027 Mic Shy? Let’s Talk
Talking on camera feels awkward? Let’s unravel why your mic anxiety isn’t a personality flaw, it’s just a muscle waiting to be trained.
Quirky Quiz Time 🥳
What’s one reason people often hate the sound of their own recorded voice?
A. It's usually out of tune
B. It's unfamiliar compared to what we hear in our own heads
C. It changes depending on the day
-
Correct answer: B It's unfamiliar compared to what we hear in our own heads - Your audience is not literally in your head. So how can you sound the same to them? 🤯
027 Mic Shy? Let’s Talk
Ever feel weird hearing your own voice or freeze up the second that record button hits? This livestream unpacks what confidence really means and why sounding like yourself is more than good enough.
Confidence isn’t something you either have or don’t, it’s something you build by showing up again and again. Whether you’re facing the camera or just a mic, that shaky start is part of the process, not a flaw. This episode reminds us that self-doubt is a shared experience, not a sign to stop.
If you’re one of the many who cringe at the sound of their own voice, this chat is especially for you. We unpack how audio anxiety shows up and what it actually means to “hate your voice!” Spoiler alert: it’s more about unfamiliarity than truth. And the good news? You can learn to work with your voice, not against it.
📚 Blog Post Recommendations for Further Reading:
From the VIC Podcasters Project, we have a podcast called “Crickets? Here’s How to Get Listeners Talking” How to boost engagement even when your confidence is wobbling 🔗 Read it here
For those navigating the land of voiceovers, podcasts, or client videos, we look at when visibility needs visuals and when your voice alone is powerful enough. There’s no one-size-fits-all here, just tools you can actually use. And if you want personalised support turning those tools into action, let’s chat about how we can work together to make your content shine without losing your cool.
If you’re struggling with visibility, whether that’s mic shyness or camera nerves, the ‘Pick Zoë’s Brain’ sessions are a fab way to get customised advice. You bring the self-doubt, I’ll bring the game plan. Book your session now at vcc.training/services.
-
00:00 – ANZAC Day shoutouts, tech hiccups, and a very honest hairpin situation
06:00 – Quick updates: networking events, holiday plans, and Vic Podcasters goodness
12:00 – Personal branding Q&A: how to find your mojo and who you’re really speaking to
18:00 – Philosophical detour: what is confidence and why it’s not about being loud
24:00 – The truth about mic fear and why hating your voice is normal (but not a blocker!)
30:00 – Editing and recording yourself when you don’t like how you sound
36:00 – Voice vs visuals: using voiceovers when you don’t want to be on camera
42:00 – Tips for building confidence like a habit, not a magical superpower
48:00 – Practice makes personality: why repetition is your new bestie
54:00 – Wrapping up with updates to the VCC website and how to stay in touch
-
(0:14 - 13:28)
Welcome everyone to this week's Video Confidence Connect with your host Zoe Wood, the Video Confidence Coach. Smashing your marketing mayhem with killer video strategies. Welcome to today's Video Confidence Connect on this the 24th, 25th I should say, of April 2025 which is Anzac Day.
So for any of those who have gotten up early for Anzac Day, I say hello and congratulations on getting up that early to enjoy this public holiday but also to pay respects. You can check out this live stream by watching or listening on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook or any other platform that I have ended up streaming this on. So thank you everyone for your patience this morning, we had a couple of technical issues with Windows updates and various other technical things so thank you so much for your patience today and as we get going today we will continue to make sure to answer your questions and your thoughts during today's live streams and any future live streams that we have.
So if you have any thoughts, questions or ideas about personal branding or video marketing strategies, feel free to reach out. Again, even if you're hanging in the replay squads, as in people who are not watching this live, you can always make sure to comment there and I'll do my best to respond every single time. You can find out more information regarding our live streams and our podcast that we record on our live streams at vcc.training. Before I'd like to carry on with the rest of today's live stream, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians and the lands in which I conduct my business.
I pay my respects to their elders past and present and stand with them, stand with the traditional custodians of these lands in working towards a more equal future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to face discrimination and disadvantage due to our country's colonial past. I stand with them in their fight against injustice.
Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. And as we carry on for today's live stream, yes, I want to thank everyone again for their patience and despite the amount of hairpins that I have in my hair, my hair is just not playing nice today. Of course not.
So I'm gonna pull out one of them and I'll pull you there, clip you in if you can clip, and we're just gonna get you out of my face today. That is the mood that I'm in. Let's just say it's been a rather interesting week at the Video Confidence Coach, so I thank everyone for joining us.
Looking at the past week that we've had, we will forgo any of the negatives and focus on the positives. So yesterday I was at the One Roof Women's Networking Connection event here in Geelong, so hello to everyone that I met there, both new and old. So I look forward to catching with you in future events as they come up.
Over this next week, you will see me on Sunday if you are a fan of Susan Kohlberg of the Nope Coach variety. If you're a fan of hers, you will see me at the HSP Business People's Networking Without the Schmooze event, hosted on Sunday the 27th at 9 a.m. Yes, it is networking on Sunday, but that's just because networking without the schmooze, but also we're international, so we're saying hello there. And also, as of next week, from Wednesday the 30th of April to the 6th of May, I will be on holidays! So my apologies, there will be no livestream next week, so hi, bye, but I'm taking my time off for the year with my family.
