We all know that video is important for business and a great way to connect. However, like many people, I was petrified of showing up on video. A well-composed photo with an edited caption, no sweat! Using my voice on the fly, way harder. But I challenged myself to show up on Instagram stories every day for 30 days. Here’s what happened.

The process for me would go a little something like this...procrastinate, find a filter, change filter, film video, watch video, re-record video, then delete video! Sound familiar? As a confident human and a marketing gal myself, this felt completely crazy. Why was I so scared to show up on Instagram stories?

It’s only natural for us humans to feel a little nervous on camera. It’s likened to the fear of public speaking, it can be seen as a “potential threat to our credibility and image”. We're quick to jump to anxious thoughts like “I'm too boring” or other preconceived ideas like “I'm not good on camera”.

But with video playing an essential role in any good marketing toolkit (and because I'm always telling my clients to get on stories) I thought it was time to practice what I preach. I set myself a challenge to show up on stories every day for 30 days in my self-titled #storyadaychallenge.

The goal was simple, get over my fear of Instagram stories. I created 30 prompts (which you can download for FREE at the end of this post) if you’re interested in doing your own challenge too. The prompts helped me eliminate any excuses to skip a day.

Here’s what happened after I showed up on Instagram stories every day for 30 days.

The good

I got rid of my fear of camera...surprisingly quickly

I quickly learnt that showing up on camera isn’t actually that scary. On day one, I noticed shakiness and unease in my voice, but as early as day three, those nerves were gone! It happened way quicker than I thought and I know others who joined me on the challenge felt the same.

My followers and connections grew

I did a shout out to my personal Instagram page and had 18 others join me on the #storyadaychallenge. We encouraged each other and watched each other's stories over the weeks. It was nice to know you had some people engaging on the journey. And while this wasn’t the goal, I gained 58 new followers in 30 days, an increase of 4.2%.

I got confident using Instagram story features

Over the 30 days, I used polls, questions, tags, all of the things. Because it was an experiment I didn’t need things to be perfect. Polls helped me learn more about my audience, Q&A would be a nice way to start a conversation. By the time the challenge was over, I had some new ways to engage with my audience up my sleeve.

The bad

Another thing on the “to do” list

I found myself getting anxious if my day got busy or unpredictable and had not posted a story yet. One trick to avoid this was to make sure I did my stories early in the day. Getting it off the mental load first and “eating the frog” was a helpful approach for me.

Publishing without purpose

Posting with intention became a little tricky. Some days I felt rushed to get it done and would just put something up without much substance. While everything I shared was done with good intent, I recognised that some stories lacked purpose. Using content themes or pillars is a great way to keep your content focused. For me, I found posts about marketing, freelancing, and being a new working mum drove the most engagement. These are content themes I'll continue with.

Other lessons learnt

“Umm” you’ve gotta go

I realised I say “um” and “aaaand” a lot to fill space. I tried not to watch too many videos back but it was good to get awareness of this bad habit. I can only improve from here.

Filters are your friend (sometimes)

If I was having a crappy skin day or had bags under eyes (the reality of having a 9-month-old baby), I could throw on a filter get on with it. However, while filters can be helpful, don’t overuse them. I had one of my followers (and good friends) say the filter distracted her from the message. So keep it simple by choosing 1-2 that feel good for you, suit your brand, and are NOT too distracting.

Engagement dropped on weekends (so did my energy)

Weekend posting was the hardest to get done AND it received less engagement than weekday stories. Moving forward I will make the weekend's story free unless I have something particularly meaningful to share.

Prompts helped to build momentum

I created a series of 30 simple Instagram story prompts to follow them if I was stuck for ideas. These prompts were great for a few reasons: they eliminated the excuse of having ‘nothing to say’, they got things started when you didn’t know where to begin, and they enabled me to trial topics and learn which ones I felt good to speak about. I now have an idea on what content came more naturally to me and can incorporate it into my strategy.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely!

Showing up every day means you are not always going to be at 100%. I witnessed many raw moments from the people who joined me on the challenge because of this. But we showed up and shared. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was not. I found my most vulnerable posts build the most meaningful connections. Life ain’t always glitzy highs.

If you’re curious to get better at Instagram stories and overcome your fear of getting your face on camera, I encourage you to give it a go! We CAN train ourselves to see Instagram stories, much like public speaking, as an opportunity to communicate something your audience will find valuable rather than a situation for us to be judged.

Download my free Instagram story prompts

I’ve put together a download with 30 free prompts so you can do your own #storyadaychallenge. You’ll also find 9 bonus tips on talking to camera too. If you do use them I’d love to see! Simply tag me @haleyberryman__ or @coolwowcollective and I’ll send you a virtual high five for showing up and cheer you on!

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30 Days Of Instagram Stories: An Experiment [PLUS free download]