How to look natural on camera when you are not a natural
Practical fixes for stiffness on camera, from framing, light and eye line to energy, hands and the first ten seconds, for people who talk to a lens for work.
By Ebenezer Don4 min read
Very few people look relaxed on camera the first time. The ones who seem natural usually learned a handful of specific habits, most of them about setup and preparation rather than personality.
Here are the ones that make the biggest difference, roughly in order of how much they help.
Fix the setup first
A lot of what reads as "awkward" is the frame, not the person.
Camera at eye level. A laptop camera below your face looks up your nose and makes you lean down into it. Raise the camera, or the laptop, until the lens is level with your eyes.
Distance. Too close and every small movement looks big. Sit or stand far enough that the frame shows your head and shoulders with a little space above. On a phone, that is further than feels normal.
Light from the front. A window in front of you, slightly to one side, is the most flattering light most people have. A window behind you turns you into a silhouette.
Sound. People forgive soft video much more than bad audio. A microphone close to you does more for how professional you seem than a new camera.
Talk to one person
Imagine a specific person behind the lens: a friend, a client, the viewer you most want to help. Then say the video to them.
This changes three things at once. You use "you" instead of "you guys". Your voice drops into a conversational register instead of a presenting one. And your face reacts to what you are saying, because you are telling someone something rather than performing it.
Keep your eyes on the lens
Eye contact is the thing viewers feel most, even if they cannot name it. Looking at your own image on the screen instead of the lens means your eyes sit slightly below the camera, which reads as looking away.
- Put whatever you are reading as close to the lens as you can.
- Cover or hide your own preview while recording if it pulls your eyes.
- When you need to look away to think, look away fully and come back. A short, deliberate glance reads as thinking. A slow drift reads as reading.
If you work from a script, the guide on reading a teleprompter without looking like you are reading covers column width, distance and pace.
Bring a little more energy than feels right
Cameras flatten. The energy you bring to a normal conversation comes across as slightly low on video. Most presenters aim for about 10 to 20 percent more than feels natural in the room. It will feel too much at first. Watch it back before deciding it is.
Ways to get there without shouting:
- Stand up if the format allows it.
- Smile before the first word. It changes the sound of your voice.
- Vary your pace. Slow down for the important line, speed up through the connective bits.
Give your hands something to do
Hands are the other common source of stiffness. Gripping the desk or hiding them both look tense. Let them move the way they would if you were explaining something to a friend, inside the frame and below your chin. If you have nothing to gesture about, rest them loosely in front of you. Holding a pen is fine too.
Rehearse the start, not the whole thing
The first ten seconds are where most people look most nervous, and they are also the most watched part of the video. Rehearse those out loud a few times. Once the opening flows, the rest tends to follow.
Do not rehearse the whole video into a memorised performance. Memorised delivery sounds memorised. Know the structure, know the opening, know the ending, and let the middle be talked.
Mistakes are fine. Stopping is the problem.
Everyone stumbles. On camera, the instinct is to stop, sigh, and restart from the top, which makes every take a little more tense than the last.
Instead: when you trip, pause, breathe, and say the sentence again. Then keep going. Cutting a repeated sentence in the edit takes seconds, and the take around it stays relaxed.
Watch it back, once
Watching yourself is uncomfortable, and it is the fastest way to improve. Watch each video once, with sound, and note one thing. Only one. Next time, fix that. "Look at the lens more in the first ten seconds" is a better note than a list of twelve things you dislike.
Over ten videos, the list of single notes will be the most useful coaching you get.
The short version
- Lens at eye level, light in front, microphone close.
- Talk to one specific person.
- Eyes on the lens, text right next to it.
- A bit more energy than feels natural.
- Hands loose and in frame.
- Rehearse the opening, not the whole thing.
- Stumble, repeat, keep going.
- Watch back once and keep one note.