So thank you and respect all for you for that privacy, and also I'm going somewhere where there's no reception, so have fun contacting me, love ya! Don't worry, all my clients, you're all taken care of. All potential clients, don't worry, I'll go back to you as soon as I possibly can. And checking in with the Unboring Your Brand podcast, we have answering all your personal branding questions, of course, in the comments.
We have last week, which was Trust Your Own Marketing Mojo, and I did get a couple of comments about my George Michael impression at the start of the episode, and then on the cover I had Austin Powers with Mojo, baby. Yeah, I was clashing way too many cultural references into that episode, so thank you everyone for enjoying that ride with me. And this week, as we have coming up, we have episode 57, which is Who's Buying? Ask and Find Out.
So that is more asking, and that is more detailing into your customer avatar, and if you're unsure of what a customer avatar is, is essentially when you are making your content, when you're doing personal branding, when you're marketing your business, you're doing it for someone, you're not doing it for yourself, because if you're doing for yourself it would have been easy by now, but if you're doing it for other people, who is that person? What are they like? What do they want to know about your brand? What do they care about? And that is a customer avatar. So you'll check out that podcast episode when it comes out on Sunday. And thank you everyone as well for everyone who has responded to my email newsletters.
I want to thank everyone who has been patient with me. I know I understand email newsletters are really important and really crucial, I am just not that good at, like, not necessarily finding things to talk about, but making sure that I inform you as an email subscriber of what I'm doing. So I thank everyone for your patience and give me good kudos when I actually send it out.
So we've got a regular, like, fortnightly when that is being sent out, so make sure you sign up to the email newsletter on my website if you are already on there. We have a lot of useful goodies and a lot of useful tools that I give out freely to email subscribers, so make sure you're on that. And speaking of free, we have Vic Podcasters, which is a side project that I'm running for Victorian podcasters.
So if you're in the state of Victoria, Australia, and you are interested in podcasting or a seasoned pro, make sure you join us at Vic Podcasters on LinkedIn, Facebook, and our email newsletter. Again, the email newsletter is full free range because there is no algorithms trying to pull us back. So thank you everyone for your feedback, and as we grow the Vic Podcasters, I look forward to seeing what we can do with the Vic Podcasters.
Last week we had What Counts as Podcast Success, which was a pod episode about growth and analytics when it comes to your podcast. We had a lot of people asking about what does it all mean, how do I even, like, what should I care about? That is what we checked on in the podcast last week, so if you are interested or run a podcast, make sure you check that out. And this week we have In Regards to Scheduling, so these are more for newbies, but also for people who are going back into the podcasting game.
The episode title is Weekly Fortnightly Random Tuesdays. This will help people schedule their podcasts or find or choose a schedule that's best suited to them and their needs. So do not worry if you are new or a seasoned podcaster, you can always check out any of our useful resources for Vic Podcasters on my website bcc.training.com slash vic-podcasters, but also you can find out all the show notes and everything related to on the groups and the email newsletter, so you can always check those out in the description below.
So today we are going to be checking in on two podcast episodes for the Unboring Your Brand podcast. I take these live streams as opportunities to answer your questions, so an hour per week where I can answer any of your personal branding or video marketing questions. I also take this opportunity to record a couple of podcast episodes.
So again, I take this opportunity where I can help you out and serve you as best as I can and also take the opportunity to record some content for myself to help grow people's personal brands, but also get the best thing for them. So we're going to be touching on two topics today. We're going to be touching on what is confidence, so getting a little bit better, but that confidence isn't magic, it's just practise and making and giving you through a little bit of a winding story on how I got to that conclusion.
And then the second one we're going to touch on today, I'm going to do my best not to waffle on too much because I do have a tendency of the podcast ending up a lot longer than it should be. Hi, yes I do read your comments. We have a one that I have been repeated, I have been repeatedly asked over the past couple of weeks, is Zoe help I hate my voice overcoming voice recording anxiety.
So we're going to discuss how to best, not necessarily get over how your voice sounds, but putting it in some context so that when you need to record and edit yourself, or when you need to record a podcast, or when you start need to promoting yourself, you're gonna need to hear yourself, you're gonna need to see yourself through the lens of a camera, or through the lens of someone else. So we're going to touch on to that in today's podcast episodes. So in that meantime, make sure you check out the vcc.training, my website that I was mentioning before.
We have made some, we've made plenty updates regarding plenty of the things that we have going on, so I thank everyone for your patience. So we've got, of course we've got our updates to our services, and you've got all the details here where you can scroll down and find more details. And we've updated our contact form so that is working as opposed to not working, which is fun when it doesn't work because it makes me look like an idiot.
But hopefully that makes it a lot easier for people to get to where they need to go. And we've also updated our member area and also updated our reflection and cultural reflection. So thank you everyone who has let us know on some of the technical things that are wrong with the website.
I thank you so much for letting me know that those things were playing up, because of course they always are. But I thank everyone for your time and your energy. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pop back, put on the air conditioning, cool down a little bit, and make sure the background doesn't magically disappear.
I'll see you in a bit. Cherry says, I'm not a camera person, I like voiceovers and that's alright. And that's okay too.
You've still got your energy and your voice is still a personality of you. And when people are calling you, are messaging you, are reaching out to you to work with you, they're gonna hear your voice. So a voiceover is usually okay for most instances, especially for example like Cherry who works in graphic design where most of her services of graphic design, which is the output, usually speaks for itself most of the time.
Let me ask you a philosophical question. What is confidence? As a video confidence coach I should probably know the answer to that. And by happenstance, I do.
