Transcription
Today we're talking about delivery. One of the easiest ways to level up your videos is to improve how you come across on camera. Your energy, charisma, even the rhythm of how you speak—it all matters subconsciously to the viewer.
Now, the good news is, it's actually pretty easy to fix this once you know where to focus. I know this works because even though I've done billions of views, I am super introverted, so I had to spend a ton of time learning how to master this for myself.
In this video, I'm going to break down the 13 most helpful tips for nailing your delivery and maximizing your presence on camera. And as soon as you hear them, I guarantee it will change the way you approach making videos.
Now, the most important piece of the delivery puzzle is your energy. If you can bring more of the right energy when you're recording, your videos will perform way better. This is so, so important. And when it comes to energy, there's usually one big thing that holds people back. It's called voice confrontation.
Now, voice confrontation is the feeling of hating the sound of your own voice. And this is the main reason why you don't bring enough energy on camera. Let me explain. What happens when you speak out loud? You're hearing yourself back in two ways: through the sound through the air in your ears, and through the sound via vibration through your bones. Those two combine, and that's how you hear yourself when you speak in real life.
But when you hear yourself back in a recording, you're only hearing through the air in your ears. Recordings don't give the bone vibrations, which is where the deeper frequencies and resonance comes from. This is why people don't like hearing themselves back on recordings, 'cause it sounds higher pitched.
Okay, so why does this matter when you're making videos? When you're recording a video, you're getting that vibrational resonance through your bones. And this means you feel like you sound louder and more powerful than you actually do on the recording. And because of this, most people tend to underdeliver because they think they're going to be too loud and too energetic, so they back off. So that bone vibration is actually tricking us into using less energy than we should.
Now, knowing this is super helpful because we can make the adjustment. And here are a few tactical ways for how to do that. The first one is just your mental approach. You need to give 50% more energy than you think you need, and this will compensate for the voice confrontation problem.
Now, to do this, every time you sit down to record, you should actively be thinking this in your head: "More energy, more energy, more energy." And it'll sound like you're overdoing it when you're actually recording, but when you watch it back, it'll feel like the perfect amount. Having this active focus on your mental recording checklist is super helpful. And as long as you actively recognize you need to fix this, you'll improve immediately.
Now, the next tip you're going to find is especially useful. Have you ever heard someone talk, and then when they get to the end of the sentence, it kind of sounds like this? Like they're talking, and then they're trailing off, like everything they say is kind of interesting, and then it isn't. This is called dropping phrases. Your voice starts trailing off at the end of a sentence as you run out of air.
For inexperienced speakers, this is super common. And I find this happens even more often when you're trying to speak paragraphs at a time or you're going off the top of your head. Because when you need to remember what you're saying, you can't also focus on maximizing energy with more air. Your brain can only focus actively on one thing at a time. So it focuses on the words, forgets about the energy, and starts trailing off.
So my tip is to record one line at a time. The best way to maximize energy when speaking is to give yourself less to remember and more brain power to focus on the energy. I script out my videos line by line so I can make sure to preserve the energy for the full sentence. I know a lot of people on YouTube would just write down bullets and then just go off the top of their head, but this makes it really hard to avoid dropping phrases.
Some people are naturally really good at speaking with high energy, so this isn't a problem for them. But for me, as an introvert and somebody that's normally monotone, I need to go line by line to make sure I can deliver fully for every sentence.
Now, this brings up a super common question: Should I be using a teleprompter or not? I get this question all the time in my comments. And I bet you'd think I'm using a teleprompter because I deliver things pretty tightly, but the truth is, I'm not. Here's my take on why I don't like teleprompters.
When you read from a teleprompter, it saves a ton of time in the recording process. But unless you're a pro with it, it can lead to a bit more of a monotonous energy. Because a teleprompter lets you read one line and then go right to the next line. And that transition moment to the next line, while you're finishing the previous, that leads to dropping phrases. And again, it's because you're doing two things at once: you're looking ahead while finishing the thing you're saying.
