How Recording Yourself Can Sabotage Your Public Speaking Improvement
Liam Sandford
Liam Sandford is a public speaking coach, marketing leader, and 2x best-selling author, including the book Effortless Public Speaking. He helps introverted professionals and leaders take control of public speaking anxiety and use speaking to market themselves, build influence, and communicate with impact.
You can often be told that recording yourself delivering a presentation and then reviewing your performance is the key to improvement. While it sounds logical, this advice can actually backfire, particularly for beginners. Watching yourself can trigger harsh self-criticism, overwhelm you with details, and create negative speaking experiences that reduce confidence. True improvement comes from positive, structured practice, focusing on one area at a time, and building confidence gradually. In this article, you will learn why recording yourself prematurely can harm your progress, and how to create a repeatable system for public speaking improvement that works.
Why Recording Yourself Often Backfires
For many speakers, the first instinct is to record and review their presentation. Watching yourself may feel like a practical step, but it often leads to focusing on mistakes rather than successes. Beginners especially fall into a cycle of criticism, noticing every filler word, pause, or minor stumble.
This “circle of doom” reinforces anxiety, diminishes confidence, and can make future speaking experiences stressful. Instead of improving performance, you might focus on avoiding past mistakes rather than practicing what works. Positive speaking experiences are essential for confidence and long-term growth.
Avoid Comparing Yourself to Other Speakers
Many people also try to improve by watching accomplished speakers. While this can be inspiring, it often does the opposite for beginners. Watching polished speakers highlights the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. This can create frustration and diminish motivation.
Even the best speakers started as beginners and practiced repeatedly over years to develop their style. Focus on your own next step. Improvement should be incremental and specific, not measured against someone else's experience. Concentrate on the skill you are developing in the moment, rather than comparing your journey to a seasoned presenter.
Focus on Positive Speaking Practice
Positive speaking practice is the foundation for improvement. It begins with starting where you are comfortable. Recording yourself prematurely can be uncomfortable and unhelpful.
Instead, prioritize structured, positive speaking experiences:
Use the Nano Speech Framework
Apply the Nano Speech framework, open, body, close structure in conversations, mini presentations, or short talks. This provides structure, reduces tangents, and builds clarity.
Gauge Your Own Experience
Pay attention to how it feels when you speak. Are you more confident than your last attempt? Focus on the positive changes and reinforce them.
Collect Audience Feedback
Ask listeners what resonated and what could improve. Their perspective helps identify strengths and growth areas without falling into harsh self-criticism.
When Recording Yourself Becomes Useful
Recording yourself should be reserved for when you are comfortable speaking publicly. At that stage, focus on one specific area at a time, such as:
Connecting with the audience
Pausing for effect
Body language
Storytelling
Eye contact
Speaking slowly and clearly
Only review the aspect you want to improve. Look at your performance from the audience perspective and measure it against your target skill. This transforms recording from a confidence breaker into a precision improvement tool.
Avoid the Circle of Doom, Build the Circle of Success
Many beginners fall into the “circle of doom” by trying to fix everything at once and focusing on mistakes. This approach increases stress and limits progress.
Instead, create a circle of success:
Identify one specific area to improve.
Practice structured speaking around that area.
Notice progress and positive changes.
Apply the learning in the next practice session.
Gradually expand your comfort zone to tackle other areas.
This method encourages consistent improvement, builds confidence, and keeps speaking practice positive and effective.
Actionable Takeaways for Public Speaking Improvement
Stop recording and watching yourself back — without being specific you will enter the circle of doom
Measure the feeling. How does it feel? More comfortable compared to last time? That is a positive you should build on
When you are improving, don’t try to improve everywhere. Be specific and only improve that one thing. Focusing on less leads to bigger improvements.
Discover how to improve effectively in the Ultimate Guide to Public Speaking
TL;DR
The fastest way to grow as a speaker is to focus on positive practice, not perfection. Avoid recording yourself too early or comparing your progress to others. Instead, build confidence through small, structured improvements that feel good and create momentum.
Stop over analyzing recordings: Watching yourself too soon can create anxiety and reinforce mistakes instead of progress.
Avoid comparisons: Every great speaker started small. Focus on your next step, not someone else’s highlight reel.
Practice with purpose: Use the open-body-close Nano Speech structure in short, low-pressure settings to build clarity and control.
Track progress by feeling: Notice when you feel more confident or comfortable, and build on that success.
Improve one skill at a time: Choose a single area to refine, then apply it until it feels natural before moving on.
More From Liam Sandford
Read my book: Effortless Public Speaking. Learn how to speak confidently, reduce stress, and turn public speaking into your competitive advantage. These actionable public speaking tips will help you improve your presentation skills for any audience.
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