Many people step in front of a camera and become frozen in place. It’s like the lens is holding them hostage. With your body language speaking volumes on video, it’s clearly saying, “I’m very uncomfortable with this.”
What’s the solution?
Give yourself the freedom to gesture as you would in normal conversation, but keep in mind how you are being framed.
Frame size refers to how much of you can be seen on camera or what we call “in the shot.” When you are recording yourself on your webcam, you will likely be seen either from the waist up or maybe even from mid-chest up. The tighter the shot, the closer the conversation feels to your audience.
If you are seen from the waist up, that will feel like you are several feet away from your conversation partner. If you are seen from the shoulders up, it will feel like a very intimate conversation with a friend.
Karin Reed shows us how to calibrate our gestures when we speak on camera.
Learn More: On-Camera Coach
If you found this information valuable, check out my book, On-Camera Coach: Tools and Techniques for Business Professionals in a Video-Driven World, now available from Wiley Publishing. On-Camera Coach aims to take the mystery out of communicating through the camera and provides specific tips and techniques that can make your message sing—and you, the messenger, feel confident in a job well done.
