Getting Comfortable on Camera with Keri Murphy
If you’ve been considering video or wondering how to get comfortable on video, you’ll love this episode of Catalyst Conversations. According to Wordstream, this year, 45% of internet users watch YouTube and Facebook videos for an hour or more each week. 92% of viewers share video, and more than half of marketers worldwide name video as the channel that provides the greatest ROI. There is no doubt about it – video should be at the top of the list when it comes to marketing your business.
While video is one of the best ways to share your message, it can also be one of the scariest. It can be nerve-wracking to get in front of a camera and bare your soul while sharing your message, even when you know that’s how you’ll attract quality clients. That’s why I recently talked with Keri Murphy of Inspired Living TV, a former child actor turned entrepreneur and TV personality who now helps others share their messages and learn to get comfortable on camera.
“Now, I’m always investing in myself, I’m always hiring a coach, speaking to consultants, looking at ways I can grow and be a better leader. Because of that, my business literally doubles every year. It’s like the more I spend on myself and my team the better I do.”
Hear Keri’s story of surviving the recession and following her dreams – find out what kept her strong during the worst times, and what fuels her passions today. She shares her tips for looking good, sounding good, and most importantly, feeling good on camera – despite her years of experience in front of the camera, even Keri can get nervous! And, learn about the 5 types of video you should be using to market your business.
Connect with Keri
- Check out her amazing website at: InspiredLiving.tv
- Follow Keri on Facebook
- Subscribe to Keri’s Inspired Living YouTube Channel
Accelerate lasting success through harmony of mind, body, soul, and business
Transcript
Today, I spoke with Keri Murphy who is the founder of lifestyle brand Inspired Living TV. She also educates women on getting comfortable in front of the camera so that they can present their meaningful message in a really polished and empowered way. I love her story, she’s a really interesting person and I think that you are going to really enjoy the interview as well.
She started off as a child actor and by the time she was a teen, she was teaching acting. When she was 27, she launched her first business, the Murphy Talent Group. If you were an entrepreneur like I was in the mid-2000s, you know that the great recession was a tough time, it was really a struggle for many of us. She didn’t let that get her down, she packed up, and she moved to Los Angeles, and she started her company, and has been very, very successful at really empowering women and getting their message across. It’s so much more than just showing people how to get comfortable on camera, she’s really empowering her audience. She gives us some really great insight on producing great video, which is very important in today’s day and age. She also left me with this fabulous tidbit, I have to get this right, she says, “Your brand is simply an expression of how you want others to feel.” Love it. Enjoy.
JM: Hi Keri, how are you?
KM: I am very well, thanks. How are you?
JM: I’m great. I am so excited that you made some time for me today. Thank you so much.
KM: Oh, you’re welcome. It really is a pleasure. Thank you for asking me.
JM: I’m excited to talk with you. You have this crazy career. First of all, I was reading your bio and it talks about how you’re a 20 year veteran, said you start when you were like 4, you’re gorgeous, it’s amazing. I think you actually did start pretty young. But like, holy wow, you are gorgeous, and you’ve got so much incredible experience. Explain a little bit about what you do and how you got started?
KM: Sure. Right now, Inspired Living, our focus is really teaching and empowering entrepreneurs about how to use video, how to show off authentically, and most importantly, how to make the difference in the world that they have this burning desire to get out there. The people we work with, Jenn, they are passionate, they are inspired, they are committed to making the world a better place in some way, whether it’s a product, a service, a book, speaking and yet somebody of them have no idea how to get their message out there. It’s really sad for us, I have a group of five coaches that mentors and builds these influential brands, my especially of course is teaching people how to show off pathetically on camera. But it’s so fun to see them really shift from not being confident in who they are, and what they want to put out to being unapologetic and on fire for what they’re doing because that’s when we get to make a bigger difference.
JM: I love that and I think you said something early on that is really important. I think when you’ve got people who have meaningful content, and want to be inspired, and want to be inspiring, it makes such a huge difference and it’s so much easier to push yourself to put that message out there in those circumstances.
