How to Make Videos while Being an Introvert

Being an introvert and making videos or live streaming IS possible. I talk about strategies to help ease the process and the common mistake/bad advice to avoid at all cost.

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🕒Timestamps🕒

1:08 Definition of an introvert

1:14 The difference between being an introvert and being shy

2:32 The bad advice for introverts that I hear all the time

4:51 How to embrace your introversion

6:20 Leveraging your introvert strengths

8:04 How to think of confidence differently

9:18 Reminder of the serendipity of life for introverts

12:02 What happens when you create more videos

How to Make Videos while Being an Introvert – Video Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the live stream. If you’re joining me live now. Hello, and thanks for joining me. And if you are catching us on the replay, welcome. So in today’s video, I’m going to be talking about how do you make videos?

How do you live stream as an introvert? And this really is about introvert, my people, this video is for you. So the quiet, the shy, the awkward people. You’re my people. This video is all for you.

And I’m talking about strategies to help introverted people, awkward and shy people kind of like myself, muster up the courage to be on camera and to be more confident on camera. So for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sara Nguyen, and I help coaches, consultants and creative pros build their businesses using video on social media.

Now make sure that you check out the links in the description, because I’m going to go back and I’m going to put all of the timestamps as well as any resources that I mentioned in this video. So I want to start off by saying that I really feel that introverts, we’re really misunderstood.

And I want to clarify that there is a difference between being an introvert and being a shy person. So an introvert is someone who gets their energy from spending time alone. As introverts, we love solitude. We love being alone.

Unlike extroverts, who get their energy from social interactions from being around people. As an introvert, we need to use extra energy when we’re in social situations and being in large groups of people often drains us as introvert.

So we need time to recharge. After spending time with groups of people. As introverts, we really enjoy solitude rather than seeking out external stimulation. Now, this is different to the definition of being shy.

Whereas, being shy is about being nervous or uncomfortable around people or social situations. I’m just going to get some water. And if you hit the jackpot like me, you can be both introvert and you can be shy. So if you’re lucky like me, you get to be both, but they’re not the same thing, but people mistake them for being the same thing.

And when it comes to being on camera as an introvert, whether you’re looking to do live streams or whether you’re looking to record videos to upload to YouTube, there is a lot of really bad advice out there probably created by the extroverts, probably created by, you know, all the overconfident people pretending like they know what it’s like to be an introvert, but I don’t want you to listen to them.

So this is from the perspective of someone who is an introvert. This is from the perspective of someone who wasn’t always comfortable with being on camera, I think, pardon me, most common advice and bad advice that I see floating around all the time, particularly for introverts who want to get on camera is to fake it ’til you make it.

And I really feel like this is the worst advice you could possibly give an introvert. And it’s as useless as the advice that people give kids, kids who need to do public speaking or kids who need to speak in front of an audience.

And what’s the advice that people give kids. They give them horrible advice. Like, imagine all of your classmates are naked. Now, one that’s traumatizing. And why is that even good advice?

That’s as bad as the advice as fake it ’til you make it. And fake it ’til you make it is horrible advice for an introvert because you’re telling someone to be someone that they’re not right. And when you’re faking it and pretending to be either a loud personality or over the top, that’s exhausting, that’s exhausting to maintain, and it’s not who you are, right?

So why are we pretending to be something that we’re not? That’s horrible advice. It’s also exhausting because it’s, it’s hard enough being on camera for the first time or being on camera as a new thing, without pretending to be someone else.

Like if you fake it ’til you make it, that’s just a direct path to imposter syndrome. It’s really hard enough without adding, you know, the part of feeling like a fraud and having imposter syndrome.

So really don’t let anyone tell you as an introvert that you need to fake it ’til you make it. You need to be this over-energetic person. If that’s not who your personality actually is. So what should you actually be doing instead?

So this is my favourite. I’ve got a couple of strategies that will help you introverts help you awkward, shy people. I know what it’s like to be that person and to have to work through it in order to be on camera and to present yourself on camera, really struggling a little bit today.

