Vlogging and Public Speaking.

I talked in my last post here about starting to vlog and about getting used to speaking into a video camera.

I also mentioned about how vlogging can & probably will, change your life in some way. Now, obviously these changes can take many forms. But, one that i have certainly noticed is how vlogging has helped me when it comes to speaking in public.

The thought of speaking in public is one of those things that makes the majority of people break out into a cold sweat. I know that many people can think of nothing worse, or more scary, to be asked to do.

There are, of course, those for whom this holds no fear. But, i suspect that they are in the minority.
Just think of all of those people who are being, potentially, held back by that fear of public speaking.

Now, when you record a vlog, what are you doing?
Yes, you are speaking in public, albeit with no audience actually in view.

I realise that for a lot of vloggers, being able to hide behind their video camera, or webcam and not actually seeing an audience, is a big bonus. I'm sure that many vloggers would think twice about talking out loud, in front of a real audeince.
But why?

I mentioned in my last blog post about how most of us are not natural extroverts and i would certainly consider myself to be within that number.
But, amongst the many and varied skills that i feel i have learned through vlogging, is an improved ability to speak. And to speak publicly too.
Whether you actually realise it, or not, recording a vlog and speaking in public are not really that dissimilar.

For both, you are the only one speaking and the audience is listening to you alone. You are, in effect, having a one way conversation.
As i said earlier, for a vlog the only thing missing is the visible audience.

So, think about that the next time you are asked to speak in public. And don't think that speaking in public is limited to standing up and giving a speech either.
No, in my view anyway, speaking in public can also mean raising your hand in a meeting and putting your point across. It means not being afraid to speak up and give your opinion.
Just think of all the practise you've had of doing just that, in front of your video camera.

Although i had done some forms of what i consider to be public speaking, before i started vlogging. I know full well, that i am far better at and more confident of, doing it now and i put that down to my experience as a vlogger.

And that experience and improved confidence can help you in the most unlikely settings too.

For those of you who are maybe not aware, my Father died earlier this year. At his funeral, i got up and gave a short speech. I talked about some of his personal history and obviously relayed some personal memories.
Now, as you can imagine, this was not an easy thing to do. But, once again, my experience as a vlogger helped me through.

Although i effectively wrote out what i wanted to say, in case the emotion of the occasion got the better of me. I ended up using those notes only as a guide. I spoke in much the same way as i would have done had i been recording a vlog. I tended to focus on one member of the audience and in a strange way, used that person as my video camera.

For me, treating that speech, more or less as a vlog, made delivering the speech far easier than i could have hoped.

Another recent example concerns a YouTube friend, who shall remain nameless.
Earlier this year, my friend was asked to be the best man at a wedding and, as is normal, they had to make a speech.
Rather like a speech at a funeral, the best mans speech can be a nerve wrecking experience. But, at least with a funeral, you have the sympathy of all who are there. The best mans speech is often thought of as one of the highlights of a wedding. No pressure then?!

During a conversation, i told my friend to try and treat the best mans speech as if it were a vlog. In much the same way as i did at my Fathers funeral.
To cut a long story short. My friend took my advice and it worked. The speech went well and everyone enjoyed it.

So, as you can see, vlogging can help you in ways that you propbably never even considered, or imagined.

Even more reason, surely, to give it a try?

And don't call me Shirley ;)

Pointing The Camera At Yourself.

A friend of mine recently watched one of my vlogs (video blogs), for the very first time.
He told me this via Twitter and whilst he made no comment about the actual content of the video, the one comment he did make was to say that he could never do that himself.

This is a very common reaction when people, especially friends, see one of your vlogs for the first time.
I can understand that.
Pointing a video camera at yourself can seem a little strange, when you think about it.
There is a big difference, in my opinion, between recording yourself on a webcam, in the privacy of your own home and filming yourself out in the open.
We've all grown used to seeing people filming with video cameras in just about every imaginable situation. Maybe even when we haven't thought that the filming was appropriate?

But, how often have you seen somebody pointing that ubiquitous video camera at themselves and talking into it? And if you have, what did you think?

My own reaction and i suspect that of all vloggers, would be to inwardly congratulate that person (after all, i wouldn't want to disturb a fellow vlogger now would i?) and to wonder who they were, what they were recording and for what.
But, i imagine most other peoples reaction would be to look, maybe stare and to think that the person was a little weird. I've seen that reaction myself many times. I've also seen it when somebody has filmed me talking into a camera.

Most of us aren't natural extroverts and those first tentative steps into vlogging can be a little daunting.
I can't pretend to have completely overcome those feelings of self consciousness when i do it now. But, it's amazing how much more confident i am now at pointing the camera at myself, after 4 years of vlogging experience.