In terms of the advice that you provide, I know you focus a lot on video, you have great social media yourself, I know you work with clients on their message and being on camera, I think a lot of times, especially professional women, have this crazy pressure that they put on themselves and you know social media doesn’t help, we don’t control that social media environment once we put the headshots out there, the video out there, the messaging out there, and sometimes people aren’t very nice. What are some of the things that you talk to your clients about in terms of the challenges that they experience with self image and having to get themselves out there in the digital landscape?
KM: Yeah, you know Jenn, it is scary. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in front of the camera or how long, I’ve been putting myself out there. I see people look at me and think, “Oh, it’s so easy for her.” Trust me, that critic is loud in my ear too, and I still look at video and go, “Oh, my God, do I look like that? This is to big, this is too small.” And people are mean and the thing about online is there’s complete autonomy, anyone can say anything, make up a profile, do anything. I’ve learned that the hard way.
When I work with entrepreneurs, women specifically, their self critic is on high alert. What we work with them on is there’s a difference between putting lipstick on a pig, and what I mean by that is showing up as something you’re not and showing up as real and true to who you are. When you see me, that is true and authentic to who I am. I grew up in entertainment, my grandma was glamorous until the day she passed. It’s who I am and it’s what I like to be, and it’s a true representation of that. Yet we see other people sometimes putting out an image or an idea of who they want people to see them as, as not authentic.
JM: How do you balance that need to be authentic and that need to be commercial? I think we have all this pressure, there is that fine line in personal branding where you’re putting out an image and you do want your audience to come to expect a certain personality, certain perspectives, and attitudes, and responses to things, but how do you find that balance between remaining authentic and being commercial?
KM: It’s really understanding who you are and what makes you different than anyone else. That’s something that we work with our client on in the very beginning. And it’s also who are you talking to, it’s not really about you, your brand is only an expression of how you want other people to see you. What is that feeling? What is that vibe? We work with our clients on that and yet you want to show up as the best version of yourself as possible.
I used to own a talent agency and that was the same thing. You look at someone on a comp card back in the day and someone would walk into your office and you’d be like, “What? That is not real, it’s way too photoshopped.” It really is allowing people to say, “Hey, you know what? I’m flawed, I’m imperfect, but this is who I am committed to being in the world.” As they say, “It’s none of our business what other people think about you.” That is so important to remember because there are always going to be haters out there, there’s going to be people who are negative nellies you, don’t like you, and it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you know you. You know what image you want to put out there, and Jenn, I am a big stickler not having crappy photos, having a website that looks like a professional brand, you need to show up as a brand, you want people to see you. You’re right, there is a balance between authenticity and commercialism and that really is our gift in what we do over here. But it’s like knowing thyself, knowing your values, knowing who you’re attracting, and why.
JM: I love that. And I love what you said earlier too about being different. I think that sometimes, people feel that having that commercial appeal means watering yourself down and being very similar to what has already been successful. I think oftentimes what is not commercial, what is unique, and what is different, people are curious about and actually can really be the benefit when it comes to having to cut through the noise or cut through all the stuff we’re bombarded with on social media, driving down the road with billboards, and TV commercials. There’s just so much stuff that’s out there. Sometimes being different really is the advantage.
But to your point, it’s great to be different but you still have to be polished, that website, social media, it still has to be the point, it still has to be pulled together. What would you say are your top couple of tips that you would give to somebody? If somebody is listening and they have an established personal brand, but maybe they’ve never been on camera, maybe they’re nervous, we’re seeing that over and over again. I have two companies that both very much play within the digital media, consulting area, and everything we see is going to video. I know that you know I’m preaching to the choir, but it’s Facebook Live, it’s Instagram Stories, and videos. What are your top couple of tips for somebody who hasn’t done it and is maybe feeling nervous about getting out there?
