Introverted AF? If your answer is ‘nope, not me!’ then this blog probably isn’t for you, my extroverted friend. Love you and deeply admire your outgoing 24/7 ways, but this one goes out to my fellow introverts homies.
If you’ve seen me pop up on The Digital Picnic’s Instagram Stories sliding on into the camera and shakin’ the hips my mamma gave me, then it might come as a bit of a surprise to you that I’m actually a quiet and reserved ‘lil soul. Put me in a room filled with the thousands of people who see those Instagram Stories and ask me to do a 20 second speech? Well, not only would that be my worst nightmare, but I’d probably still be socially exhausted from a morning coffee catch up with a friend earlier that day and I’d cancel last minute [because an introverted boy gotta recharge his batteries]. Film a 20 second speech in the comfort of my living room and post that to Instagram? Way easier for my introverted energy levels.
See? I get you, because I *am* you! So I’m here to offer up a few handy tips on how to show up on Instagram when you’re an introvert.
Invest in a bit of equipment
The thought of being camera-ready every time you want to hop on and talk to your followers can be overwhelming. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a makeup artist living next door who can help me cover up that spot that appeared overnight to make me feel less self conscious to step in front of the camera,or to hold up my iPhone at just the right angle so I don’t have to start moving furniture and stacking books on top of each other and then trying to balance my camera in my shoe only for it to fall on the floor. This literally happened to me last week.
What I do have though is a tripod ring light combo from Kmart. It was a $40-ish expense and I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough. It has a range of different brightness settings which rules out any excuses that its too dark too film right now. The handy tripod feature also means no more self made desk-book-shoe tripod!
Plan what you’re going to say
Getting that perfect take can take a while! Sometimes I find myself stumbling over words or randomly starting a sentence that isn’t really relevant or going to go anywhere [then that’s followed by a ‘what are you even talking about Dane?’ as I hit the stop recording button.] It can sometimes take me a good 10 or so takes until I’m finally happy with it so be patient with yourself and don’t beat yourself up if it’s taking a while.
What helps me is to write a script of what I’m going to say beforehand to give myself a bit of structure. I don’t stick to it word for word, but it helps me stick on point to keep the flow of what I’m saying as interesting and engaging as possible. It takes a couple of tries, but the more times I give it a go, the more I stick to the key points and it gets easier to watch back when I’m not looking like a deer in headlights trying to remember what to say next.
Treat the camera like your BFF
I know this is easier said than done but try talking to your camera just how you’d talk to your friends on FaceTime! It’s a little trick that has helped me in the past when I’ve not felt quite up for it, but I know I need to get content filmed that day. Even when I know the clip is literally just a 10-15 second thing, if I imagine that this is me quickly filming a little happy birthday message to a friend overseas in lockdown and once it’s done, it’s done – then it gets done a lot quicker!
You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to!
Tried all the above and still don’t think talking to the camera is for you? Don’t worry! You can get creative with Reels by filming yourself pointing and then adding in the text of what you would say over where you’re pointing. Add some music on top and voila … you’ve got yourself a fun and engaging piece of content and you’ve not had to say a single word! Looking for an example? Here’s a perfect one from Cherie – this bad boi clocked up 25.7k views! Cherie filmed herself clicking along to a song and every time she clicked, the text on screen changed. A simple idea but so *so* effective.
So there’s a few ‘lil tips from one introvert to another. The more you put yourself out there on Stories and Reels, the more comfortable it will start to feel. As long as you stay authentic to you and your community will see a side to you that no product or graphic will ever show them.