My business coach and I worked out a Facebook marketing plan for my business that includes me teaching and talking on video. I know that this is what I need to do to get to the next level. But I am having a BIG problem executing the plan. I am so incredibly nervous on camera that I cannot talk without extensive notes, and then it looks like I’m reading notes. When I try to ad-lib instead of looking at my notes, it’s not very good. I stumble through what I want to say, miss key points, and my throat gets tight so my voice doesn’t sound nice.

I tried blocking time to film ONE video, as you suggested, and ended up doing so many retakes that my voice gave out, and even though I spent hours on it, didn’t get one single take that I would be proud to put on social media.

You always seem so polished and confident when you film. Were you always confident about speaking or did it take time to build up to that? Do you use notes or a teleprompter or anything when you film?

How can I get over my fear of being on camera and how can I develop presence? I’m not a perfectionist on this but I can’t even get to “B-” at this point. I have only done one video before and someone in my networking group PM’d me and told me my voice didn’t sound commanding enough (Who asked her?). I’m worried that if I don’t have the right “vibe” or I’m not presenting with enough “confidence” that people will not take me seriously. I have actually done vocal therapy in the past to work on my speaking voice, but when I’m nervous, I can’t relax my throat and my voice sounds strained.

Is this just one of those things that the more you do it, the better you get at it? Should I just force myself to turn on my camera and do “dry runs” every single day until I get over it?

Why is this so fucking hard?