KM: First of all, I want to say, you’re not alone, that everyone feels that way. When I work with people like in my 2-Day On-Camera Training, Jenn, it’s so fun to see them come in petrified, and so full of fear about what they’re going to experience walking out as totally different version of themselves. The first thing I would say is you don’t get great at anything by thinking about it. You have to start doing it. That’s the only way you’re going to become more comfortable. And like you just said, video is not going anywhere. The statistics show us time and time again how important it is especially as an entrepreneur to be integrating video into your business on a regular basis.
It’s really understanding again who you want, what your message is. When we tap to record, our ego goes into full effect, it’s that side of light, it’s like, “Oh, my God, what am I going to say?” I always tell people, “You will find it so much easier to communicate through video when you concentrate on speaking to one person.” That’s it.
JM: Oh, that’s a great tip.
KM: One person. Because then again, the onus is not on you. You’re not pressing record thinking, “Oh, my gosh, what am I saying? Who am I?” You are very clear with who you’re talking to. When you’re clear with who you’re talking to, then the message comes more organically. I say, “Please, whatever you do, do not script out, do not write out, you are not a professionally trained actor, so you should not be trying to use a prompter or write it all out,” because again, we sniff inauthenticity. Straight from your heart, have bullet points if you need them, know who you are.
JM: That’s true. I was going to ask you, you have an outline but you’re not scripting, that’s the question that we get a lot, so you would create an outline but you wouldn’t script or memorize?
KM: Absolutely, yeah. Actually, the outline that I teach at the 2-Day On-Camera Training, is everything that we do—because without an outline, you’re just speaking off-the-cuff, and a lot of times people can’t even follow you because you don’t know where you are going. An outline is a great way to stay on point, at speaking a point, they’ll have more than three points in the video, people just don’t take any more than that usually and be clear with call to action, and smile, believe, and just speak to that one person, it really is a game changer when you know who you are talking to and why you’re talking to them in the first place.
JM: Absolutely. Thank you, that’s great advice. In terms of how long it should be seen? You mentioned no more than three points, it’s interesting because even a couple of years ago it was kind of all the rage in social media especially to keep those videos short, short, short. Now we’re seeing this emphasis a little bit on a longer form video, Facebook Live does sweet spot us to go to 10 minutes or more, it’s kind of the best practice that we’re hearing, what do you think is a good link of time for a video if it’s something that you’re going to put maybe just kind of introductory on your website or if it’s something that you’re using on social media to position yourself as an authority? What do you recommend?
KM: It’s a great question, Jenn. I think it depends on the type of video. I teach that there are five types of videos we integrate into our businesses. There’s the one that you just said which is the positioning video that’s on your website, everyone has to have this video on their website because people are using on website less than eight seconds so that video is really going to pull them in, and that should be about 90 seconds, 2 minutes max, they don’t know you yet, they just found your site, this is just a quick introduction to tell them why they’re there, why you, what you do, and what you do next. That video is really powerful.
Then there’s the Facebook Live, there’s what I call products videos where you’re teaching content. Those vary, they could be, yes Facebook Live, you want to stay on it longer because the longer you’re on Facebook Live, the more it pushes it out to a Facebook audience. Now, on your website, you want to do a blog post at a 10 minute video because people are “A-D-D-D-D”, I like to keep it between 3 to 5 minutes. It still does depend on the type of video. But I would say yes, Instagram, a minute. You have to think where are people at when they’re watching it. It is different if you send someone an interview that they are ready to sit down and watch versus going through Instagram and watching a quick video while they’re going through their feed. Understanding the psychographic and the demographic of who’s watching, why are they watching, where they are at when they’re watching, help you determine how long the video should be.
JM: Great advice, absolutely. How do you know all of this about video? You are amazing, the social media professionals that we talk to on a regular basis, they’re good, but holy smoke! You’re amazing, how do you know all of this stuff? Tell me a little bit more about your background and how you got there.
