You hit record, take a deep breath, and suddenly sound like you're reading the phone book. Sound familiar?

It’s awkward to talk to a lifeless camera—and when it seems like everyone else feels totally natural on video, that can be frustrating. But here’s the secret: Most people don’t start out as natural presenters. The most professional talking heads you’ve seen on YouTube got there through practice—and by learning a few rules of thumb like these. 

Here are some easy ways to upgrade your on-screen performance. 

Fix your script

The problem isn't your delivery—it's that you're trying to speak like you write.

One of the fastest ways to deliver a dull, awkward on-screen performance is with bad writing. Whether you’re starring in a feature film or giving a video tutorial, even the greatest performers can be taken down by a bad line.

A common culprit? Not understanding the difference between the written and the spoken word. Written sentences can be wordier; they can use punctuation to drive clarity. On paper, we tend to remove filler words like “so” and “you know.” But hardly anybody speaks the way they write. We use filler words, we pause, and we can drive clarity with our cadence and emphasis. 

The best way to fix your script is to read it out loud. You’ll start to notice sentences that are too long to speak easily, word choices that sound forced, and lines overloaded with tangents and asides. 

Or, ditch your script

But maybe the problem isn't how you read your script. Maybe it's that you're using a script at all.

Reading off a script and sounding good takes lots of practice. One shortcut worth trying is to ditch the script altogether. Lots of seasoned creators prefer outlines to a teleprompter. They just take a glance, think about what they want to say, and start speaking into a camera. Just remember to edit out the part where you’re glancing at your notes.

This method is an easy hack for sounding like you’re explaining something to friends. You can throw in key figures, or even phrases you want to work in. But ultimately, many of us are far better explainers than we realize—we just have to trick our brains into acting like it.

Mind your eyes

The most awkward, forced deliveries tend to boil down to the eyes. The most common culprit is someone who is clearly reading. Either their eyes are darting off to the side to read a line off-screen, in the hopes that nobody notices, or their eyes are clearly moving from left to right as they read from a teleprompter.

If you’re using a teleprompter, make sure it's sufficiently far enough away to avoid that telltale eye movement. You can also narrow the margins or slow down the scroll speed to help solve the problem. Set up properly, it will look far more natural.

But once you’ve mastered the technical aspects, there’s a subtler challenge: avoiding the thousand-yard stare. Some people even forget to blink, as creator Sunny Lunarduzzi notes.

‎Here’s the trick: use your eyes (and eyebrows) like a tool. When we speak, we furrow our brow in disapproval, we open our eyes wide in excitement, we roll our eyes. We even look off to the side to collect our thoughts or recall a fact. Same goes for delivering a script.

Mind your voice

The worst performances drone on monotonously. Experienced presenters know to emphasize certain words to bring energy and meaning to their delivery.

It helps to really think about what the idea behind a sentence is, and what emotion you’re trying to convey. That might sound silly, especially if you’re explaining something like software features. But think about it: would you like to convey that a software feature is exciting, or really annoying? Maybe you’d like to communicate a sense of calm, especially if something seems more complicated than it actually is. Marking up a script (or outline) with what kind of feeling you want to convey can be extremely helpful.

You can also improve your narration by paying attention to the pace and cadence. Inexperienced presenters might default to a steady rhythm, but that’s not how people talk. Try slowing down for key terms, or to add emphasis. Speed up a little for information that’s not very important. And most importantly, take pauses. Think about how you'd say “This feature is incredible” versus “This process is... complicated.” Your voice naturally changes to match the meaning.

Voice coach Jessica Hansen has a simple exercise that opens up your vocal range: Read a sentence normally, then try it as a goofy character, then read it normally again. You could try delivering the line like a used car salesman, a child having a tantrum, or any other ideas that come to mind. Trying on different tones and characters help to stretch your range and make you sound more engaging.

Mind your hands (and the rest of your body)

Your voice isn't the only thing that gets stiff when you're reading from a script—your whole body does too. When we’re reading off a script or outline, we tend to hyperfixate and forget about the rest of our body. And so, we look stilted. But when we’re talking in real life, we move—we gesture with our hands, we shrug our shoulders. We lean in and away from whoever we’re speaking to. 

Like everything else, getting used to natural looking hand movements takes practice. But try paying attention next time you’re chatting with a friend, and see if you can pull those movements up from memory next time you’re reading a script.

Do something

Sometimes the best way to sound natural is to stop trying so hard. Give your brain something else to focus on. When part of your attention is occupied, you're less likely to overthink every word.

Creator Virginia Kerr suggests walking and talking. If you’re stuck sounding like a robot, this subtle distraction is a tried-and-true way to start sounding like yourself. 

Having physical props can also help. If you’re holding a physical object, it gives your hands something to do, and gives you a place to look that will feel natural. 

Especially for vertical video, “doing something” has become the norm —whether it’s creators explaining ideas while cooking or doing their makeup, or while holding a coffee mug or a tiny microphone. 

Three final tips that actually work

Do a dry run. Read through the entire script while recording, but don’t pay too much attention to making mistakes. By the second run-through, you’ll be warmed up and get a much better performance. 

Pretend you’re talking to someone you know. Creator Vic Barry encourages creators to pretend they’re talking to a human, not a camera. He suggests visualizing who they are—for example, a friend, or your mom. It’s another easy way to trick your brain into being your authentic self.

Smile. Creator Sunny Lunarduzzi advises that you smile. Smiling may not always be appropriate depending on the subject matter, but when it is it will make you seem more approachable. 

Take it a little at a time

The good news? You don't need to master all of these at once. Pick one area to focus on per video, and you'll gradually build the skills that make on-screen presence feel natural. Remember that the best video presentations don't feel like presentations at all—they feel like conversations.