you are saying. Try not to write a complete script in advance. Instead, make bullet points and go over your most important sentences and points several times. It is best to prepare different formulations so that you can insert them at appropriate times and use them flexibly.
5. Eye contact without the eye contact
You can’t see your audience, but you can still look at them. The producers will probably place the main camera in front of you. If you are broadcasting from your laptop, you will also be able to see yourself, what the audience sees. It may be helpful for your concentration to turn this off. If you are looking at yourself on the screen, you are not looking at the camera. It has a much better effect on the audience if they have the feeling that they are being looked at directly by you. You can achieve this effect by looking directly into the camera lens. However, if you are being interviewed on location, do not look into the camera, but look at your interviewer. If you are making an important point, looking directly into the camera lens, the eyes of the audience, can be a very effective stylistic device.
Book EVERYWOW’s media training
Media training prior to a broadcast, real-time video production can have many benefits. Being comfortable and confident in front of a camera is not a given. If you are, your message will make a much bigger impression on your audience.
You can learn to be self-assured and appear confident in front of the camera. EVERYWOW’s media training helps you lose your fear of the camera. This is not only about coming across fantastically to the audience or selling yourself well; we also ensure that the individual in front of the lens does not get lost through the camera. So, if you feel your live stream performance still needs improvement, we are happy to help you perfect it.