How To Be Confident On Camera

1. Your Setup

If you want to exude confidence while on camera, you will need to have a good camera setup.  This is the most basic and easy thing to do! This means taking into consideration your surroundings, camera angle, and audio.  

Surroundings – What’s in your background? Are you sitting with your camera on your lap in your storage room?  Do you live on a street with a lot of traffic noise?  Or maybe you are at a local coffee shop.  If you want to appear confident, you will want to make sure your surroundings reflect confidence.  Here are some solutions:

• • Get yourself into a quiet space.  Try to eliminate as much outside noise as possible.  
  • Declutter your background.  If decluttering isn’t possible, consider using a premade digital background or a divider like this.

Camera Angle – There is a reason selfie sticks exist.  Because a camera at a down angle always looks better than an up angle. It is hard to exude executive presence when your audience can see up your nose!

Here are some solutions:

• • Elevate your computer, phone, or camera whenever possible.  You can do this by stacking books, or using a tripod for your phone or camera. Or, get a laptop elevator. 

• • Push the camera away from you.  Just like when you try to take a selfie – the further away the camera is from your face the better.  Pushing the camera away – about 2 to 3 feet, will help frame your face and the background.

Audio – If you are constantly struggling to hear or be heard on camera, your confidence will falter.  Having to ask someone to repeat themselves over and over again is frustrating for both parties. So, be sure to have your audio checked prior to your video call. Here are some solutions:

• • Do a test run with a co-worker to see if your audio is working.  
  • Get noise-cancelling headphones so that you can drown out any background noise around you.

In our #1 LinkedIn e-course (+1 million views), Executive Presence On Video Conference Calls, you will learn how to look and sound confident, collected, and smart on your next conference call or video presentation.

2. Body Language

Before you speak, your body language tells your audience whether or not you are feeling confident. And even though you are on camera, your body language is still very important. Be mindful of these areas:

Eye Contact – You may not be able to see your audience entirely, but they can see you.  It is important that you understand how to make eye contact while on camera.  Just like in a face-to-face meeting, if you aren’t making eye contact it will come across like you are not interested or engaged.  It can also make you seem less confident. This means:

• If you are speaking you will want to look directly into the camera on your phone or computer.  This will make your audience feel like you are looking directly at them. Vary it up by sometimes looking at the screen and other times at the lens.

Posture – Your posture is important on video.  In fact, it is probably even more obvious if you are slouching when you’re on camera. This means:

• Sit up straight.  In order to force yourself to sit up straight, you can sit on the edge of your seat.  Don’t lean back in your chair as this can make you seem like you aren’t paying attention or engaged. 
• Keep your shoulders back.  Don’t hunch over.  

Hand Gestures – Most people talk with their hands to some degree, however, when they start presenting, they forget about it.  You will look much more confident if you allow yourself to use soft and slow gestures while speaking. This means:

• Take your hand off the mouse. Allow yourself space to use gestures.  Don’t keep your hands in one place or stuck to your mouse.
• Relax your arms. You can be sitting with excellent posture, but if your arms are stiff, you will come across as frozen.  And frozen does not exude confidence.

Remember, your body language is just as important on camera as it is in an in-person meeting. In our e-course, Mastering Non-Verbal Communications, you will learn how to incorporate non-verbal communication into every interpersonal situation. This includes video.

3. Look And Sound

Think about people who appear confident on video.  Chances are they have practiced their tone of voice, what they plan to say and how they want to look. Consider these tips in your next video meeting:

Speed – Have you ever watched someone give a speech so fast that you felt nervous for them even though you were sitting in the audience?  Your pace, or the speed at which you speak can make you appear nervous or controlled. This means: 

• Practice slowing down your speaking to a conversational speed even though you may feel nervous.  When you speak at a conversational pace, you will be more relaxed and appear more confident.

Wardrobe – What you wear on camera matters. If you are confident in what you are wearing it will show. This means:

• Try to stick to jewel-tone colors or anything that will pop on screen.  
• Avoid wearing anything that may wash you out, like grey. 
• Try to wear avoid anything that is distracting.  This includes fabrics that are shiny or anything with a lot of ruffles. You don’t want others to be distracted by what you are wearing.

Tone – Often times when you are nervous, your tone of voice will change. Sometimes your tone will get much higher if you aren’t confident.

• Practice speaking on camera and pay attention to your tone of voice. 
• Make sure you aren’t monotone by having variety.
• Settle into a natural tone of voice as you speak. 

Record Yourself – Not sure how you’re coming across?  Record yourself to see what you sound like.  You can also catch yourself using filler words. 

Practice – Whether you are giving a presentation in front of thousands of people, or in front of a single camera, you have to practice.  The more you practice the more confident you will be on camera.

💡We recommend the e-course “Being Confident On Camera” to learn to be confident on camera and keep your audience engaged in your message