Welcome to the personal brand. Welcome to the unbra... Welcome! I should probably do that a couple of times. Welcome to the Unboring Your Brand podcast, with me your host Zoe Wood, the video confidence coach.
And yes, I did actually have the answer back in the recesses of my mind. And I'll tell you why. Because... So let me put this into context.
So I was having a walk along the Barwon River down here in Geelong with a good business friend of mine. So I regularly go on walks with business associates. I highly recommend that if you are able to, to go on walking meetings with like mentors or with business friends.
Or if people just want to catch up and have a coffee, I recommend going on a walking meeting. It is... you definitely feel a lot better. And of course that is coming from someone who is physically able.
So if you aren't, don't push that. But in those moments I found them really useful and really helpful. But again, tangents aside, Zoe.
So I was having a chat with a good workmate of mine, Hayden. And we were obviously walking along the river. And they... we... a lot of our conversations end up being a very ADHD web of nightmares.
So the tangents kind of spiral off themselves and pinpoint them and ping-pong off themselves. Very much like a pinball in a pinball machine. But eventually we kind of like got to the end of a conversation.
Got an end to a like conversation point or topic. And then he just kind of hit me with the, what is even confidence? And I took a breath, paused and then said, without really skipping a beat, confidence is just practise. And then they looked at me like I had... they were just confused.
(13:28 - 19:04)
Because they're like, A, how is that quick for you to be able to come up with an answer like that? But also just kind of looking at me like, what? So I provided him a full explanation of which now I'm going to provide you in podcast form. And also with my notes in front of me. Because I, as per usual, our tangents go for way too long and way too messy.
Which do not need to be in this podcast today. So ultimately, confidence. As you can imagine, the video confidence coach, it is the middle word of my name that a lot of people confuse with conference.
And my apologies if I do not enunciate confidence enough whenever I communicate myself or reach out to you. So my apologies if you've ever considered me video conference coach. No, I'm video confidence coach.
Because confidence is a very loaded word in our society and in our culture. But because confidence itself isn't a feeling, it's more of a habit. Now of course, you feel it in yourself, you feel it in your body, you feel it in your gut, you feel it in your chest, and you feel it in your heart.
That's where a lot of feelings come in to it. But when you're actually focussing onto it, confidence is ultimately a habit. It's not necessarily mystery, it's more of a muscle memory.
And the reason that I reference this and bring this up is because when people aren't confident in a particular area, or area of, say, their work, what they're doing, or their messaging, or they're not confident in the way that they do that, like format, or the way that they present that message. Again, I'm mainly talking to people who are building their personal brands, because obviously that is what I do, that is why you're here. But also confidence is a far-reaching thing throughout your life and throughout whatever you end up doing in life.
You need confidence in what you end up doing, and saying, and presenting yourself to the world. You have control of yourself. Most of us, and most of the time, have control of ourselves to be able to make that confidence a muscle memory.
So in turn, you don't get confidence and then act. You have the, and what a lot of people think is, oh I need the confidence to do the thing that I need to do. Ultimately, no.
You need to have the confidence first, in yourself, to then do the action, and then you kind of snowball into the effect of actually getting confidence from there. Because, as I mentioned, it's not necessarily something that you just get, or you spark. It's because of practise.
Do you feel confident in being uncomfortable? Do you find yourself in uncomfortable situations somewhat regularly, to the point where you can feel confident in your own ability to handle the stress? You feel your own ability to feel confident in handling when things are outside of your comfort zone. That is what confidence is. Confidence grows where consistency grows.
Now, I'm not talking consistency in your marketing. Now, of course, that is mishtiq. But what I'm focussing particularly on confidence, is making sure that you consistently grow that confidence within yourself, in your own actions, and your own words, to be able to bring out that confidence into new uncomfortable areas that you may not be familiar with.
So, there's a lot of people that I talk to. So, say, for example, I was mentioning this with Hayden, that some people are very confident in chaos. They can be in situations, say, for example, like triage nurses, firefighters, people who are very calm in situations of utter madness and chaos.
But I'm going to tell you now, for a lot of people on the outside, if you have someone in your life who is one of these workers, thank you. I send them the thanks from me. They do a lot of great work in the community.
And in that situation, it's not a case that they magically gain this confidence. And they'll tell you this if you talk to them yourselves. They don't come across it, or they don't think of it, as something that they've magically developed over time.
It's training. They've trained to be calm under pressure. In turn, they've practised this, and they've done it so often throughout their working lives and in their experience, to the point where they can do it so for a job, for a living.
Well, for a lot of people like this, they don't exactly make a living out of it. But let's not get into that today. Please pay your emergency workers.
Thank you, government. So, when it comes to those situations, they would very much answer... Now, of course, I'm not speaking on behalf of people who do this great work. But when it comes to people who you can think of, who are confident in that chaos, there are so many things that they've done and mistakes that they've made in the past, so that they've not exactly brushed themselves up, but more they've practised and made it a muscle memory to make sure that panic within themselves doesn't win.
There is a lot of people who I talk to, who I work with. So, for example, I work with a lot of coaches, but mainly, to be honest, I work with a lot of women and non-binary folk who have a message to say. And a lot of people that end up working with me are people who have had experience in their industry, in their niche, or working with the people that they're focused on for a very long time.
(19:04 - 25:45)
So, in turn, they have made a lot of mistakes. And even now, after a lot of experience, they still feel the panic. But they push that down, not to dissuade it, not to get rid of it, but they push it down because it's not for them.
