Do something that scares you

Why is this important for our evolution as creators? Let’s discuss.

If you have any sort of online presence or thing to sell or promote, you’ve probably heard someone say “You should be on YouTube!” But those exhortations always gave me the same feeling as things like eating less sugar or tracking tax-deductible expenses: odious things that would probably be good for me. So with making videos, had always had some excuse:

“I don't wanna waste people's time.”

“I hate video editing!”

“What do I have to say?”

“Who is gonna watch me just talking?”

“I really don’t like how I look on camera.”

Waah waah waah!

But then recently, I talked to someone with a lot of YouTube experience, who was scrolling through the Narrative Podcasts website as we were on the phone. Looking at our little website, this guy who had created viral videos for Red Bull was effervescing: “You could do a video on the definition of a narrative podcast! And a video for each of your potential types of students. A bunch about various types of stories. More about your approach to training and coaching. A whole series on your different curriculum modules!” And on and on. This was my first time talking to this guy, but his excitement was so contagious that finally I felt like I had run out of excuses.

That conversation also knocked me loose from one of my assumptions: feeling that I needed to approach YouTube videos with the same painstaking brainstorm-write-edit-record-edit-sound design-mix-publish process we use to create podcast episodes. This procedural assumption had completely blocked me, because if I were already spending 20+ hours making a single podcast episode, and another 20 hours making a single video, when would I do anything else?

Aaron’s Red Bull-energy buzzing in the background, I tried to open my mind: what if I just did videos about topics that I knew really well — things I’ve already taught or covered in a workshop? That could enable me to be articulate enough without a script. Then what if I just did videos that were five minutes or less: that would assuage my fears of wasting people’s time, and keep my recording time manageable. And what if I just didn’t include any music? Sure, it would be not as rich, but would also speed things up a lot. I would . . . gasp . . . not edit at all.

So with those parameters in mind and butterflies in my stomach, I got out our little Shure MV88 microphone, plugged it into my phone, and set it up on the desk in the shed. I turned on the ring light that would help highlight my Blue Steel. For sound dampening, I put up the folding screens in front of the glass door and windows, and set the sound shield around the mic, but that was it: no images to insert into the videos to illustrate key points. No cool graphics. Just me talking to the camera about something that mattered.

So I got everything set up, got the lighting adjusted, and recorded the first video about the four universal story elements.

“Ugh, this is brutal!” I thought. “I might be an IRL 6, but I’m a YouTube 3!” It was even worse than hearing the first recordings of my own voice for podcast episodes two years ago.

But I told myself, “All right, Nate, you can’t go back in time and tell your younger self to wear more sunscreen, so get over it. If folks want a pretty face, then they can check out Laura’s presentation for Podfest.”

So I put it up. A few people watched it. Nobody trolled me in the comments. And you know what? I got over myself a tiny bit. Then a little later, I recorded another one, and it was a tiny bit easier. A tiny bit less painful to see myself on camera. I recorded a third video. A fourth. A fifth. Each time, I got out of my own way, and out of my own head, a little more.

For many of your, this will not be news, but for an internal processor who’s been writing for over 30 years? It’s been quite the discovery, this freedom one can find in just sharing your thoughts with the camera.

And so that's the reflection for today’s newsletter: I was really nervous and uncomfortable starting. I I am not a natural actor, not naturally charismatic, not naturally comfortable on video. But it’s been, as my therapist would say, a growth edge for me.

And so I reiterate: do something that scares you! Put something out there. You won’t know how it’ll make you grow until you try.