Nervous while doing commentary on your videos

Grck76

Grck76

Liking YTtalk
I mainly talking about gaming videos but this might be something that a lot of people deal with when they first start out.

I know I'm not comfortable with my commentary yet, in some of my videos you'll probably hear the word damn used often but I only say whenever a certain situation in a game happens.

I want to know how other people got better with speaking, how do they react to stuff they see or how they handle the topic they're talking.

Any feedback will be appreciated :)
 
Grck76 said:
I mainly talking about gaming videos but this might be something that a lot of people deal with when they first start out.

I know I'm not comfortable with my commentary yet, in some of my videos you'll probably hear the word damn used often but I only say whenever a certain situation in a game happens.

I want to know how other people got better with speaking, how do they react to stuff they see or how they handle the topic they're talking.

Any feedback will be appreciated :)
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Write some keywords down on a piece of paper first off, so you don`t stray from the topic.
 
I've just kinda gotten comfortable with it, but what i usually do in my vlogs is says each line 2-3 times, then pick the one that sounds the most real. i don't think this same concept can be applied to live gaming comentary, so just keep doing it until you're comfortable. It also help that i usually talk to myself anyway, only difference is there is now a camera XD
 
Just start of strong saying something like "Welcome-I am ...... and today i am........" Get it off to a good start and the rest should be easy!
 
A good idea is to produce a set of notes in chronological order, starting from what you want to talk about first to what you want to say at the end. This makes sure you do not get things mixed up.
Also, write things in note form, don't have huge paragraphs on the exact things you want to say. It takes too much time otherwise. Also, when talking spontaneously, it makes you sound better and you sound less like your reading off a sheet or screen. Make sure you elaborate on these points you make though. Keep them to a good length but not to long that it will bore people. Also, when talking sound enthusiastic, if you sound boring people are less likely to want to watch your video. :)
 
It depends what kind of commentary you are doing.

If you are doing LIVE commentary, just go with it. As I like to say 'MST3K it!' (if you don't know what that is google Mystery Science Theater 3000). Have a laugh, yell at the screen, chit-chat. Not the easiest to do but it's what I prefer to do.

If you are doing POST commentary, where you talk separately over pre-recorded gameplay, have a main topic to talk about. One of our users here called AutoSavingUnicorn has a great series called 'story time' where he recalls an embarrassing fact from his childhood over Black Ops 2 gameplay. But always be clear on what you want to say in post recorded commentaries. If you're more of a random/rambler type, live may be suitable.
 
From my experience, there are generally two separate problems that need to be addressed:
  • Struggling to figure out what to say
  • Knowing what to say, but tripping over words
For the first item, people have addressed good stuff here. Giving yourself some jumping-off points will make things much easier. Write as little or as much as you find helpful, and it does get easier with time.
For the second, a huge part of this is just plain diction. Practice speaking out loud, whenever you can. When you read, try reading the words out loud. We tend to slur our speech a ton when we're with our friends, and then when we're recording things, it sounds awful. Find excuses to talk to yourself. We use a ton of muscles when speaking, and a big part of being able to get the words out in an understandable way is just exercising those muscles.
 
try practicing, right down notes of what you want to say, eventually over time you will get better

and hey, if your nervous, that's good! It shows you care :)
 
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