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Be Prepared: What to Know Before You Step In Front of the Camera

August 17, 2017
 

 

Thank you to Janine Burke for contributing this post. Janine is an LA-based public speaking coach. Visit her website to learn more about her.

Imagine you have your first video shoot coming up – everyone is ready to go – production, location, makeup, and hair are all booked. You are confident you can trust them to execute all their areas of expertise.

Now it is up to you to be as smooth as butter and sound as soft as silk when delivering your lines, otherwise you’ll end up doing each take over and over and possibly wasting a lot of time and money. The weight of all this can cause major stress and when things go wrong it’s painful and frustrating; believe me, I know.

I teach clients how to overcome the fear of public speaking and how to turn good speakers into great speakers. Here are some of my top tips for not only overcoming the fear of public speaking but also being able to save time and money on your video shoot:

You should have written a tight and interesting script. No matter what the subject, as they say in theater, “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage”.

Take advice from the best – learn your lines. Meryl Streep memorizes her script before she develops her characters and then adds the nuances to their personalities.  – learn your lines so well, that, like Meryl, you can deliver them with sincerity, conviction and ENERGY.

Your personality is what endears and connects you to your audience. Give yourself the freedom of being able to show your personality by learning your lines and delivery well in advance.

Yes, you can use a teleprompter, in some circumstances – but remember, unless you use them often it will be hard to appear NATURAL. You do not want to sound dull and lifeless like you are reading a hostage tape!

Avoid filler words (umms, ahhs, you knows) as they can greatly reduce your credibility and mean, “take after take” or expensive editing costs that can simply be avoided by following these simple steps.

Practicing how to avoid filler words in advance of the shoot will help you greatly and make the whole production not only easier and cheaper but way less frustrating for you. Your audience deserves to see you at your best.

Pay attention to your speaking speed. Professional public speakers talk at about 100 – 120 words per minute – any faster and the audience will not understand us, any slower and we will bore them to death.

It’s also a good idea to do a word count of your script so you have an idea of how long each section will run. This will really help your production team to schedule the day for you and to maximize your time and dime.

Follow these tips that professional public speakers use and you’ll be more than prepared and far less stressed when shoot day comes. Break a leg!

 

Comment (19)
Dan
August 18, 2017

Janine is hands down the best in the business!

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janine burke
August 18, 2017

You are too kind and were one of my most prepared students

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Deborah Greenhut
August 18, 2017

Janine’s Tiaa s are right on the money. Lack of preparation is a major cause of public speaking fails. These tips will put you miles ahead of speakers who ignore them.

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Robert Dombroski
August 18, 2017

I wouldn’t go to anyone else but Janine. She has helped me tremendously with overcoming my fear of public speaking.
The best!

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K. Hawkins
August 18, 2017

If you need to step-up your game and improve your public persona…you need Janine Burke!

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Teresa Chu
August 18, 2017

Janine is the BEST! I wouldn’t be where I am today without Janine. She helped me overcome my fear of public speaking. She helped me build my confidence. Thank you again Janine!

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Stephen V.
August 18, 2017

Preparation and putting together a script that captivates is 90% of the speech. And Janine can get you 90% of the way there.

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Michael Thomas
August 18, 2017

Janine is an excellent source for overcoming your fears of public speaking. She helped me tremendously!

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Teri Webb
August 19, 2017

Janine’s brilliant, dynamic, and incredibly fun to work with! I learned a ton from her and gained confidence in speaking publicly. She knows what she’s doing and you can trust her direction!

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Robert Crick
August 19, 2017

Great information – makes total sense and I will be sure to share it with friends with videos coming up.

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Maria
August 19, 2017

This is great advice – how do you get to Carnegie Hall after all? The truth is we all think we’ll be fine and not have any filler words and suddenly we’re on the spot and filler words just come out!! Thank you for your advice to help reduce this (my biggest issue!) and looking forward to more of your tips and tricks!

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Dmitry V
August 19, 2017

Great pieces of advice here. Janine knows how to bring the best from the speaker and overcome fears. Very helpful article!

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Sebastiaan van Houten
August 20, 2017

Janine really helped me refine my public speaking and on camera skills in just a few sessions. She is right. No matter how natural or charismatical you are nothing beats practice and preparation.

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Olivia H.
August 22, 2017

Thank you Janine!! I know how effective these skills are — both in seeing how you present yourself as well as taking these suggestions to heart for myself! I appreciate your sharing this info in such a fun and accessible way — others can learn a great deal from your expertise! Kudos!

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Lori Hines
August 22, 2017

I love how you described the process of speaking. I particularly enjoyed the tips on how to catch yourself using (or about to use) filler words-I think we’ve all surprised ourselves with how easily we use them when pressured! Also, the inclusion of professionals’ words per minute was useful. These are things I often didn’t think about, but feel empowered to correct now that I know the information. Thanks for the post!

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Terry Filler
August 22, 2017

As a college student, I’m so glad I found this advice. Public speaking is getting more common and I’ve struggled my whole life with things like nerves and filler words while speaking. But I’ve already started noticing improvements since listening to your advice!

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Bev Lund
August 22, 2017

Janine helped prepare me for several presentations. She’s an excellent teacher /coach and using these confidence building techniques she made this an easy and fun experience. I highly recommend Janine and look forward to future blogs!

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Barbara
August 23, 2017

Janine is the best at what she does. To really be successful at your public speaking engagements, she teaches you the tricks of the trade. You can be totally confident that you now know the best ways to engage your audience,. it’s all about the tips and confidence she imparts to you to be the best ‘you’ can be!

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Bob Ruiz
August 23, 2017

Advice is right on the mark.. Developing public speaking skills will create endless opportunities for you. Time and money well spent. Working with Janine is a great investment in yourself. Go from good to great to outstanding..

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