How do I get comfortable on camera as a founder?

33.7%

of US adults said they were afraid or very afraid of public speaking, in Chapman University's 2025 survey of fears

Why does being on camera feel so awkward?

Partly because it is public speaking, and that fear is common. In Chapman University's 2025 survey of American fears, 33.7 percent of US adults said they were afraid or very afraid of public speaking. The survey covered adults in general rather than founders, but the point carries over. Feeling nervous is normal, not a sign that you are bad at it.

The camera adds a second problem, which is watching yourself. A Stanford study of 9,787 people found that mirror anxiety, the stress of seeing your own image, was one of the factors linked to fatigue on video calls. Recording while staring at your own face sets off the same self-critical loop.

What actually helps?

Repetition. A 2025 review of 26 studies with 2,253 people between them looked at what reduces public speaking anxiety, and practice in front of real or simulated audiences was among the approaches that worked. For a founder the equivalent is simple. Record often, keep each take short, and accept that the first dozen will feel strange.

• Hide the self-view. If your recording app lets you hide the preview, hide it, or cover it with a sticky note, so you look at the lens instead of judging your face.
• Talk to one person. Picture a specific customer or a new hire and explain the idea to them as you would across a table. It sounds more natural than addressing an audience.
• Know your first line. Nerves peak in the opening seconds, so decide how you will start and let the rest follow on from there.
• Record practice takes. Clips you never post still count, and they lower the stakes for the ones you do.

Should you try to calm down first?

There's no need to. A popular trick is to tell yourself you're excited rather than calm, and in a 2025 replication of the study behind it, people who said aloud that they were excited before a speech did feel more excited. They felt no less anxious, though, and judges rated their speeches no better than those of people who said they were calm.

What lowers the nerves is the practice itself. Use a pep talk if it lifts your mood, then press record anyway, because each take makes the next one a little easier.

Do you need to be on camera straight away?

No. Text posts are a perfectly good place to start, and you can bring in video once posting is a habit. When you do, make the first videos about something you know inside out, such as a question customers ask all the time, because that is when founders look most at ease.