Do You Stress Over How You Look?

As entrepreneurs, we all have to face the visibility factor: that continuous effort to put ourselves out there in new ways. So that we can be seen and heard; so that people can find and connect with us.

How do we make ourselves—and our businesses—visible? There’s a wide array of ways that we can get our content into the world, such as writing blogs, social media, networking.

But these days, more and more, there’s a consensus among business experts that speaking in front of your audience is the single most effective marketing strategy. And when you think about it, this makes total sense: as a species, we’re meant to meet one another face-to-face. Not blog-to-blog.

Yes, writing is totally cool. After all, here I’m doing it myself! But, I know that it doesn’t replace someone being able to see my face, hear my voice, and pick up on my mannerisms and energy.

When you allow yourself to be seen, it shortcuts the “know, like, and trust” factor. Click To Tweet

Next to live interaction, video is the next-best option. When we see somebody on video, it’s visceral; we feel like we really know them. And that means we’re much more likely to say, “I like this person, I want to hear more of what they’re saying.”

This may seem rather obvious. I don’t think I actually need to convince any entrepreneur of why it’s important to use video in their business. You probably already feel the pull to create a video on your website, put your content on YouTube, start a live stream, or run a webinar.

There’s just one problem: you’re holding back from going on camera. And it’s likely that at least part of this hesitation is being uncomfortable with your appearance in some way.

I know and understand: I’ve been there. I grew up feeling blemished, constantly being told that my appearance wasn’t good enough. In fact, I used to be so insecure about how I looked that I didn’t even let people see my teeth! You can read about that, as well as what I did to overcome it, in my blog post here.But I’m going to say this unapologetically: it’s time to get over it. Being insecure about your appearance isn’t good for you, and it’s not good for your business.

Even if you can muster up the courage to be on camera, this insecurity is holding you back.

Here’s why:

1. If you’re uncomfortable about how you look on camera, then—consciously or not—there will be a part of you wanting to hide from the camera.
2. This impulse to hide will create tension and stress in your body.
3. This tension and stress will distract you and siphon off some of your mental and emotional energy, keeping you from thinking at your best.

When in front of your audience, you need to show up with your highest level of executive function.

By occupying valuable mind space, this distraction is hogging the spotlight at a time when you need all of your cognitive resources to be free of mental clutter. Instead, with this stress, your experience gets compromised in the following ways:

1. You have less mental capacity to stay fully on your message (i.e., remembering what you want to say).
2. You are less present in your physical awareness to delivering your message in the most impactful way possible.
3. It steals away your attention from connecting to your audience. Whether you’re doing a webinar or a one-to-one Skype call, you need to be there for your audience and their enlightenment or entertainment.

When you learn how to love how you look, you’ll find the benefits are enormous:

1. No longer consumed by worry and self-consciousness, you can focus your energy onto what you’re creating, what you’re teaching.
2. You’ll have the mental capacity to also be fully in your body in the present moment to deliver your message in the way you desire.
3. By allowing yourself to really connect with your audience’s needs, you’ll greatly enhance your ability to create empathic connections. Your audience will feel like you’re really there with them, because you won’t be worrying about your appearance.
4. And now for the grand finale:
   • Free from the tension that holds back your energy, you’ll feel more open and free, with a sense of expansion within yourself.
   • Uninhibited by negative thoughts, you’ll radiate the positive energy that your tribe will love.
   • You’ll own your appearance on camera with confidence.

Hopefully, you’re convinced that that being stressed out about how you look is something you don’t want to hang onto.  

But those of you who are nodding your heads—saying “Yes! I just want to be able to freely put my face out there in my work!”—still probably have one more question: how?!

Learning to love how you look is absolutely possible.

I’ve learned through experience that there are several actionable steps—like changing the way you speak to yourself, appreciating the way your body functions, and focusing on your purpose—that can drastically improve your self-image. I share my top tips on healing your self image in this post.  

Ultimately, learning to love how you look is good not only for your personal well-being, but also for the health of your business.

Your positive self-image will uplift you, amplify your impact, and open up new possibilities to deliver your message—it can dramatically enrich your business and your life. Consequently, with the tools and confidence to up your visibility factor, you’ll reach more clients and customers and enrich their lives, too.

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If you would love to be guided through my processes and techniques, you can also sign up for my free 5 day mini course Love Your On-Camera Presence: a 5-day Mini Course on Healing Your Self Image.