The confidence rises through, the calm prevails, because it's a thing that they've practised, so they're less likely to just kind of feel like they're just holding everything by the belt of their pants and just going for a ride. But they're also able to reflect on, I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for others. Therefore, the calmness pulls through.
The panic doesn't win. Even if they are feeling panicked, the panic doesn't win. And that is what confidence is for you, and especially in your personal brand.
And ultimately, confidence in your brand is the same deal. When creating content or marketing yourself, so those two things are not necessarily equal, but they're fairly interchangeable. Posting, podcasting, pitching, it gets easier the more you do it, the more practise you have, the more training that you have.
You're not born confident on camera, you build it. And if you're feeling nervous, that's okay. I apologise if I'm hitting this too much, this episode.
If you are feeling nervous, that is okay. Because it doesn't mean that you're not ready, it doesn't mean that you need to completely turn everything off and, or run away from your dreams, or what you want to actually achieve with your personal brand. It doesn't mean that you aren't worthy of it in some sort of escalator way.
It means that you're still growing, you're still adapting, that you're still bridging that comfort zone to be that level of confidence for you. Throughout our lives, our confidence zone within ourselves grows and grows and grows as we experience new things, meet new people, come across challenges within our lives and in our business. And as you overcome those challenges, you grow, your comfort zone grows.
And with that comfort comes confidence. Comfort comes confidence. There's a lot of little words that I'm coming across in this particular episode today.
And I want to stress that in situations where you don't feel comfortable, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't be confident. So what I mean by that is that being safe but uncomfortable, that's the sweet spot when it comes to your confidence. Knowing that you are still safe in what you are doing and where you are and how you're helping people and how you're serving people, but it's still a little bit uncomfortable because it's not within your comfort zone, it's slightly outside of it.
And that is where the confidence comes in. Not just in your messaging, not just in your branding, not just in how you show up, like physically how you show up, and not just in how you reach out to your clients and your target market and how you like to help people. It's not just all that.
Yes, it is collectively backing up everything that you do. The confidence comes from within you and it doesn't come from avoiding the fear. It comes with actually embracing it and walking through it.
Once you become practised in something, not that it feels routine and boring, but it becomes a habit that you are able to extend to help and serve others. Because that's what your personal brand is ultimately. You're there to serve others.
And if you can practise being nervous, if you can practise feeling on edge, if you can practise being a little uncomfortable. Now I want to stress safety, but uncomfortable. You are still safe.
You are still in a situation that you are safe. You ultimately have control over your own personal brand. You ultimately have control over who you help.
And of course, you are in a privileged position where you've got this opportunity to help and serve other people. That is what we need and that is what we want when you're growing your personal brand. But you ultimately are still safe.
You're still bodily, mentally safe. So when it comes to bridging that confidence, maybe doing something that is not going to completely, you know, throw you over the edge into a panic attack. Like someone I can talk about.
Doing small steps to build up that training and build up that practise to be able to bridge that confidence into wherever you want to put your focus. This can be something as small as, say, posting the thing that you've been thinking about for too long. Just do it.
Saying a weird joke to the cashier at Woollies. Maybe. Maybe just talking to a stranger and just seeing where it goes.
Not expecting anything out of it. Just being polite. And say, for example, I recently, something that built my confidence is recently I had to change a tyre.
Now this is, I want to stress, this isn't the first time I've changed a tyre. I've done it plenty of times because of all the crap boxes I've had as cars throughout my life. But this time I felt a little uncomfortable because I was dressed in my gym gear.
I was on a main road in Geelong and I just wanted to get home. So I went there and I started to, you know, prepare everything and start undoing the lug nuts, as I was informed. And I felt confident enough that I could do it.
I watched a YouTube video to refresh my memory on how to do it. And I felt confident because I knew that I had that practise, not just from doing it before, but the wherewithal of I felt safe enough in a community to do it. Yes, I could have gotten insurance or, you know, someone else to come do it, a professional come out and do it.
But I'm just going to do it and leave. But as I did this, strangers saw me, obviously with my hazards on because safety first, people. People, even strangers were coming up asking, do I need help? Not just because, hopefully it wasn't just because I was a woman, but they saw, hey, you've got your hazards on, you're changing attire, do you need help? Are you okay? And I had to thank them and thank them for their generosity and their time.
And I ultimately felt safe enough. Also, I had very heavenly weaponry in my hands that if anything came to blows, I had physical heavenly weaponry. But other than that, I felt comfortable and safe enough to do the task that was at hand, that was to overcome the challenge that was in front of me, which was to change my attire, get home, and then fill it up with, and then deal with all the consequences from there.
(25:46 - 26:07)
The reason I give you that tangent is because that was a new experience for me that I haven't experienced in a very long time. But I felt comfortable enough and felt safe enough to be able to do that. And even though strangers were coming up asking, I needed help, they were doing it out of a sense of grace and a sense of gratitude and wanting to help a stranger.
(26:09 - 29:26)
So in the event for yourself, what can you do, or what activity can you do, either within your brand or within your business, or even out just in public, to start pushing or training that part of your brain, because again, ultimately this confidence thing is a brain thing, not exactly a physical thing, that wants to hide, that wants to pull away, that wants to just move away and keep yourself safe at all costs. Because of course, the brain is lovely at trying to keep us safe, even when it's trying to keep us away from experiences. So in that moment and in that time, I want to ask you, why practising matters more than the actual perfection of the task? Because confidence is about just knowing that you can do it.