So the first piece of advice that I have for you, is just embrace your introversion, right? Just because we’re introvert doesn’t mean that we don’t have personality. It doesn’t mean that we’re not fun.

It doesn’t mean that we’re not hilarious and buckets of fun. By nature, introverts, we really enjoy time being, we really enjoy time alone to create. I want you to embrace this and to leverage this space, to take the time, to prepare and to develop your content.

And this means taking the time to outline your content, taking the time to research and structure your content because this is bliss for us introverts. We love this. This is our strength to take the time, to really nurture the content, to make it amazing.

And this is how we get in our zone of genius. And we can create content that differentiates us from everyone else.
A big question I get asked all the time is how do I differentiate myself on video?

How do I, how do I make myself stand out? Introverts we do that through our content, right? I just knocked on the table and the microphone. Introverts, we do this by taking the time to add to the quality of the content, to research it, to make sure that we’ve covered all of things from our perspective to the best of our abilities.

And we can create this content and make it amazing because it’s part of our personality to spend the time alone to create, you know, take the idea, nurture it, and then make it into something. So that’s the first piece of advice that I have for you.

Embrace being an introvert, spend the time alone to be creative and to develop your content. The second piece of advice that I have for you is really to leverage your introvert strengths. I’m really struggling today. My throat is like dying.

As introverts, we really enjoy spending time with just one or two people. So large groups are exhausting for us. We know that, but we love being with one or two people and having depth in conversation. So leverage this.

Whenever I go on video to live stream or to create a video, I don’t think of it as, “Oh, I’m about to speak to hundreds or thousands or however many people”. That’s really not the best way to, I guess, think about being on video as an introvert, what will benefit you more is to think about video as a connection between you and just a few close people that you can connect with.

And this will allow you to shine through because we like to have the depth of conversation with a few people. So instead of overwhelming yourself and freaking out and thinking, “Oh no, I’m going to go on camera.

I’m going to live stream and there’s going to be thousands of people”. Don’t think of it that way. Reframe it, reset your mindset, that it’s an intimate conversation with you and a few people.

And this will allow you to have that depth in that conversation and that dialogue and have the depth of that dialogue, as opposed to thinking that it’s this overwhelming, I guess, performance to thousands of people. And I, I do this for my own live streams, regardless if there are five people, if there are 50 people, if there are 10 people, I think of it as a dialogue between me and you, between me and a few close people.

And that’s how you reframe it. And that’s how you can leverage the strength because we like to have deep conversations with a few people. Now, the third piece of advice that I have for you is to think about confidence differently.

So confidence, isn’t a permanent state of being, it’s a process, right? And I don’t, I personally don’t feel confident every single time I’m on camera. A lot of thoughts go through my head. Like right now, I am struggling.

There is something in my throat. Someone threw me off just before the live stream. They’re making a lot of noise and you know, I’m not perfect. Every time I turn on the camera and I too think, am I going to embarrass myself?

Am I going to look okay? Is my makeup okay? Do I look okay? Like I freak out a little bit as well, and you can probably relate to a lot of these feelings as well, particularly if you are new to being on camera. And the thing is I don’t have perfect confidence.

I don’t think anyone really does because perfect confidence doesn’t really exist. And it probably shouldn’t even be the goal. And I don’t think it should be the goal for live streaming, let alone anything in life.

Instead, I think you should aim for confidence as something that you’re continually, always working on. As opposed to thinking, I need to be confident and perfectly confident.

I think you should think of it as, as I do this more, I’ll get more confident and I’ll get better at it. So it’s about reframing your concept of confidence and perfect confidence.

Now, lastly, I know I said the other few are my favourite, but this is probably the favourite of my advice for introverts and live streaming. I really want to say that if you’ve been following my content for a while, I’ve said it a few times that I really believe in the serendipity of life, that if you’ve got a message and you’ve got something to say, there’s someone else out there who desperately needs to hear it.

And by not being on video and by not embracing the technology that we have these days to live stream, to access, you know, being able to broadcast, you’re actually doing a disservice to yourself and to the person who needs to hear your message.