I like to go one line at a time, where I look down, memorize the line, look up, deliver it, and then move on. And this means the only thing in my head is that one line at a time. So once I memorize it, I can focus fully on delivering it more powerfully.
This, of course, takes way more time to record and edit, but I think it makes a world of difference in my delivery. This is why I sound a bit more unique than most YouTubers. And as someone that's introverted, this has helped me so much.
Now, here's a pro tip: When you're not using a teleprompter, you may run into a situation where you have a long compound sentence that you just can't remember in one shot. So I will say the first part of the sentence, I'll freeze where my hands are, I'll look down at the second line, and then I'll deliver the second line with my hands continuing. So it's one continuous motion. That's a small thing, but it does make it easier to make it seem smoother when I'm doing the line-by-line approach.
Okay, the next important piece of delivery is rhythm and pacing. And this is where you really go from good to great. Rhythm and pacing are probably the most slept-on piece of the delivery process. If you can master your rhythm and cadence, there's almost a flow that's soothing to the ear to hear.
Now, I used to be a rapper, and so that flow is super natural sounding to me. I actually think it's one of my greatest natural differentiators in the content game. When the number of syllables sounds off in my ear, I like to rework the words until it sounds right to me. And that's optimizing for the rhythm and the cadence.
I like to think of the rhythm and words kind of like drums. If you had a drummer that was naturally slamming a ton, all offbeat, it wouldn't sound right to you, and you wouldn't want to listen to it. It's the same thing with words.
So here are a couple super tactical tips to speak with better rhythm. The first thing you want to do is focus on the length of your sentences. I want you to think of your rhythm mix kind of like a boxer. Great boxers have a variety of different punches that they throw. Most of them are quick jabs, jab to the body, jab to the body, jab to the body, and then they mix in hooks and the occasional overhand right.
This mix translated to words is a pretty healthy, natural rhythm that you should stick to: mostly short, punchy, concise sentences, but then occasionally mixing in some mediums and some longs. If you're a boxer and all you do is throw little jabs, you're eventually going to get caught. And if all you do is throw big overhand rights, you're eventually going to get tired. So you need to mix it up consistently when you're fighting and when you're speaking.
The tactical tip for this is to look at the end of the sentences in your script document. And I know I've mentioned this before, but if you were to draw an edge down the end of the sentences, is it jagged or is it straight? If it's jagged, then that's what you want because this signals good variety of length. But if it's straight, then you probably have too much monotony in your sentences and you need to switch it up.
Now, there are a few rhythmic patterns that are kind of like fundamental building blocks and staples to good speech. If you were to go back and watch my videos with just this lens on, you would notice some pretty interesting patterns. And I'm going to break down a few of the biggest ones for you right now.
But before I do, if you're really focused on leveling up your content this year, I put together the best free content community in the world. It's called Wavy World. We have over 11,000 entrepreneurs and creators in there today. There's a ton of free resources and trainings, and also the community is helping each other improve their videos, and there's stuff in there you will not see anywhere else on the internet. So if content is a priority for you this year and you're trying to level up, there's a free invite link in the description. Check it out.
All right, so back to the rhythmic patterns. The first one that's super common is a three-item list. I call this "pop, pop, pop" or "pop, pop, B." So if we replay the first part of the hook from this video: "Today we're talking about delivery. One of the easiest ways to level up your videos is to improve how you come across on camera. Your energy, charisma, even the rhythm of how you speak." When I say "energy, charisma, even the rhythm of how you speak," that is the "pop, pop, B." Our brains are really good at consuming information in organized lists. It sounds soothing to us. So whenever you need to explain how multiple things influence something, use this kind of rhythmic pattern. You could also add a bit more context to each one to make them parallel and even. So you could say something like, "the energy you bring, the charisma you show, and the rhythm of how you speak." Here, how that pattern works super well. It's really smooth and calm.