The feeling inside yourself that you can do it, that you can talk on stage, that you can talk in a live stream, that you can get your message out there, that you can communicate to your audience effectively. Whatever your task is, of course, personal branding, marketing side on hat on, you're not going to do it flawlessly. You're not going to do it without mistakes.
Hell, I stuff up within this episode multiple times. You're aiming for familiar. You're aiming for something that's within your realm of capability to start building your confidence.
Because again, it is a habit. You are training yourself to get to that stage. Confidence is knowing that even if you stuff up, that you survive.
Because again, we're doing this in a safe place. And even if it turns out terribly, if it turns out crap, if everything goes to hell, your audience knows that you are doing it for them. Because that's where you are.
You're coming from a space and a time where you are doing it for them. So ultimately, they understand that it may not be completely perfect. But they understand that you're still learning.
Because everyone is. No matter what professional expert, no matter what guru you've seen online, or anyone that maybe role model that you role model yourself on because you see them as the beacon of confidence, they still make mistakes. They're still learning.
So give yourself that credence and that possibility that you are allowed to make mistakes to as you build your confidence. Because remember, confidence is practise. Your confidence ultimately should serve someone else.
And hopefully, should serve your audience or serve your customer avatar, who isn't exactly real, but you're still serving someone outside of you. And you're doing so not just with your personal brand, or your brand in general, or your small business, because you're talking to me here, Zoe the Video Confidence Coach. But you're also doing it for your own benefit.
Confidence isn't strutting around like you're on The Apprentice. It may feel like that politically, but it's definitely not what it is in the day to day life. It's also not for your ego.
It's so that your message lands. The confidence that you're able to express your message with heart and with emotion, so that you can tell people who are experiencing maybe the problems that you are there to fix, or at least to make better, that you've got something to say, and the confidence helps you say it. Because again, it's all background helping you push forward the message that people need to hear.
(29:28 - 29:45)
And if you can do it, you can actually do it with the confidence behind you. Especially with the practise that you give yourself. You don't wake up in this world knowing what you're going to do ultimately.
(29:47 - 30:04)
You're going to practise, you're going to learn, you're going to grow, and you're going to build up that confidence in yourself to actually do what you know that you want to do in this world. And building a personal brand is a part of that. Everyone at the end of the day has a personal brand whether they want to admit it or not.
(30:05 - 30:32)
And if you want to take control over that, you need the confidence to be able to tell people what you're on and all about. The way I talk to you here is how I talk to my clients, but also this is something that I've practised over time. And this confidence that people see or genuinely see me having or exuding in some cases is because of practise.
(30:33 - 30:45)
You can get to that point too if that's where you want to be. But you've got to put the reps in first. You've got to put the time and you've got to put the effort in first to be at this level or above.
(30:46 - 30:54)
I'm still nervous. I still get nervous at times. And when everything was going behind the scenes, it was going completely wrong.
(30:54 - 31:07)
I had so many technical issues, but I wanted to be here for you and I wanted to be able to give you this message. So in turn, here we are. I'm going to ignore the hair doing stuff.
(31:08 - 31:28)
So if you ever looked at someone, a role model, a guru, or even someone in your own life or your own family or friend group and thought to yourself, they're just so naturally confident. I'm never going to be like that. Well, I'm going to tell you now, this is friendly neighbourhood Zoe here.
(31:29 - 31:50)
I'm going to be telling you, nah, they are just more practised than you. And that's all. And even if they are in a situation that they have never experienced in their life before, they just might be more confident or practised in feeling that nerves, feeling that dread, feeling that fear and doing it anyway.
(31:51 - 32:16)
Confidence is practise. And even if there was a splash of awkward fumbles, maybe a few dodgy jokes, maybe some things don't land the way you want them to. You want to feel confident in your business and in your brand and ultimately in the content that you use to communicate with your target people.
(32:16 - 32:28)
So in turn, you don't need a secret formula. You need to practise. So all in all, I said all of this and probably much more to Hayden.
(32:29 - 32:48)
And he got the idea of what confidence really is and has started using it in his business. And from there being able to realise and even realise in himself that confidence comes. And when it comes, it's something that he is able to use to his advantage to help ultimately the people he serves.
(32:49 - 32:55)
So, hi Hayden. Hope you enjoy yourself. And thank you everyone for listening to today's podcast.
(32:56 - 33:09)
Make sure you give us five stars on Spotify or Apple podcasts and let us know how you found the podcast because I'd love to know. I want to thank everyone for joining us today. And I look forward to seeing you on the next Unboring a Brand podcast.
(33:09 - 33:34)
Not everything is going to be perfect at the gate. When you first started your business, were you crack hot straight away? Did you not make mistakes? Did you, like the first thing that you ever created, that you ever serviced, that you ever did for your business, was it absolutely perfect? No. Can anyone argue that what you do now is perfect? No.
(33:34 - 33:58)
The reason I ask that is because when it comes to marketing your business in general, you're going to make mistakes. You're going to make pitfalls. But hopefully the work that and the message that I put out there is that if you're willing to make mistakes that ultimately in the end of the day don't harm yourself and do not harm anyone else, then it's okay to make mistakes.
(34:17 - 34:24)
Zoe, I sound weird. What's going on? No, you don't sound weird. You don't sound off.
(34:24 - 34:29)
You don't sound wrong. You sound like you. Let me tell you how.
