Scared of filming videos? Me too, until I did this… (book coming April 11th!)

In the daily business of being a small business owner or entrepreneur, it’s easy to stay in a state of feeling fearful. It’s easy to forget that we are coming from service when we’re terrified to send our first e-newsletter, share our first free e-course, offer a paid course, take the stage for a speaking gig, or share our professional photos on our newly-designed website.

It’s easy to choose fear instead of love. It’s easy to let fear stop us from showing up in bigger ways in service for the world.

At least it was for me.

Even though some would say I am a “successful” lawyer, many times, I’ve been paralyzed by fear which kept me from getting bigger and shining brighter.

For the longest time, I was scared of filming videos.

Here’s a sneak peek from Chapter 4 on Courage in my new book “Easy Legal Steps…That are Also Good for Your Soul” (available in 4 days!) where I talk about my fear of filming videos:

I was terrified to film videos. I couldn’t understand why videos felt so scary for me when I’ve spoken on many stages, including at a national conference in front of 1,000 attendees. Even when I’m videotaped from the stage, the camera doesn’t bother me.

Filming videos for my self-paced legal course “get legally covered so you can go bare now™” with me looking directly into the camera was utterly panic-inducing.

I tried to make it fun by filming videos wearing different dresses in the colors of the chakras while I explained in each video how a legal step is aligned with a chakra.

But, I could only muster my courage after I had taken these 4 steps:

1. I set up a video studio in my basement. I went downstairs on a Saturday, moved a bunch of boxes, and cleared out space to film videos in my basement next to my infra-red sauna. I bought everything I needed to get me started: six professional lights, white and green backdrops, two tripods (one for the camera and one for the iPad with a teleprompter app), a portable microphone, a Macbook Pro, and the iMovie app so my team could edit the videos afterwards. I needed to get the video gear ready to soothe my “critter” brain around my technology worries.

2. I hired a stylist to help me pick out my wardrobe. My dear friend and amazing stylist Carrie Montgomery helped me select nine dresses—seven that were in the respective colors that I was using for chakras (red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, indigo, violet), one for the welcome video (hot pink) and one for the promotional videos for the opt-in calls (black and white). Having Carrie help me made me feel more confident and reduced my fears.

3. I hired a video coach/set director/makeup artist to help me before, during, and after the shoot. Not only is Carrie a stylist, but, lucky for me, she also went to film school. Carrie came to my house to put on my makeup and design the video set. She coached me how to stand, speak and gesture, and having her coach and encourage me on set was essential. (I honestly couldn’t have done it without her!)

4. I worked with a spiritual advisor to work through my blocks. I knew I was terrified to use my voice and appear on video, but I didn’t understand why. I confirmed through two different spiritual readings (a separate past-life regression and an Akashic record reading) that I may have been killed in a past lifetime for publicly sharing my opinions by being burned to death on a platform in the town square with townspeople cheering and laughing. Though it may sound completely crazy (believe me, it did to me too, at first!), the idea of being killed for expressing controversial views deeply resonated with me on a cellular level, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had happened in some prior lifetime. Uncovering this possibility put me at ease – as strange as it sounded – because it helped my Ego to work through the blocks and stand in the video spotlight knowing there may be some underlying spiritual reason for my fears. (Though we may never know the truth as to whether it happened, the hypothesis alone was helpful to me.)

It took all of this effort when many people can simply whip out a cell phone, press the “record” button, and talk into the camera with ease.

For me, filming those videos was a monumental accomplishment. It took a village – but I did it!

Here’s the important part of the story: Despite my fear, I found my courage … and I did it anyway. I learned that having courage is non-negotiable in business.

Have YOU been scared of filming videos? What can you do to calm your “critter brain” to feel more comfortable and support yourself? If you’re a video pro now, what did you do to feel safe?

I’d love to hear about how you overcame your fears to film videos, or whether you’re still scared like I was for so long. Let me know by commenting below.

Watch your e-mail for my new book “Easy Legal Steps… That are Also Good for Your Soul” full of stories like this one coming out in 4 days on April 11th. You’ll be able to order it and receive some extra juicy bonuses for a limited time.

Here’s to filming videos with ease and to feeling your fear and doing it anyway!
 
My new book is coming April 11th. It’s even MORE than a legal guide though – it’s got real life examples, stories, mantras and other bonuses (worth $1,300) to make it easy to know what to do and so you can see how my clients went from stuck and scared to confident and empowered. I can’t wait!