And I think that is what is the most important part. It’s that the world needs to hear what you’ve got to say. And by not going in to live streaming, you’re denying the world.

You’re denying someone who needs to hear it, right? And even if you live stream or record video and watch back and think, man, I’m super awkward, or I’ll probably watch back on this and think I struggled because my throat seems to be weird.

It was okay before. It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter. As long as you are really being who you are and you were giving it your best, your tribe, your people, they will see you and they will appear.

And they will hear your message. And that is all that matters. So now what happens, let’s, let’s talk about, we’ve talked about a few things, but I talked about embracing your introversion.

So don’t pretend to be an extrovert. Don’t pretend to be this outgoing jumpy person. If that’s not who you actually are. I talked about taking the time to develop your content in solitude.

It’s what we do. It’s our strength. And we can use this time to create content that’s on point and that would differentiate you. And that will help you make, that will help you feel more confident.

I also want you to reframe thinking about video, as opposed to thinking about video as something where you freak out, because you need to broadcast in front of hundreds, thousands, 20 people, whatever it is, think of it as a conversation between you and a few close people.

And that will help you get through the video that will help you have more depth in the actual conversation and dialogue of the video. I also want you to reframe thinking about confidence, as opposed to thinking about the need to have perfect confidence, think of confidence as a process.

And also to remember that there is someone out there who needs to hear your message, and you need to allow yourself to show up on camera so that the world can be a better place.

So if you do these things, if you give yourself a chance to be on camera as an introvert, to get your message out there, I just think if you take the time to build up your content and to show up and to continue to refine your muscle of being on video, a year from now, I just think about one, the catalogue of content that you create.

It would just be amazing. Like if you, if you live stream or you create video once a week and a year from now, you’ll have like over 50 videos. And what happens with 50 videos? Let me tell you what happened.

When I started to create content more consistently, I got more reach. I got brand deals. I got collaborations. I got sales. I had people, I have, I still have people reaching out for me for coaching and consulting.

And this can happen for you too. And it’s coming your way. And I know this because it happened for me and it will happen for you too. If you work that muscle if you give yourself a chance to embrace being an introvert, embrace, being a shy and awkward person and get your message out there.

So that essentially wraps up today’s live stream. Thanks, everyone for bearing with me and thanks everyone for joining me on the live stream.

Hi, Pete. Pete says that perfection doesn’t exist. And isn’t that the truth? And I also think perfection is a form of self-sabotage as well. We go, “Oh, I can’t do it because I’m not perfect”.

Therefore, you don’t do it. And if you don’t do it, then you can’t be judged. Right? So that definitely is, definitely some good sounds there.

So thanks everyone for joining me. And Pete also says that you’ll be surprised how quickly you find your tribe. There are more people out there like you than you think. And isn’t that the truth? Right?

And I noticed specifically for me as well, because when I first started creating YouTube content and I started doing tech reviews, and I started doing tutorials, you know, there wasn’t a lot of people who look like me, who, you know, who are female, who are Australian-Vietnamese, who are a bit awkward, who stumble a little bit.

There’s not a lot of people like me. You can’t really do it. But then people showed up, you know, and people resonate with relatable people. And I think being not perfect makes you more relatable and you will be really surprised by, you know, your tribe and who’s really out there.

So that essentially wraps up this live stream. Thanks everyone for joining me. And thanks everyone for holding, holding on with me while I struggled through today a little bit. Now, if you found this video useful, give me a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more videos about live streaming.

I do tech reviews. I do social media tutorials and introverts. If you are looking to step up your game if you’re looking to go live, make sure you grab a copy of my Facebook Live Cheat Sheets.

It’s a super simple guide to get you up and streaming on Facebook live, even if you’ve never hit record before. So I’m going to put the link somewhere on the screen, as well as in the description. So make sure that you grab that it’s free.

Hopefully, everything’s working, and that essentially is it. So I really, introverts, hope that you heard the message today, that you as yourself are amazing enough to be on video.

And I hope to see you on a live stream or a video, drop it in the comments so I can check it out, and I will see you in the next live stream. Bye for now.