(34:31 - 34:57)
Welcome to this episode of the Unboring a Brand podcast with me, your host, Zoe Wood, the Video Confidence Coach.
(34:57 - 35:14)
So as you can imagine, this is a topic that I have heard over and over and over again and I wanted to do a podcast to address this particular foible as people have when it comes to actually getting in front of the camera. So we're doing the actual video confidence today as part of the podcast and I wanted to reiterate.
(35:14 - 35:31)
So this is a scenario I find people have when they come to me. They say, they immediately go, oh no, I hate this way that my voice sounds or as they usually say it as a throwaway line to a pile of other things where it's like, oh, I can't do that. This, this, this, this.
(35:31 - 35:35)
Oh, I can't possibly do that. This, this, this, this, this. I can't possibly do that.
(35:35 - 35:48)
Oh, and my voice sounds weird. You can imagine when that put in a pile with other things that usually people put up as barriers to their own marketing efforts. They put up to their own messaging.
(35:49 - 35:56)
They put up to their essentially kneecapping themselves when it comes to marketing their brand. I understand. I get it.
(35:57 - 36:18)
It's weird when you hear yourself being recorded for the first time. But if you want to share your message, if you want to grow your personal brand or grow your brand and your business, you need to step up and be the expert you already are. If you are a thought leader, you already are.
(36:18 - 36:31)
And to be that, you need to be in charge. You need to have opinions and you need to see them out loud. So you're going to have to get comfy with your own voice or at least you're not gonna have to cringe every time it plays back.
(36:31 - 36:40)
So in those moments, let's see why this is the case and how you can do it for yourself. So you don't even need to reach out to me. I mean, you can still do that.
(36:40 - 36:55)
I would love to help you with your personal brand and video marketing strategies, by the way. Hi. But in that case, I would love to be able to address this in this podcast, this live stream, as well as this opportunity for you in either a blog post or article.
(36:55 - 37:15)
However, this ends up coming out to you or you are reading and consuming this marketing message. So in those moments where you find that you record yourself in a video or in a podcast or in something and you come back and you listen back to it and you're like, this doesn't sound like me. It sounds weird.
(37:15 - 37:31)
Do I sound like... Do I make those noises with my mouth? Apologies for anyone. Do I really sound like that? Do I breathe that much? Oh my God. Those were the thoughts I had when I first started listening to myself back in a professional setting.
(37:31 - 37:57)
Now, of course, leading up to, as you can imagine, the drama queen that I am. I recorded myself plenty of times as a child and as a teenager leading up. But when I first started my business, arguably as a teenager, I started to record myself to explain things to clients about how they would get their message across by just doing it for them to start with, just to show that I'm not dead and to show that everything carries across.
(37:57 - 39:00)
But in that moment, I had to record something, view it back, edit it, watch it again and again and again so I could make this video as proper and as good as I had hoped it could be for my audience at the end of the day. But looking back at the science of this, the reason why something that is recorded from a piece of technology, like outside of you, as in like a camera, ultimately a microphone is a thing recording you, but a camera that has a microphone in it, your phone, where your microphone is at the butt end of your phone, or if you are, you know, hearing it back from another device that is not a human being, I don't know how you're going to hear a voice for another human being, I digress, but the way that it sounds is not the way that you hear it when you hear your own voice ringing around in your own head. And that's exactly what's happening, is because the sound, when we're speaking it through our throats and through our mouths, is not coming out into the world and then circling back magically and coming back into our ears.
(39:01 - 39:15)
It's bouncing around in our skull and we are hearing it from the other side, from the inside, if it were. Ew, gross. And when we hear these sounds, of course, we are going to sound different from anyone else who is not currently in our skulls.
(39:15 - 39:39)
So, as you can imagine, when you are recording this in the outside world, that's not what people hear because they don't need to hear all the sounds coming around from inside your skull. So, in turn, they hear your voice differently. So, we've gone over the science of this, but in those moments of just, you cringe listening back to something that you've created.
(39:39 - 39:50)
Again, you're creating it for your audience, you're creating it for someone else. That has gotten you over that hurdle to actually record the video. But now you have to look back at it and in most cases, for a lot of people, you have to edit it in some way.
(39:50 - 39:59)
So, you have to, what I like to say, is top and tail. So, at the start, when you're about to record and you press there and you get ready, take a breath and then you start talking. That's where you cut that out.
(39:59 - 40:07)
So, no one has to watch that. We call that the millennial pause on the internet. And, yeah, you don't really need that.
(40:08 - 40:17)
Most people want to be able to get into some sort of meat of your content within three to five seconds. And that's a fairly reasonable ask. So, make sure you actually get to the point.
(40:18 - 40:25)
Don't meander on, like me, on my podcast episodes where I've seen a couple of comments and a couple of emails regarding that. Don't worry. I promise I'm speeding up through.
(40:26 - 40:30)
Or I'm not. I've probably been on too many tangents. Deal with it.
(40:31 - 40:49)
So, there's that aspect. And then the end of the clip that you've recorded, just make sure you take out the bit where you're fumbling around trying to press the record button so it stops recording. So, in those moments, you are going to be reviewing the way that you look and the way that you sound over and over and over again, trying to get it right.
(40:49 - 41:00)
Because, again, it is not for you. It is for someone else. So, in these moments, what do you need to do to desensitise yourself to your own voice? Step one, you need to practise.