Another rhythmic pattern that I like to do is end every sentence with a one to two down-energy syllable. So if you read the hook back, it reads like this: "Today we're talking about delivery. One of the easiest ways to level up your videos is to improve how you come across on camera. Energy, charisma, even the rhythm of how you speak." That hard down syllable helps subconsciously signal the end of a thought and to be ready for the start of another one. Again, it helps with that rhythm.
The opposite of this is called upspeak, which is super annoying and almost impossible to listen to. If you ever heard it, it will sound like this: "Today we're going to talk about delivery. One of the easiest ways to level up your videos." I almost can't do it. It sounds so cringey and off to my ear. So that intentional downspeak and really hammering the down will help make your videos sound better.
Another one I do is called pitter-patter words, and then contrasted with long holds. So, for example, listen to this sentence: "So I had to spend a ton of time learning how to master this myself." "A ton of time" and "how to master this" are pitter-patter words. They kind of sound like a little mouse scurrying across the floor. And then the words that follow, "learning" and "myself," are intentionally drawn out because those are the words I want to emphasize in the sentence. I lingered an extra beat or two on those.
Now, if you keep analyzing my speech, you'll find five to ten more of these common rhythmic patterns. And I don't actively focus on doing these anymore because they're kind of second nature to me now that they sound good to my ear. But if you rewatch my videos, download the transcripts, and then speak along with me, it's kind of like copy work. You'll start to learn the cadence of how I speak. This is an easy way to level you up.
You want the rhythm and cadence to feel kind of like a dance. You're dancing around, not sure where it's going to go. Wave smooth. You kind of want it to feel flowy in your mind. And again, if you just practice literally by speaking word for word, reading the transcript along with someone speaking, you'll start to cement those patterns in your brain.
Now, the last quick tip on rhythm is the importance of clarity. You want to speak as clearly as you can and enunciate your words. You don't have to do it as aggressively as I do, but it's really important that people can hear what you're saying. Mumbling is the enemy because clarity helps with comprehension, and the more comprehension, the more trust people have that what you're saying is legit.
So if you stumble over your words in a recording, like I do, trust me, if you saw this, you would see how much I stumble. Stop, pause, re-record the line. Don't rush a mumbled line because you're trying to get it done faster.
Okay, another super important concept that's the cousin of clarity is called distillation. This is the process of trying to reduce the amount of words needed to achieve max comprehension. If you can distill your points down to the atomic unit, it'll make it easier for you to deliver what you're trying to say.
Now, in my psychology tricks video, I shared a bunch of tactical tips for how to do this. I'll repeat my favorite one here, and that is saying things twice to get max retention. The first time you say it, say it in the most compressed way possible, even if that means using expert words or jargon that people might not know. But the second time you say it, say it with a metaphor or a comparison, like you were explaining it to a five-year-old.
This will give the viewer two cracks at understanding your point. They will understand the second one, relate back to the first, learn those words, and feel max comprehension. This will make them feel smart, and they will trust you more.
For example, let's say I was talking about when SpaceX caught the rocket in that machine. I might say something like this: "SpaceX just caught the Starship in the Mechazilla machine." This would be like a pair of metal chopsticks catching a 23-story building as it fell from the sky. See how the second line is basically saying what the first line is, but it's saying it using a metaphor and silly words to make it easier to understand? This increases the comprehension significantly.
Being persuasive is all about getting to max comprehension because, like I said, the more they understand, the more they'll hear you. The more they hear you, the more they trust you and feel like what you're saying is worth listening to.
All right, the next couple things I want to talk about are the tactical approach and process that you should use when recording your audio. Now, having a high-quality mic and audio is actually super important. And it's not about how much money you spend on your mic, but you've got to sound clear. Funny enough, the most important part of video is actually the audio because if you have bad audio, there's no amount of great video that can save it.
