My fear of video – and how I overcame it! (From the diary of a yoga teacher)
How well do you “put yourself out there” in order to attract new students?
Do you post regularly on social media?
Do you often use videos?
It seems everywhere you look for advice on building a yoga teacher business these days, getting yourself on social media and its importance for helping build a yoga teacher career is seen as high on the list of jobs to add to your “to do” list!
As if you haven’t got enough to think about!
On top of that, I don’t know about you, but I’ve NEVER been good in front of a camera! Rarely like the look of my face/hair etc, and like a lot of others I talk to, generally say I cringe a little when I hear my own voice played back!!
None of which is helpful, if I’m supposed to be “putting myself out there” on social media!
The irony is, you could stand me in front of an audience of hundreds, and as long as I’ve prepared (and believe me, I would!) then I’m actually quite comfortable once I get going. A bit of nerves, but that’s more excitement and revving up the adrenalin to do a good job than blind panic!
But put me in front of a camera I know is filming it – and this fairly self-assured woman becomes a stuttering wreck!
The first time I ever tried to do a video for Facebook, many years ago in my first business, it was a couple of minute video – which took me all day and I don’t know how many expletives and failed attempts! Honestly! I was rubbish! All I can say is I studiously avoided having to do them again for a long time!
But as I moved to building my yoga teacher career and as I began to work with students and other yoga teachers, I realised I was going to have to “bite the bullet” and give it a go.
So picture the scene…..
I start trying to investigate how best to take videos; what software I should use to edit them; where to store the finished articles; microphone or not and if so – what would be the best to invest in…..
Can honestly say this “thinking about it” process took weeks – if not longer! Running down “rabbit holes” of research – pretending this was getting things done and taking action!
Then, with a Q&A call coming up with my own mentor, I submitted a question asking for advice and tips on taking videos – and waited with baited breath for some good advice………..
I got it! But it wasn’t what I was looking for!
Here’s what she said. She began by asking these questions:
“Do you have an i-phone or phone with a camera?”
The answer was – of course, yes.
“Do you know how to use it?”
Well – yes, I reply, sheepishly – kind of beginning to see where this is headed!!
“You want to take a video? She asks,
Then stop procrastinating; press record, and get it done!”
Now that might sound harsh – my mentor doesn’t mind giving kicks up the bum sometimes!
But the truth is – she was right. I had taken weeks “faffing around” doing “research” when I could have had a number of videos under my belt and already done. I was being guilty of what she called, creative avoidance!
Creative avoidance can strike us at any time when a task we know we need to do, feels scary and makes us feel uncomfortable!
Recognise creative avoidance when it strikes – take the bull by the horms and just do the thing you’re scared of!
In fairness, she did soften – and actually gave me a few useful tips! Let me pass them on to you:
5 TIPS IF YOU’RE SCARED OF, OR HATE, (OR BOTH!) THE THOUGHT OF USING VIDEO….
- If you have a message, or a sequence – or anything you really want to convey to your
followers – and you think a video would be a nice way of conveying the message instead of yet another drab e-mail – then bite the bullet! Point and shoot using what you have
probably already got in terms of equipment! - Don’t spend ages down “rabbit holes” you call research! Recognise “creative avoidance” when you see it – and kick it out!!
- Videos really do engage people more – and build relationships so much better than bland copy. And in this day and age, when there is SO much stuff vying for our attention, video is shown to attract the most attention and retain engagement for longer – so why wouldn’t you use it?
- It doesn’t have to be perfect! Find yourself worrying that you need to edit the bits at the start and end where you’re reaching for the “record” button – and your face looks like a frightened rabbit!!
Seriously – your audience don’t care! And you can practice smiling as you reach for the start stop button so it doesn’t look so bad!! - Professional looking videos interestingly have been shown to get less engagement than “real” “authentic” style videos.
And this was the real eye opener for me from my mentor – who has done both.
She has spent a LOT of money in the past, going to a studio, taking different outfits, with 7 or 8 video scripts planned, spent all day recording – left them to be edited by the company – and spent thousands on having a professional looking job done.
And she has also done the “off the cuff” point and shoot videos. Guess which get the most engagement? Guess which work better for her in terms of helping build relationships and ultimately bring her new clients? You guessed it! It was the “off the cuff” videos! That one piece of information that day was enough to get me off my backside – and just point and shoot!
I’ve been “pointing and shooting” ever since!
It’s still a little nerve wracking – but every time I do it it gets easier. And when you’re talking about something you really know a lot about – as I found as a trainer and coach, eventually, you can talk about things at the drop of a hat – with few prompts – because you just know your stuff.
And YOU can do the same too!
So get out there and take videos!
Send helpful messages to your tribe.
And boot “creative avoidance” out the door!
Good luck!
Namaste,
Shona
Actions you can take:
- Check out other articles around the topic of getting the right mindset to be a yoga teacher, on my blog which might be helpful around this topic including this one:
When your biggest challenge building your yoga biz is fear - Join our FB group; share your thoughts on this article and your own experiences with sharing videos on social media. Have a question about what others do? I’m sure the community will help!
You’ll also get additional tips and answers to any questions you have on any topic around building your yoga business and developing your yoga career. So do join us!