(41:01 - 41:21)
Which I know is annoying, but necessary. Yes, it may feel cringe at first, especially when you watch it back the first time. I'm going to tell you now that if you show the video to any of your friends or your family or anyone, maybe a staff member who is in the business with you or anyone close to you, they are going to say, it's fine.
(41:22 - 41:27)
It's you. And that's okay. Because everyone has to start somewhere.
(41:28 - 41:39)
The more you edit and listen to yourself, the less weird it gets. Because you are desensitising yourself to it. You are putting an awful lot of baggage on the recorded version of yourself.
(41:40 - 41:49)
I'm going to tell you that you're putting an awful lot of baggage on that recorded version of yourself. Especially if you don't see it as perfect. A lot of people I work with, that is the thing that gets them.
(41:49 - 41:58)
It is not perfect. It's not perfectly done first time around. I'm going to tell you now, I've been doing this for over half of my life and I'm still not perfect.
(41:58 - 42:37)
Have fun with that. So again, desensitising yourself just to the sound of your voice, but also desensitising yourself not having everything perfect is a helpful tip that you will also be doing in the meantime. You'll start also noticing useful things as you start reviewing yourself and being able to separate yourself from the creature that you've recorded in a video or an audio format to be able to kind of step back and go, all right, objectively, was my message clear? Was I rambling a bit too much? Did I say my message at the start and at the end? Did I say, I digress 47 times? That is a me thing.
(42:37 - 42:40)
That is not necessarily a you thing. So I apologise. I digress.
(42:41 - 42:49)
I say that way too often. I'm sorry. Step two is to break before you review.
(42:49 - 43:11)
So a lot of people I walk with, I work with, especially if you are in a TikTok or an algorithm on Instagram or any social media kind of sense where you record within the app and then you're immediately shown. As soon as you stop recording, you're immediately thrown back into what you've been recorded or what you have recorded the first time. So you can start editing and posting it straight away because we need more content for the algorithms.
(43:14 - 43:24)
I'm going to say, don't do that. If you recorded something within an app, just save it to your phone. Put the phone down and walk away and review it later.
(43:25 - 43:40)
Put a reminder in your alarm clock or your calendar or something to review later. Making sure that you take a break from either like a food break or a dog walk or a nap. Just giving your brain space to separate yourself from what has been recorded.
(43:40 - 43:55)
Now, I'm not saying that as a negative. I'm saying that just because when you're working with, say a professional editor, they are not the ones usually who are in the actual thing being recorded. So they are a lot more objective as to what is being presented to the audience.
(43:56 - 44:17)
So when you come back after your break and remember to come back after your break, you come back with fresh ears. You become less emotionally attached because it was half an hour ago, an hour ago, a couple of hours ago, maybe in a couple of days. You have become more objective because that person, yes, is you, but yes, is you in the past.
(44:18 - 45:02)
And you're able to slowly build up that tolerance to be able to look back at you from the recent past as another being that you can start critiquing and start utilising in your own future content. So once you have reviewed and possibly edited out of this couple of the things where you maybe stumbled a bit too much, said I digress a couple of times, or topped and tailed, as I mentioned before, step three is to let someone else listen. So grab a mate, grab a business associate, grab a friend, a family member, maybe a staff member, or even your nan would be ultimately helpful to grab someone who is in your target market or someone who is a good reflection of the audience that you actually cater to.
(45:02 - 45:13)
But we don't always have that. So in some moments, just grab whoever you have near and chances they'll say yes, especially if it's your first couple of times doing it. Maybe it's the 100th time, probably not.
(45:13 - 45:29)
But by then, hopefully you'll give enough confidence in yourself to practise doing it so then you can see what is right and what is wrong. And they said, and I'll tell you, nine times out of 10, they'll say, you sound fine. What's wrong? That is what will happen.
(45:30 - 45:42)
And they'll probably give you feedback. Great. Then you can tweak that in future performances, not necessarily have to edit it perfect the right one, but to give you a chance to give you that confidence to get going.
(45:44 - 46:00)
And moving on to step four is comparing ultimately. So we've done the actual recording of it and checking in on it and giving someone else to have a look at it. We're at step four, which is comparing high focus recordings to casual ones.
(46:01 - 46:17)
So no matter what you do and no matter what device that you film on or record yourself on, you are going to sound different versus when you are passionate to when you are laid back and chilling. This is going to come out in your breath. It's going to come out in your posture.
(46:17 - 46:49)
It's going to come out in the energy that you bring to not just your words, but how you physically look and act on screen or in some cases, like now in the audio recording. It is all going to shift your tone. And in turn, eventually when I highly recommend when it comes to something that you are very passionate about and very interested about and very wanting to make sure that your audience actually attests and make sure they remember it, bring that passion out like I do with my podcast episodes.
(46:49 - 47:02)
Hopefully, hopefully you're not bored. The pros have trained themselves to hit that passionate mode on cue. And you can too, because you are doing ultimately this for someone else.
(47:02 - 47:20)
So as you practise, you're able to bring that passion out in not just the words that you're saying, but the tonation that you're saying it to. Your voice and your message isn't just for you. I mean, like it comes from you, don't get me wrong, but it is for your audience.
(47:21 - 47:57)
People who need your help, your ideas, your encouragement, your solution to their problem need to hear you say it. They need you to say it out loud, to actualise their swirling problems, their mayhem into a usually succinct message with your actual voice, not AI, not just something that you are manufacturing. Your actual voice to make them feel less alone, to make them feel like there is a solution to their problem, especially when their problem is mental or internal or something nebulous.