KM: I have been doing this for so long. What’s so funny is I started acting as a kid when I was 11, I start teaching acting in my teen, taught throughout my 20s, owned a talent agency, now run a business where all we do is to video. I know video like the back of my hands, that’s why when I started Inspired Living, Jenn, actually it was a lifestyle brand, it was fitness, health, wellness, and money, and it wasn’t until I saw someone else in our industry who is very well known on camera and I thought to myself, “Good golly, that person is not authentic, I can teach people how to be authentic.
JM: I can do that.
KM: Yeah.
JM: What year did you start Inspired Living?
KM: I launched it 11/11/2011. There were a lot of angel numbers.
JM: Yes, good numbers. I love it, I love it. That was back in 2011. That was a little bit after the recession. Looking at your bio, you had had your talent company. Tell me a little bit about that, how did you make that transition, especially during a difficult time with the greatest recession between those years, 2008, 2011?
KM: That talent agency is the same agency I went to as a little girl. I worked for the owner of the agency for five years after college. It was in my early 20s where I decided I don’t want to work for anyone else and I started my own interior design business. While I was doing that, Jenn, I was a local interior design expert, I’m doing segments on morning shows, I still was auditioning for stuff. In all of my many, many years as an entrepreneur, I was always shootings video to grow my business, I just didn’t realize it at that time.
I bought the agency at 27 and rebuilt it to almost 7 figure brand—when I bought it it was just over 6 figures—and then the recession hit. Now I was in my early 30s, I had no idea—as none of us really did—what was coming, it was the greatest lesson ever, Jenn. We talked about being brought to your knees. I lost what I felt was everything. I short sold my home, I was divorced a few years before that, my identity, who I was, 500 talents, it was devastating. And yet, I did know that there had to be something greater. I have faith and trust. Even though I was literally brought to my knees, and I had many of those crying moments where I felt like I was going to stop breathing, I just really believed there had to be something better. That’s when I felt like, “What in the world am I going to do? I’m not going to stay where I am, I’m going to move to LA,” and finally pursue my dream of being an on-camera host. I signed as one of the top agents in Los Angeles, that year I’ve got a job at The Golf Channel and MTV. I was hustling, I was going out, and I was teaching acting, and doing all that. Then it was one day, I will never forget this day, it was for a spokesperson job for a luxury resort, and I had to show up in a bikini and I walk into the room, there’s at least 150 other gorgeous women—
JM: No pressure.
KM: I sit for over three hours waiting for someone to give me two minutes in a bikini, nonetheless. I don’t have a body shame but I should not probably be in a bikini on camera.
JM: That’s scary for anyone, that’s crazy.
KM: I said, I’m never doing this again, I’m never doing this again. Literally, I called Kevin Sorbo who was a fan on Facebook, he’s a big golf guy, I asked if I could interview him, and that’s how my business got started. It was many things and I said, it was life coaching, it was a lifestyle brand and over the many years, now that I’ve had it, it’s really transformed into what I am. I am a combination of everything that I teach. It was divine, it was God’s will, it was tenacity, it was drive, it was getting up, brushing yourself up. But there were many, many years there when I first moved out here. I moved seven times in three years.
JM: Oh, my goodness.
KM: It was bananas. You look back, I don’t know if anyone else can relate to this, where you look back at a time in your life where you have to ask yourself how did I make it here? How? How did I make my rent? How did I get my car a payment? How did I physically? How did I mentally? How did I make it? Yet I always got by on the skin on my chinny chin chin. But I will say one of the things that has become a really powerful force in my life is investing in yourself. When I owned my talent agency, I never hired anyone to help me grow the business, make better strategic decisions, have a budget, and a plan. Now, I’m always investing in myself, I’m always hiring a coach, speaking at consultants, looking at ways I can grow and be a better leader. Because of that, my business literally doubles every year. It’s like the more I spend on myself and my team—
JM: The better you do.