I've gone through a lot of different audio setups in my time, and I've never quite liked how it sounded as much as I do right now. And this was usually because of poor microphones or poor preamps. Preamps are digital amplifiers that are built into your audio interface. Think of them like little filters that your audio runs through from your microphone before it goes into your computer.
Now, if you're plugging your mic through USB directly into your computer, you're not going to have any preamps because you're not using an audio interface. An audio interface is kind of a device in between the mic and the computer. You don't have to have audio interfaces or preamps, but that's why the best audio engineers in the world with those huge recording studios have all of those metal devices with all the wires. They're running the signal through physical hardware devices to amplify and change the sound.
So if you like the way I sound on this, this is my exact audio setup. I'll tell you all the settings and what I use. So I record into this, which is the Shure SM7B. This is what Joe Rogan uses. This is what Michael Jackson used to record. A lot of famous podcasters use this mic. The Shure SM7B is connected via an XLR cable running into a Rodecaster Pro 2 audio interface.
Now, the Rodecaster Pro 2 is really a device meant for people recording podcasts in a room together. You can plug multiple mics into it and adjust the faders, but I love it because the preamps in it sound amazing on my voice. Now, everyone's voice is slightly different, so this doesn't mean if you get the Shure and you get the Rodecaster Pro 2, you're going to sound just like me. But if you have a voice that kind of sounds like mine, deeper and bassier, this is an amazing combo, especially when coupled with the effects I'm going to say in a second.
So I go Shure SM7B into the Rodecaster Pro 2, and then the Rodecaster Pro 2 plugs directly into my MacBook Pro. Now, I record this audio raw into Logic Pro instead of pairing it with the camera. I record it separately, directly into Logic Pro, and then inside of Logic Pro, I have a track that has three plugins in it. Super simple vocal chain. Three plugins make a huge difference.
The first two plugins, which I'll show you here, are EQs. Now, EQs are called equalizers. They basically just visualize the four frequency range of the vocals. The human ear can hear anything from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Anything below 20, you can't hear, and above 20,000, you cannot hear. So I use EQs to shape those frequencies. I cut certain frequencies and I boost certain frequencies.
So you can see on the left side of this first EQ, that red arc is cutting everything below 80 Hz. Anything below 100 or 80 Hz, it sounds very deep, bassy, rumbly. I don't want that in my voice. I want my voice to cut through, so I cut that. Then anything above 50, 400 Hz, I'm putting that shelf, which kind of increases the sparkle and upper frequency range of my voice. Again, you don't want to overdo this because it will sound too sibilant with S, S sounds, and white noise, but for me, it makes it sound better.
Then you see those four little small dips through the frequency range. That's called reductive EQ. So what I'm doing is removing specific frequencies to my voice where it sounds super honky or off to the ear. And the way you find these is you take one, you boost it all the way up, and you scan while you're listening to your vocals. Anytime you hear a honk or a sharp sound, bring that down and drop it three to four dB. This is called reductive EQ, and it helps remove some of the bad frequencies in your voice.
Now, your voice will be different than my voice, but just doing this a little bit, I find makes the vocal sound much better. So that's the first EQ. The second EQ is meant to do anything that you couldn't get on that first band of six. I'm doing one small additional reductive, and then I'm boosting at 3750. I just find that sounds really good on my voice. So that's it. Those two EQs. When they're off, it sounds super bassy and honky, but when they're on, my voice kind of sparkles and cuts through.
Now, the last plugin is a compressor. And this just helps with dynamics. All the compressor does is take the waveform and it drops the top range and increases the bottom. It compresses the wide range of the vocals into a tighter band, which helps smooth out the dynamics from the vocal. So that's all I do: Shure SM7B into the Rodecaster Pro 2, recorded directly into Logic with two EQs and a compressor.
