On-Camera Success Recommendations

Barbara Barna Abel, a multimedia coach
and talent-and-executive development professional at Abel Intermedia

Being comfortable and excellent on camera can create stress for many yet a multimedia coach and talent-and-executive development professional has advice that could alleviate confusion and anxiety.

12 TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON-CAMERA (AND OFF) is a free resource created by Barbara Barna Abel of Abel Intermedia to briefly explain how to develop and improve on camera to the point where confidence and competence can more likely drive desired results.

Communication Intelligence talks about three of her valuable and interesting recommendations.

Knowing your “why” and being crystal clear about it is a must for communicating well. This not be immediately considered a task to consider or one well done though.

“Depending on your personality type, you may be a do-er who doesn't spend a lot of time contemplating ‘why,’” Barna Abel points out, adding that the importance of this mental exercise, “It's a foundational step that many people skip. I highly recommend Aliza Licht's book, On Brand, as an accessible, actionable guide to identifying your ‘why.’”

This is a multi-tiered process, she stresses.

“Once you're connected to your ‘Big Why’ it's essential to know your ‘Immediate Why’ because that drives your strategy for success,” Barna Abel says.

The ‘Immediate Why,’ Barna Abel explains, consists of answers to defined questions, such as, “What's the goal? Who's the audience? What's the platform? How do I speak to this audience via this platform to achieve the goal?”

A lot of questions and thoughtful answers required, yes, yet there is a valuable reason behind it.

“If the goal is sales it's pretty straightforward and you ask yourself ‘how do I need to be and what do I need to say to get people excited to buy the product?’” Barna Abel says. “But what if it's not sales? This can be confusing. Here are some immediate why's to consider: Build brand awareness, drive traffic to a website, get people to take action — Vote. Show up to an event; gain experience on-camera, gain experience on-camera plus get good tape to use to book more appearances — or build relationships with producers and media outlets.” 

Regardless of what it is, she says it comes down to knowing, “How do I need to be and what do I need to say to get people excited about (whatever)?”

Being able to say more with fewer words is another skill and a difficult one at times, as it can be an arduous discipline to master.

“Some people are naturally more wordy,” Barna Abel says before mentioning what should be the objective to pursue and commit to learning well, “How can anyone learn to be better for the audience and say more but more than enough with fewer words?”

This, as you might be noticing by now, requires additional, smart questions: “How is this best, most reliably accomplished? And maybe, how does one know when it has been accomplished?” she says.

Even experienced professionals on camera have to work on it.

“As a chatty gal myself,” Barna Abel says, “I feel like Sy Sperling from the old Hair Club for Men commercials: I'm not only the media coach, I'm also a client!”

The reality is, “This takes intention and practice,” she says.

How this can be approached is, “Answer the question then give context for the answer. In everyday conversations we tend to give context and then answer the question. Sometimes we waffle on for such a long time we've forgotten what the question was. You can practice all day every day,” Barna Abel says.

Experts often advise to avoid speaking in jargon and instead focus on clarity and direct and concise speech.

Barna Abel agrees, adding, “As Einstein may or may not have said: If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough...everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

In short, “Another way of looking at it: If you confuse, you lose,” she says.

One way to learn to communicate concisely is to work to create word pictures through descriptive and specific examples.

“One of my favorite examples of this is from an article I found online years ago describing a pomelo,” Barna Abel says. “Written version: a pomelo is a very large thick-rinded, usually pear-shaped citrus fruit, differing from the closely related grapefruit especially in its loose rind and often coarse dry pulp. It is a widely cultivated tree southeast Asia. 

“Spoken version: A pomelo is a grapefruit on steroids.”

If being on camera is a goal or an experience at which a person wants to further develop expertise, she has advice about this particular skill.

“Practice this daily,” Barna Abel says, explaining that, “Successful communication on-camera is a lot more than memorizing talking points and knowing what to do with your hands.”

The final tip this article discusses is one that hopefully will be encouraging and that is, “You Don't Have to be Perfect to be Amazing. We don't show up for perfection. We care about the value you bring.”

Being experienced and judged as competent, and feeling confident that we came across that way, is natural thinking. Being a perfectionist is not unusual either. Yet Barna Abel, who helps people succeed at a high level, says perfection doesn’t have to be an obsession.

“It's a version of ‘Don't let perfect get in the way of good,” she says of the wording of her tip. “It's also a riff on Maya Angelou's, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ So I encourage my clients to focus their energy there. Shift your attention from getting all the words right to impacting a life, making someone’s day. Speak to serve your audience.”

If people can come to accept and believe this and keep it in mind moving forward, the benefits are immediate and directive.

“For many of my clients it's a huge weight lifted,” Barna Abel has found. “Their energy shifts and they tap back into their ‘why.’ Fact: Getting all the words right but being flat and boring doing it is not a win, for you or your audience.”

Reminding oneself that perfection is not necessary or the assignment can be, for some at least, an ongoing battle. Barna Abel offers some ideas to help combat that stress and self-inflicted burden.

“Remind yourself by turning it into a mantra that you repeat as often as needed and before you speak: ‘I don't have to perfect to be amazing. My story brings value to everyone who hears it.’

“Perfect is a perception and means different things to different people. You might spend a ton of time chasing perfect only to discover the audience defined it differently. 

“Internalize this by thinking about people and things that you value greatly and asking yourself how often you describe their-or-its value as perfect?

What do you love about...? It’s perfection?

What do you admire about...? Their perfection?

Why did you purchase that...? It’s perfection?

Describe the last book you read...? It was perfect?

Publisher’s Note: The free resource, 12 Tips for Success On Camera