KM: When I make the right decisions—I don’t make every right decision, of course, like there I was, I’m like, “Oops, that wasn’t the right one.” But overall, I was like, “That has been the secret.” It’s investing in yourself and trusting that you don’t know everything so hire the team to help you build what you see, because no one sees your vision like you, no one.
JM: Right, find those experts.
KM: It is my job to hold the vision and then hire the people to help me create it. Because the more I know I can’t do it by myself.
JM: To help you do that. Yeah. How do you find that balance? You are amazingly successful and I love that you invest in coaching self-care, I think it’s so incredibly important. I look at things like hiring a business coach at self care, it could be going for a massage, it’s going on a break, it’s having a vacation, it’s all of those encompassing things, anytime that you’re investing yourself, I look at that as self-care.
Unfortunately, I think, especially for professional women, so many of us sacrifice ourselves like we’re the thing that gives at the end of the day to make sure that everybody gets everything that they need, whether it’s our clients, our employees, our spouses, our parents, our children, and you’ve got a beautiful little daughter, I love seeing your Instagram posts, your pictures with her. How do you manage to balance it all and still get yourself care in there? I mean, make sure that you’ve got the time to work with your coaches, to make sure you’ve got time to recharge, and remain resilient? How do you do that?
KM: I won’t say it’s not a challenge, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a single parent, or you have a partner, or you have one child, or none. It’s always a balance. But I am non negotiable with my self-care. For example, I’ll book a workout and one of my team members will say, “Hey, someone wants to talk to you at this time,” and I’m like, “I’m so sorry but I need to get my workout, I need to get my massage every other week,” I know that sounds like so crazy.
JM: Why do we feel that way? It’s so funny like I go through that too and I’m like, I am now starting to have kind of this non negotiable times on my calendar that are for meetings and that are for other things or I’m going to go crazy running around like maniac and yet it’s like I have to have my assistant now and make those appointments because I feel so guilty putting people off like why do we feel so bad about? Why would you feel like you have to offer some disclaimer about going for a massage?
KM: Right, because I think we are like, “Oh, self care is a luxury.” Like if you can get a massage every other week, every two weeks, that’s such a luxury. But it’s actually a necessity for me because I’m always full on. I go from running my business, to being with my daughter, to putting her to bed and most nights pulling up my computer and working more right so.
JM: It’s the second shift. Absolutely.
KM: It is. For me, I love my friends, I have help, I do have help, there’s no way I could do it all on my own, and so it’s a crapshoot, but most days are great. I will say most days, of course, there are those trying days but making that time for you non-negotiable, I would say, has been kind of what has kept me sane, this coaching call isn’t more important than me going to the gym.
JM: I love that. Such good advice, it is so, so absolutely important to invest in that self-care. Keri, I could ask you a million questions and just talk to you for hours and hours, but before I forget, let’s make sure, what is your website so that anyone who’s listening that wants to learn more can find you, what is your website?
KM: It’s inspiredliving.tv.
JM: Okay, perfect. Then you’ve got a great guide, tell us a little bit about the Be Studio Ready. I saw that on your website and I read the summary of what it’s about and it looks like an amazing guide. So people can go to your website and get that, tell us more about what’s inside.
KM: I have so many people come to me because I teach them how to be on camera. They’re like, “Keri, how do I set up my home office? What equipment do I need to have good sounds and good lighting?” We put together a step-by-step, Be Studio Ready camera guide that gives you the breakdown of how to set up your home studio, what you need, how to show up more confidently. It’s awesome, it’s free, you can go there right now and download it and get started.
I just want to go back to the only way you get more comfortable at anything in your life is by doing it. We all have fears, we all have that self-critic that comes into play, too loud most days, and I just really want to encourage you who’s listening right now to trust yourself and trust your message and know that if you reach one person, you are well on your way to reaching many and be connected to that and have faith in that.
JM: I love that, what a beautiful parting shot. Thank you so much for your time, Keri. I really, really appreciate it.
KM: My pleasure, Jenn, thank you so much.