(47:57 - 48:06)
It's not something that they can just, you know, get something done within the next hour. Your job is not to sound perfect. Your job is to be understood.
(48:08 - 48:39)
And in turn, you need to be out there getting your message out there. So I know ultimately that your voice may sound cringe now, but as you practise, as you keep going, that will fade with time. And if it runs deep, like if the cringe does not stop and you've done it a handful of times, even after practising and supporting and actually sticking to it, it might be time to have a chat with a therapist.
(48:39 - 48:57)
Like, I'm not being shameful. I'm saying genuinely, having a chat with a therapist, if it is something that you really want to achieve, but your own mental hurdles are holding yourself back, it's not shameful, it's smart. So go talk to someone about it.
(48:59 - 49:24)
Recommending therapy. One thing I want to touch on before I end this episode is you would not ridicule a baby for falling over as they're learning to walk. So why be mean to your beginner self when you're learning to talk on mic, when you're learning to present your message, when you're learning to be on stage, when you're learning to be in front of the camera? Give yourself time.
(49:24 - 49:35)
Give yourself grace. And remember, your me- I will do that again for myself. And remember, your message matters.
(49:37 - 49:45)
More than your discomfort. Your audience matters more than your discomfort. You've got this.
(49:46 - 50:09)
And if you need, I'm right here to help you say it out loud. Thank you again for listening to the Unboring Your Brand podcast with your host Zoe Wood, the video confidence coach, smashing your marketing mayhem with killer video strategies. Make sure that you give this podcast five stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts if you have enjoyed listening or watching.
(50:09 - 50:24)
Hi. To this podcast. I really hope that you have gotten a lot out of today and I'm aware that some people have mentioned that I do like to ramble a bit in my podcasts and I thank you for being able to stick it out with me during this time that I've been rambling, honestly, a bit too much.
(50:25 - 50:46)
Ultimately, I hope that you have gotten something out of this and you're able to either start recording yourself and looking back objectively or get back into the swing of things because people need to hear your message. Bye. Lisa asked the question, one thing I struggle with is keeping my emotions in check on video.
(50:47 - 51:02)
I work in animal welfare and often end up crying. Any tips for controlling the rush of emotion when I speak about what I do and why I do it? Stepping out of the shot and focussing on filming the cats sounds like one way. And that is definitely true, Lisa.
(51:02 - 51:37)
Being able to just have the focus be on the cats is probably a good way to go about it. And if you do need to be in front of the camera, because again, most of the time, especially when it comes to animal welfare, people are going to be focused on the animals. But if you are, say, for example, going to be, like I mentioned before, you are going to be the one that is going to be picking up the phone, answering the messages, answering the texts, then people feel a lot more comfortable interacting with you because they know that you are going to be the one who they see ultimately when it comes to humans and doing the humans' interactions.
(51:37 - 52:05)
So when it comes to emotions, especially emotions as gut-wrenching, as ones that are involved in animal welfare and the care of animals, I definitely recommend not going with live streams, probably going with pre-recorded videos and giving yourself that opportunity to take those breaks. As I mentioned before about filming when you have the highest energy in the day, that's always a good chance to be able to keep your emotions in check. You'll have more energy.
(52:06 - 52:53)
Say, for example, if you are someone who has more energy at the start of the day, film your videos either in a location that is more comfortable to you, so be it at home in, say, a home office or a lounge room or somewhere where there's nice soft furnishings that you can sit down and you can be comfortable in because there's less chance of your... And again, I hate to use the term negative emotions because there is no such thing as negative emotions. But to be able to feel comfortable in yourself enough that you're able to get the message through and get the message clear enough without the need to, say, cry because, again, the work that you do is definitely needed. Thank you, everyone, for joining us for the Video Confidence Connect today on the 25th of April, 2025, Anzac Day.
(52:53 - 53:00)
So thank you, Rachel, for your comment about cheese. Yes, I do like cheese too. And thank you, everyone, for listening and watching this on the Hashtag Replay.
(53:00 - 53:17)
Make sure that you put your comments down below. I do my best to respond to every comment that I have and make sure that I answer your personal branding on video marketing questions. You can always check out the show notes in the description below at vcc.training/video-confidence-connect where you can find out the show.
(53:17 - 53:46)
So the show notes is essentially where I put all the links of everything that I've mentioned in the live stream, but also a place where you can read as well as being able to listen to the live stream as I have presented it to you today. Ultimately, if you're feeling stuck trying to build a personal brand that actually turns heads, women and non-binary folk deserve more than a cookie cutter approach to their worries. The Video Confidence Coach untangles your marketing mayhem, helping you own the camera, craft killer video strategies, and connect with your audience like never before.
(53:46 - 53:57)
You'll leave with the tools to show up, stand out, and smash your goals. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week. And I will see you in two weeks for the next Video Confidence Connect because next week I'm on holiday.
(53:57 - 53:57)
Bye!
The above livestream episode description and transcript were generated together human knowledge + ai.
Listen to the edited livestream in a podcast episode
Who is your host?
Feeling stuck trying to build a personal brand that actually turns heads? Women and non-binary super-stars deserve more than just a cookie-cutter approach to their worries. Zoë Wood the Video Confidence Coach untangles your marketing mayhem, helping you own the camera, craft killer video strategies, and connect with your audience like never before. You’ll leave with the tools to show up, stand out, and smash your goals.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
Smashing Your Marketing Mayhem With Killer Video Strategies 🧡
Related weekly livestreams
