Videosocials.net co-founder, Mark Bullock, shares the reason why he co-created Videosocials and it starts with him having an anxiety attack when having to speak in public. Fast forward decades later with a ton of public speaking engagements and over 400 video blogs recorded, Mark is a living example of how Videosocials works to hone your craft and keep you consistently creating.
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Transcript:
Why on earth would you want to practice on camera, recording a video in front of an audience?
Hi, I’m Mark Bullock, I’m the co-founder of Videosocials.net and phoneBlogger.net, and Videosocials.net is exactly that, but there’s a reason behind it.
So, many years ago, I — when I was first trying to figure out how to do public speaking, I was in business and I knew that I needed to be able to stand up in front of a group, and I was just terrified of doing it. And I had heard all of the, you know, stand in front of a mirror, write out a script, and, you know, memorize the script, and it just wasn’t working.
First of all, I couldn’t stand staring in the mirror talking to myself, just didn’t make any sense. So, I bit the bullet when somebody invited me to a Toastmasters club, and I… and when I went, I saw other people, you know, just standing up, having a conversation with the rest of that audience, and I was still incredibly nervous. As a matter of fact, my first speech, I had an anxiety attack, and practically — I felt like I was going to pass out. Fast -forward a year, and I was President of that club, and we had launched two other clubs.
So, what’s the message behind that? It’s willing to practice in front of others. But why is it so powerful to practice in front of others? Why is it… why is it important to have an audience, as it were? Well, one — we get in our own heads and what we think we’re saying or the way that we think we’re saying it, well, maybe actually has… as we’re saying it, but how is it landing for the other person? How is it landing for the person that you intend the message for? What are they hearing out of what you’re saying? You don’t know that until you get feedback from people who have seen you create that message.
So, that was the core tenant that we created with Videosocials was — you come to a group, we go across Zoom so you don’t have to go anywhere. You don’t have to go to a studio. You don’t have to go to hire people to set up cameras and all this kind of stuff. It’s your camera on your laptop or a web cam. It’s, you know, a microphone and it’s a Zoom call. And in that Zoom call, there’s a handful of other people that are doing exactly what you’re doing. They’re trying to learn how to present their ideas, their concepts, to get what’s on their mind out to — and hopefully, it’s something that’s valuable — out to a viewer that could enjoy it, and could learn from it.
So, that being said, are these all in the same industry with you? No. As a matter of fact, the more cross -industry, the better, because you’re not speaking typically to only people within your industry, you’re speaking to your potential clients, your potential customers, maybe from any number of different industries, backgrounds, etc . So, the ability to have other people in the room, whether they be coaches, or attorneys, or CPAs, or CFOs, whatever they be, they’re all doing the same thing that you are, and they can let you know if you’re using acronyms that nobody outside your industry would understand, as an example.
So , the point that I’m trying to get across is — this isn’t the 11 o’clock News. We’re not sitting with a script, going through and trying to present an idea in a perfect world, because that’s not what people are watching on social media. That’s not what people are watching on YouTube. What they’re watching is real people having a real conversation that adds value to their lives. And if you can learn to do that, and you can practice in front of a small audience of people that are not there to judge you — they’re there to acknowledge what works well and to offer suggestions, and other ideas of what you could do that might help your message land with your viewer in a way that’s more impactful.
I hope you found that valuable. If you did, there’s lots more tips at Videosocials.net/Academy , and again, I’m Mark Bullock, co-founder of Videosocials.net. Have a great day.