Being a YouTuber is just odd!
things you need to get used to…
My background is radio. I did it for years. Live radio was always a dream and a passion for me. I only mention that as a preface in this blog for one reason. I got used to listening to myself and didn’t find it at all odd. Roll that on to my new YouTube career, well, now there is a whole new ball game.
So that’s how I look?
When I made the decision to start a channel it sounds ridiculous to say, the one thing I’d not factored in, amongst all the meticulous planning, was that I’d have to look at myself…a lot! The voice, because of my years on radio, was no problem. I was used to that. But seeing yourself in 4K hi def for the first time, now that is quite a hard thing to get aligned with.
The whole vanity thing passes very quickly, trust me. By the time you see a video on YouTube, I will have been ‘living’ it for many a long hour. I will have story-boarded it, scripted it, shot a-roll, crafted some b-roll, edited it in Premiere and watched it back many times. Through that process though, my editors hat is firmly in place.
You kind of switch off and forget that it’s you on the screen and in your headphones. It quickly becomes a job where you edit away and just get the job done.
Putting on another hat
One thing that was, as it turns out, very transferrable from radio to YouTube was the idea of monitoring yourself back.
With radio, one of the best ways to improve that I found, was to listen back to podcasts. I could quickly hear areas that needed to be improved upon; timing, delivery, intonation, diction, speed of delivery. It really was not a case of wanting to hear my shows, rather the best way to be ultra critical of my output.
Turns out, the same holds true for YouTube. It felt very odd to me initially, self-indulgent almost, but as it transpires, it is one of, if not the most important strategies to bettering my output and creating videos that I’d want to watch. When the final video is out, it is time to watch it, no longer as an editor, but as a viewer.
When the time comes to watch myself back, the best trick I have found so far, is to slip my video in amongst others I am watching. So, if I’m catching up on three or four videos in the kitchen over a spot of lunch, I may just pop one of mine on. Whilst I am in ‘viewer’ mode, I find it’s the best time to do it. I got in to creating a channel and making videos because I love YouTube content. So, simply put, if mine sits well among those and there is nothing too jarring, then I may just be on the right tracks.
Is ‘liking’ yourself wrong?
What I typically do is give it a few days before I go back and watch. That way it feels more natural and I’m not as associated with it as I would be if I watched it back immediately. After a few days, I find I can be way more objective and view it as I would any other video. And get over the narcissistic feelings you may have early on doing this. YouTube is a visual, video medium. You are creating a brand centred around you. Its very essence is sound and how you look. Look at it this way, if you don’t like what you’ve made, why would you expect anyone else too!
Mistakes aren’t always a bad thing
I’m a self admitted perfectionist. I hate mistakes; always have. Whenever I made a mistake on air, I’d lament over those few seconds rather than think back over the remaining two hours that were fine.
So too is the case with YouTube. When I sit back and watch the final, published video, I always see mistakes. Always! In most cases no one else will. In some cases it could just be a breath that I should have taken out in post. It may be a stop frame that was a little unforgiving. But, no matter how many times I watch it prior to publishing, something will always catch my eye that I wish I’d done differently. But this experience has taught me that getting it done is the most important thing.
Also, in watching yourself back, I bet you’ll pick up on ideas for future videos. Some of my best moments of ‘inspiration’ if I have any, happen in the kitchen watching something I’ve posted a few days ago. I’ll hear a random comment and rush to my Notes app to jot down ideas for a follow-up video that I’d never thought of, simply by watching the content back. When filming and editing, you are too close, too wrapped up in what you are creating and quite simply have too much else going on. But with time, space and a clear head, creativity can once again flow.
Concluding
So, you’ve done the hardest parts. You’ve created a channel, you’ve started to create content. Odd as this may sound to you right now, sitting back on the sofa and watching yourself is honestly the easy part.
If you’ve not tried this yet, go on, treat yourself. You never know, you may even like what you see!
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