How To Sound More Natural On Social Media
While social media can be an amazing creative outlet, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the pressure to keep pumping out new and incredible content, to be the first one on new trends and to make sure your audience continues to —literally— like you. Even full time creators sometimes find it hard to talk to the camera without a good plan for the content, but connecting with your audience is all about those more spontaneous moments and a glimpse into who you are “off camera.” That being said, creating a lot of content while also just “being who you are” is harder than it sounds.
Here are a few tips to help you pump out more content without over-curating yourself:
Document Your Day-To-Day Life
Focus less on coming up with elaborate content ideas for a bit and just post, almost live, whatever you’re actually up to! Once you’re comfortable in your natural voice you can start to get creative again. Think about the things you have planned for this week and ask yourself, “How can I document this?” It doesn’t need to be anything crazy or out of the ordinary. It can be as simple as what you’re having for breakfast that day, what clothes you’re trying on in a store or even just how you’re feeling about the week! What did you text your friends today? Can you share it online too? People are there to get to know you, so the more BTS snippets you can offer, the better.
Document Now, Make Content Later
Focus on documenting in the moment, and figure out which moments to actually post later. The more you can document without the pressure to make perfect post-able content, the easier it will be to find your natural voice! Just take as many of those spontaneous pictures and videos as you can and then revisit them later to decide what to actually post.
Plan An Activity, But Leave The Rest Unscripted
Planning an activity that you would normally do anyways or would love to try for the first time is a great place to start to get some easy natural content, even if you’re not quite sure what your content is going to be. Sometimes all you need is a starting place and even some limitations so that your content options and ideas aren’t just completely endless and overwhelming. Taking a trip to the museum or piling in the car to go enjoy a picnic or apple picking is much easier to document than a slow day at home. If you’re actually enjoying your time rather than trying to just invent interesting content out of nothing, it’ll be easier to come up with ideas and feel like yourself on camera.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Just like with anything, you’re going to have to practice to gain confidence. Starting small is great, and you can set goals for yourself as you work up to feeling more confident. Try posting one Story a day just talking about something you’re doing, even if it’s boring. Worst case scenario is it doesn’t “do well.” Just chat with your audience like they’re your bffs and as you build confidence, you’ll find your voice.