One of the things I hate most in IM is doing video or audio interviews. To be honest I hate it so much I’ve turned down countless opportunities to be interviewed over the years, which is crazy when you consider how much free exposure I’ve missed out on for my Internet business.
I think a lot of the problem is because I hate listening to myself on playback. I’m not sure if its because of my Lincolnshire accent or what and to be truthful I’ve always suspected I have a face more suited to radio. I also tend to umm and ahh when talking and explaining something.
I’ve probably always been secretly scared I’d also make a complete prat of myself for everyone to see. I mean, God forbid the interviewer ask me a question I didn’t know the answer to and I know I tend to go off on a tangent at times 🙁
It’s a shame really because I’ve always fancied having a go at video blogging but never quite had the guts to go for it..
So when Simon one of my business partners in our relaunch of EMP told me he had arranged me an online interview to promote the launch I felt sick because I really didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t refuse though because he and the other guys have worked so hard on other aspects of the launch. So I took a deep breath and said I’d do it though I asked him to be on it as well to answer questions from his end.
I thought I’d better buy a new camera and mic as mine was about ten years old (I was still using a headset when I did audio calls for heavens sake) plus my camera was really grainy. So I trotted off down to our local branch of Maplins to buy some new gear. I thought the sales assistant was going to cry at one point when I told him I wanted a camera that made me look 10 years younger and got rid of my double chin lol.
So I slapped a bit of makeup on, shut hubby in the conservatory to watch the telly with strict instructions not to walk behind me and went for it..
And guess what, it was nowhere near as bad as I expected and that assistant did his job quite well cos my double chin was quite well concealed!!!
It helped that Simon was on the call and I do confess when looking at the playback to having a few cringy moments but on the whole I thought I held up my end quite well, I’m quite chuffed with myself to be honest and my accent didn’t seem to bad at all, I guess decent software has a lot to answer for.
So will I do another one?
You know what, yes I think I probably will now I’ve actually done that first one, I’m feeling quite liberated though I doubt I’ll have to get an agent just yet…
So my advice to you is this, if you’ve got any fears like this, don’t let them hold you back because often when you face them they aren’t quite as bad as you thought they would be.
I’ve been asked for the link to the vid so here it is (Gulp)
6 replies to "I faced and overcame one of my fears…"
Hi Kim,
Well now you have told us about it, are you going to give us a link so we can judge for ourselves? lol
I watched the EMP promo vid and apart from your two colleagues, all I could see was a giraffe lol
Richard
http://richardgmtaylor.com
I added it though I’m not sure I should have done…
Wow, at just over 1 hour it’s a long interview. Having not met you Kim, it’s nice to put a real face to your avatar. Also out of the three of you, I thought you came over as the most professional. Well done and good luck with your launch.
Richard
http://richardgmtaylor.com
Why thanks Richard, (I didn’t expect you to watch it all lol btw lol)
Cheers
Kim
Well hello Kim, great to hear you overcame your fear and did the interview, I am taking another look at the latest version EMP and love the fact that its not dependant upon WP with all its inherent issues.
As Wishlist and Optimizepress have gone their separate ways, the EMP launch comes at a great time, I hope the launch goes really well.
igor
I’m looking forward to it Igor but a tad scared as well, its a long time since I did a big launch and this one is going to be super huge
Have a bash at setting the script up again and let me know what you think
Cheers
Kim