Recently I was reminded of how important it is to challenge myself and go out of my comfort zone. I conquered my fear and received a positive result.
My co-founder and I are applying to y combinator with our startup, Typogram. The y combinator application asks for an unscripted founder intro video.
Usually, my co-founder and I would write a short script outlining what we would say, memorize it, and recite it for the video. Although we have gotten feedback that it was robotic - we stayed with our recording method. It was easier and felt comfortable. We were worried we would look silly, blank out on words, and not be coherent.
This time around, we decide to challenge ourselves and try creating the video unscripted. To my surprise, the video took a shorter time to record, and I think it was more natural than the previously scripted one. I haven’t uploaded the video yet, but as far as I can tell, we sounded better and more human this time.
So conclusion and lesson here: don’t be afraid to venture out of my comfort zone into unfamiliar territory. You may be closer to the finish line than you previously thought.
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You're absolutely right about this. The same thing happened to my YouTube channel. I started unscripted, went scripted, and went back to keywords, but still unscripted. It's much more natural, and it's much more pleasant to watch.
That being said, getting out of your comfort zone is fantastic. Congratulations on this. 2022 was when I finally started to engage in discussions and share my opinion on Twitter and now on Indiehackers, and I just love it. I think it's fantastic!
thanks phillip, it's fantastic that you are getting out of your comfort zone as well, congratulations! Let's us both keep challenging ourselves!
i stick to the script otherwise there are lot of awkward silences in the video where i am thinking about something.
that's me usually as well, and reason why I didn't want to go unscripted for so long. It was a little different this time - who know, maybe all the previous scripted versions prepared me for it! XD
I did both startups and corporates, but the difference to doing everything on your own is so staggering. I used to think I'm someone who's up for doing anything. Make a video about your product? No problem!
But there's such a world of difference between making something like a founder video, product video or similar when you're working in a big corporation, vs a startup vs a founding team vs completely on your own.
You know that if it doesn't go well, it's just fully on you. There's no big company name or colleagues or anything to back you up.
So congrats on going out of your comfort zone! It's the only way to do it.
thanks so much!
Totally agreed! Recently I am stepping out of my comfort zone as well. Though it's hard and soooooo slow, I know I'm moving forward and that feels really great!
that's great Josie! congrats : )
I love this website, but I can see the "Pricing Details" twice, I don't know if it's by design or a mistake. I love the idea & the website, great work, Keep going
Thanks Anishx, that means a lot and it's actually by design : )
I was toying w/the idea of a podcast and recorded a few episodes. It was way easier than writing articles (which I have a lot of experience with, having written over 400,000 words on my previous startup).
Your'e right, something about the informal-ness of it all makes it a breeze compared to other kinds of content.
sounding informal is definitely not easy for sure - your 400,000 words definitely prepared you for it - Thanks Justin : )
Unscripted with having some outline what you want to talk about is a way to go most of the time.
yes! hope to improve from now on, thanks : )