In fact, a recent experience proves just that point.
I was in London meeting up with some friends from San Francisco. People who i had met via YouTube and vlogging, as it happens.
At the end of our time together, i decided that i wanted to record a short vlog, talking about the day. Without thinking, i got out my camera and recorded a vlog between myself and one of my friends, in the street. This filming attracted some of the usual strange looks from a nearby construction worker. But, i didn't give it a thought.
Maybe, it's just easier to point that video camera at yourself, when you are not alone?

So, i guess what i'm really trying to say here is that the vlogger is really no different to anyone else. They just tend to use their cameras a bit differently to the rest of the population.
I doubt that many vloggers first pointed their video camera at themselves, outdoors. I suspect that we all first did that in the privacy of our own homes and that makes perfect sense.
I can still recall the first ever vlog that i made at home and how i felt when making it. It was a strange experience. But, once i'd done it, i got the bug and have never looked back.

You may well feel, like my friend did, that you couldn't ever do it yourselves. But, i felt the same myself at one time.

Since getting into vlogging and video making generally, 4 years ago, i have tried to encourage others to follow my path. Most vloggers will tell you that the vlogging experience has changed their life, in some way. I am no exception to that and would encourage everyone to, at least, give it a try. After all, what have you got to lose?

By all means, make those first tentative steps using the webcam on your computer. Many people record all their vlogs this way and why not?

Why not watch some vloggers on YouTube first, to see how others do it?
One thing to be mindful of here though. Don't be put off my the apparent good quality of the vloggers you watch and discover. Many of those vloggers will have been vlogging for years and they will all tell you that they are a lot better now, than when they first started out.
We all have to start somewhere. I still watch my very first vlog and cringe a little. So, you are not alone.

So, are you convinced yet?
If so, get recording and let me know how you get on.
Best of luck.

All of the above doesn't, of course, answer that age old question of why on earth you'd ever want to talk into a video camera in the first place.
What drives the vlogger to vlog?
What do you talk about?

Well, the answer to those questions is material for, potentially, many more blog posts.
Watch this space.

AudioBoo - No Nov Boo Vlog Blog Month.

AudioBoo - No Nov Boo Vlog Blog Month.

November can be a busy month, in the world of social media. Well, if you let it that is.

This was originally posted on my personal blog, Moose Musings. But, i felt that it was relevant here as well.
I hope that you agree.

Social Media - Local Connections.

Recently, i have been involved in helping to organise some local charity events/projects. Some more successfully than others i might add!
But, one thing that has struck me whilst doing this, is the way in which i have been communicating with the other people involved.
Yes, i have been using those, relatively, old fashioned methods of communciation, email and text. I have even been using the antiquated telephone system, albeit mainly the mobile/cell variety.
All of these methods have their uses and that will probably continue to be the case, for much time to come..
But, what has surprised me has been the way that i've found myself using social media sites, such as Facebook, to help with both the communication and organising of these events.
These sites, especially the messaging side of Facebook, have enabled me to quickly contact and keep in touch with all the people involved with these projects and all within one site too.
One of the beauties of doing this on Facebook, is that your interaction can be done both privately and publicly, depending on what you wish others to see. I know that other sites allow direct/privtae messaging. But, i do find Facebook to be especially good for this.

I must admit that i was never much a fan of the idea of Facebook.
I know that this probably sounds very familiar to those of you who may have read other blog posts that i've written here. But, Facebook, like Twitter before it, was a site that i had to be convinced to try out and more, or less dragged onto.
Even then i was not a big fan, at first. But, i have finally come to see it's worth and strangely enough, it is the way that i interact on Facebook with local people, that has helped to change my opinion of the site.

Now, that is somewthing that i never expected.
My experiences with social media had, until fairly recently anyway, been mainly with people from right across the world and not with people living on my doorstep. But, the advent of both Twitter and Facebook has changed that and has opened up my social media world to a brand new community, my local community.

Both Twitter and Facebook are social media sites on which my virtual life and my real life collide. Facebook, especially, does this and that has been a slightly strange experience at times. At first my Facebook experience essentially mirrored my time on YouTube. I interacted with the same people, albeit using our real names.
But, then the local aspect started to become more prevalent and this is what really took me by surprise. I never expected that collison of virtual and real worlds to happen. But, it is something that seems to work. It has also led to a blurring of the lines between those two worlds.

I have met, both virtually and in reality, many new people from my local area because of social media. People i would quite probably never have met and interacted with, without the aid of sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

This is an aspect of social media that does tend to get overlooked when people talk about social networking.
We all tend to think of social media as a global phenomenon. But, sometimes the most interesting people might live right around the corner from your house and you just never knew it.

Just because you live in the same town, or city, doesn't mean that you can't, or shouldn't use social media to interact with the people within them.
Social media has the power to enable you to meet and interact with people from countries throughout the world and i have met many interesting people precisely because of this.
But, don't forget those people who live in the same country, or even the town as you.
Who knows what you might be missing out on?

There is a famous saying, usually used in a totally different context, "Think globally, act locally"
Maybe we can put that saying to use into social media as well?