When on Camera, Practice Makes Perfect.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a novice, being on camera is never easy. Many a grown man and woman has grown weak in the knee once the camera starts rolling. The best thing you can do is be prepared. Most people think that just means having a script ready to go. In some cases, a script is a good thing, especially if you are going to be using a teleprompter. But if you don’t have a teleprompter, a script may actually be a hindrance.

Let’s say you’re reading off your script word for word, as written. Unfortunately, even though your words are beautifully written, you may come across as very stiff and stilted. You won’t sound natural. The better advice here is to take your script and assign bullet points to it. That way you won’t have to remember a script by each word, but just remember the bulleted point or topic you’re talking about. You’ll sound more natural, since you’ll be talking from your knowledge of the subject and not from the word for word that you wrote.

Now if you are going the way of the teleprompter, your script will be projected onto the teleprompter screen and you’ll just need to read directly from that. Sounds easy, right? But, when the camera starts rolling, even the most experienced presenters sometimes stumble. The best way to prepare here is by reading your script, via the teleprompter, multiple times in advance. That way you can anticipate what words are coming up, where punctuation marks will be.

Whether you’re working with a teleprompter or not, the best thing you can do is practice. The more you practice beforehand, the better and more natural you’ll sound on camera. And when you sound more natural, you sound more in command and project yourself better as the authority of what you’re talking about. Just practice.