If you are looking for immediate impact on your on-camera performance, learning how to employ proper pausing when communicating through the camera can add instant professional polish.
As a classically trained singer, I have been well versed in the value of taking a full breath. Without allocating the time to fill your lungs with air, you will never hit that high C to bring that aria to a spine-tingling close. When preparing a song, you actually identify places to take a breath to create optimal musical phrasing.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
The same can be said of speaking on camera, but due to nervousness or a wish to wrap up quickly, many people try to test the limits of their lung capacity by only stopping to breathe when absolutely forced.
Unfortunately, the longer you go without taking a breath, the thinner and thinner your sound becomes until finally you have to suck in some oxygen, lest you pass out. Gasp.
Plan Your Pauses
Full vocal tone requires you to take full breaths, but the physical benefits don’t end there. Deep, even breaths can also be a solid weapon against anxiety. Before any presentation, take some time to breathe through your butterflies a bit. If you breathe through your nose, no one will even notice you are doing it.
In addition, research from the human cognitive neuroscience unit at Northumbria University has shown that a shot of oxygen will give you a cognitive boost.
Who wouldn’t want that before performing on camera?
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.