Now, here's another tip: When you add a vocal to a video and you also add music, it can cause some muddiness because the vocals and the music are clashing in the upper frequency range. You don't want this because this makes it hard to hear what you're saying when the music is playing. So a good way to solve for this, and it's super easy, is just add a low-pass filter. Whatever video editor you're using, search "low pass," and you will find a filter. Drag that onto the music.
What that does is it cuts all the frequencies above whatever line you set. That means the music kind of sounds subdued and like it's underwater, but it carves a pocket that your vocals in the high frequency range, three to 7,000 Hz, can cut through unobstructed. This is a super easy way to make the clarity go up in your vocal.
All right, now before we wrap up, I would be remiss if I didn't talk at all about your visual look on camera. I'm not going to get into studio setups and gear in this video because if I did, we'd be here for hours and hours. But I'll just say this: a big part of how somebody receives your message is if they perceive you as trustworthy when they see you. And one way to improve this subconsciously is just to elevate the way you look on camera.
Here are three super quick tips for helping with this. The first one may sound silly and obvious, but it's got to look like you want to be there when you're recording. This is obviously a layup for getting people excited about what you're doing. If you look happy and excited, they'll be happy and excited. They are mirrors. If you don't look excited, they're not going to want to watch your delivery. Power goes up when your internal happiness is up when you're recording.
So if you're not in the right mood, if you're in a bad mood, or you're busy, or your voice is shot, go do breathwork, go do a workout, go do a sauna, go take a cold shower, do something else to change your state before you record. Why would you spend so much time analyzing the idea, writing the script, paying so much for editing, if then when you record, you're going to mail it in because you're not in a good mood? Prioritize feeling good when you go to record.
Now, when you're recording, try to keep your body still and in the center of the frame. I like to talk with my hands, obviously. It's more of a nervous tick than anything, but you don't see me flying around from side to side. That's because I want to be really close to the mic to preserve vocal consistency. The less unnecessary visual distraction you add, the better and easier it is for someone's comprehension to go up, and that's what we want.
Now, the last tip is that having a dialed visual setup can be a huge tip in getting past the viewer's subconscious filter. Essentially, you want them to trust you, and having a high-quality studio is a great way to help do that. One of the things we work on in my academy is helping entrepreneurs go from plain white Zoom background to a dialed setup that helps them build trust immediately. I put together four different budgets of studio options, and then we really work to optimize how people are recording within that studio.
Another great tip for this is my buddy Kevin Shen. He has an amazing YouTube channel and actually runs a business that literally helps people revamp their studio setups. You should definitely check him out as well.
Now, I'll give you the best super tip here: other than lighting, all you have to do is change the contrast in your background to something dark. Now, why does this work? White walls reflect light, dark walls absorb light. You want contrast and separation between you and the background. If you have a light like I do here, the light will illuminate my face, and it will spill over. If you have light walls, that spill is going to reflect, and it's going to create a low-quality environment.
All you have to do is paint or use wood veneer hub panels like I have, and it's a really easy solve for absorbing the light and creating that contrast. These panels, I'll link them below. I love them. They're super easy to install, super flexible, and I have them all around my room. If you guys want in the future, I can do a full studio tour, breaking down all my gear and the workflows, what I like, what I don't like. If you want that, just let me know in the comments.
But in general, the better you show up visually, the easier it will be for the viewer to focus on what you have to say.
All right, guys, that's all I've got for this video. This was meant to be a super compressed version of all the tips to improve your delivery and presence on camera. This is a big piece of getting your videos to work. I'm not much of a public speaker, but I do love to study the greats, distill what they do, and then apply those learnings for my format. In this case, it's video on social media.
If you need more help with this or any of the other pieces in the content workflow, I have tons of stuff below. My newsletter, Content Department, is especially good for this. You can find it, it's free, it's at content.game. Keep posting in the comments on what you guys want to see from me next. I'll make whatever I'm trying to help everybody win. Until then, we'll see you guys on the next one. Peace.