Why Even Confident Speakers Struggle to be Concise in Videos

Recently I departed a VERY comfortable comfort zone to follow my heart, and since then I've hardly been able to string a coherent sentence together.

Long story short, I'd spent 12 months on the west coast of Australia (where I was raised) in a loving relationship with a wonderful man, living in a beautiful home, and in close proximity to my mother and other family. HOWEVER, in moving to the west coast (for lurve) I'd left behind my adult sons, friends, lifestyle, and my spirit city – Sydney. Eventually, I just missed it all too much and when my sons said ‘we miss you too’ – the pull to return became too much. So through tears, I told my partner that I wanted to go back to Sydney. The great guy that he is, understood. Four weeks later I'd found a place to move into, had sorted transport across the country for my pets, and removalists had picked up my belongings.

The day I landed back in Sydney, as exciting as that was, my heart was still broken. The next day I felt battered and bruised from the adrenaline and stress.

I could barely string a sentence together and struggled to follow a thought through to its conclusion. Doesn't that sound familiar? In stressful times, cortisol is triggered flooding our brains and body – in preparation for fight or flight. And states of high emotion – like when we are in an argument, under pressure from an authority figure – or navigating a broken heart, are what the brain considers stressful.

When cortisol is pumping so too is our adrenaline, moving blood away from our brain and into our extremities. This is why we struggle to find the right words – sometimes any words – when we are under stress.

This is what happens when we get in front of a camera to make videos. It's why even confident public speakers struggle to not ramble when they go to record videos.

Being in front of a camera is an irregular activity for almost everyone on the planet! And the ones who do earn their living in front of a camera are acutely aware of professional pressures to perform.

This triggers an amygdala hijack and sets off a surge in adrenaline.

Professional presenters are prepared for this. They're versed in managing their minds in order to avoid a stress-induced overdose of cortisol and adrenaline that will hijack their ability to focus on presenting their message.

For others, subject matter experts, CEOs, coaches, consultants, and course creators the solution to not getting hijacked by stress responses, rendered unable to remember our point, (and ending up lost down a rabbit hole eating a plate full of waffles) is to prepare.

How do you do this?

Spend time talking your message out loud.

Get SUPER clear on the point, or points, you want to share. This creates a new neural pathway in the brain that will help you stay on track when the time comes.

Present your message in front of a mirror.

And best of all practice in front of a camera.

The more time you can spend presenting to a camera, the more you will convince your subconscious that it's not a big deal to do so.

As a video coach, my super secret tip is to actually get a bit ridiculous in front of a camera. Do and say stuff you won't be sharing or probably even watch back in private --the objective of this exercise is to 'convince the subconscious that presenting in front of a camera is fun!

Now can you imagine that 😆