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Hey legend,
It’s one thing to commit to content.
It’s another thing to know how to do it.
So like just Luke, you might also be a little unsure of how to film yourself.
And trust me – I know that filming yourself can feel:
- Egotistic or self-centered
- Awkward, unnatural and contrived; or
- Embarrassing, especially if you’re doing it in public
I’ve faced these feelings countless times while recording myself.
And if I’m honest, I’ve learned how to move beyond those feelings by… recording myself thousands of times for over 10 years.
But – I’m not going to suggest the same for you.
Of course, mastery comes from long-term consistency.
But, if you can’t start and, more importantly, continue creating, you’ll never do it for long enough to reach long-term mastery.
After reading Greg McKeown’s Effortless, I’ve entirely changed my philosophy on supporting my clients with content creation.
And it’s all by just asking this question every time something feels hard.
“What if this could be easy?”
– Greg McKeown
This approach of “inversion thinking”, basically flipping a situation on its head, invites us to creatively consider alternative options to what we’re currently doing.
As we tend to get stuck into familiar patterns and grooves, like skiing paths carved out in the snow, we don’t zoom out enough to question if our approach is still the most efficient or effective way to keep doing it.
When helping my clients level up their content creation, I’m now focused on removing as much physical, mental, emotional and/or technical friction from their process.
Because having friction with anything you do in life is like trying to drive a car with your handbrake engaged.
Sure, you might be able to inch forward, but it’s a painful process (and also unnecessary).
If you’ve struggled to find a content creation process that feels effortless, it’s probably because you’ve faced recurring challenges that made it harder than it needed to be or you didn’t know how to simplify it.
In this guide, I’m breaking down the solo content creation framework I’d be using if I was a beginner and starting today.
Let’s groove 🕺🏽
1. Film Your Talks
Now this question might be straight but go with me..
Do you need a script when talking with friends, customers or clients?
No.
(Or I hope not)
That’s because those conversations are natural.
You don’t have to think about them because you know and are comfortable with whatever you’re talking about
It just…flows.
It’s…effortless.
So why not capture content when you’re in this effortless state?
If you’ve ever had to deliver a speech in front of a classroom or in front of colleagues, I’m sure you went through the experience of:
- Scripting/outlining
- Using queue cards/a Powerpoint to follow; or
- Practising it over and over and over and over again…
To be clear – I’m not against preparation.
But if you feel you need to do this for every piece of content you create, you’re making it harder than you need to be.
Here are the 2 everyday situations that you can use to capture yourself talking in an effortless state.
🎥 For the film nerds: this is basically a clever way to capture your main (“A-Roll”) footage that will be the story (“script”) of your content
(i) On a Walk
There’s a reason why Steve Jobs, arguably one of the most creative and innovative minds of the last century, made his meetings…walking meetings.
He often remarked that the best conversations and business ideas came from walking meetings and not during seated or static ones
And the research backs it up.
Physical movement, such as walking, increases the oxygen supply to the brain and stimulates neural activity, promoting creativity and cognitive flexibility.
This enhances your idea generation and problem-solving, which is why you’ll often have many ‘a-ha moments’ that solve challenges you’ve been sitting on for hours, days or weeks.
In short – when the body moves, the brain grooves.
So when the idea is hot, whip out your smartphone camera, hit record, and start talking.
As spontaneous ideas (and the energy behind them) fade over time, capture them at the moment.
Yes – you may stumble over your initial words, but you’ll quickly warm up, and your delivery will be much more natural, confident and animated.
Fellow newsletter subscriber and Dutch-based designer Peter Kuyt set a challenge to start sharing branding lessons and ideas with his LinkedIn community by recording himself during his daily walks and coined the series #talkingthewalk
And he’s now got a community of raving fans (including me) that are tuned for every video.
It’s engaging, thoughtful, and personable content.
Upon hitting his 10th video share, he thanked his community in this Linkedin post and pulled one of his beautiful reflections, about how walking in nature helps him access and articulate more profound thoughts:
“Walking in nature has always been helpful in reflecting and coming up with new perspectives. This self-imposed sharing challenge focuses my thinking more. When a thought surfaces, I play around with it longer until it’s something coherent (in my view at least)“
– Peter Kuyt
And remember:
If you’re worried about feeling embarrassed recording yourself talking to your smartphone in the presence of others…
(ii) On a Video Call
The second way to capture yourself in an effortless state applies to those working in office-based or online environments involving video calls with clients or customers.
In short, record and re-purpose snippets of you as you share insights, examples, solutions, or anything your potential customers, or professional community, would also find valuable.
Of course, I’m not talking about sharing personal or confidential snippets – just snippets of educational-based content that SHOWCASES your natural energy and genuine expertise.
Here’s how you can do the same:
This is how I’ve captured so much content that I’ve had clients or customers share with me, “I really liked your vibe from your content”, even though we’ve never met in person.
You might think recording yourself like this will feel weird in the moment, but trust me:
Once you start engaging with your client or customer, you’ll forget that the camera is recording you because you’ll be focused on engaging with the person on the other side of your video call.
2. Film Your Action
Now that we’ve captured an idea, thought or story, let’s film you doing things that align with what you’ve mentioned in your talking footage.
🎥 For the film nerds: this is just a clever way of capturing complimentary (“B-Roll”) footage that you can layer on top of your talking footage to reinforce your talking points.
With the help of my fellow newsletter subscriber and audio nomad Diveakssh ‘Divi’ Schae, I’ll share 2 prompts as they relate to how you film your action:
- Position: Intimate Vs. Contextual
- Format: Real-time Vs. Timelapse
Sidenote: Divi is one of the most talented storytellers I know. Not only does he share incredible video snippets of his travels but also the creative process behind how he wrote and released his debut album ‘Moments of Clarity’. If you’d like to support him and his journey, you can check out his release and treat yourself to some remarkable listening.
Now let’s capture you doing yo’ thang.
👇🏽
(i) Position
🤔 Where do you want to position your viewer relative to you?
Instead of thinking about it as the position of your camera, think of it as the position of your viewer and how you’d like them to experience your scene
You can set it up for your viewer to experience an:
Intimate scene
A close-up shot of you showcasing your craft, product or service, typically within a few metres of you.
Contextual scene
You can also help your viewer better understand what you do by capturing a shot of you from further back that subtly communicates your lifestyle or location.
(ii) Format
🤔 How is the viewer experiencing your action?
Real-time
This one’s straightforward – use the standard video format on your smartphone camera to capture real-time moments.
Timelapses
Suppose you’re capturing a process that times time from start to finish, such as building something, creating a product, doing a routine, or being in transit. In that case, a Timelapse is a great way to make your viewer appreciate your process.
Be sure to:
- place your smartphone in a steady position (i.e. use a tripod)
- select the Timelapse feature in your camera settings; and
- make sure you’ve got plenty of battery and storage capacity and Do Not Disturb mode turned on!
And that’s it, my friend!
You’ve got the guide to start filming yourself as you’re doing yo thang.
“Document, don’t create.”
– Gary Vaynerchuk
So, in summary, the 2 ways you can film yourself are:
- Talking (A-Roll): Walking or Video Calls
- In-Action (B-Roll): Positioned for intimacy or context, formatted for real-time or timelapses
We’ll also be opening the door for the next intake of our Storyteller Sprints soon, so if you’d like to be notified when it happens, join our waitlist as we’d love to have you join our community.
See you in the next one,
🕺🏽 Mamba