If you're struggling to create consistent video content, you might be taking the hardest possible approach without realizing it.
We recently had Katie Fawkes on the show, and one of her insights completely changed how we think about content creation. Katie, who serves as Director of Marketing at eCamm, made a counterintuitive point that stopped us in our tracks:
For perfectionists, recorded video is HARDER than going live.
Here's why this matters: Many creators (myself included) assume that recording videos privately gives us safety—the ability to review, re-record, and perfect before publishing. But Katie revealed how this "safety net" actually becomes a trap:
"I would stare at the camera, start going through my script, screw up a line, hit pause, and try again. It would take hours to record a five-minute clip. I'd leave those experiences feeling awful about myself."
The problem? The ability to "fix it later" gives perfectionists permission to obsess over every detail, creating a never-ending cycle of recording and re-recording.
The solution Katie discovered was counterintuitive: Go live first.
"When you're livestreaming, you can't stop. You can't obsess over every word. You just keep going—and that's freeing."
This "Live First Method" helped Katie transform from someone who avoided cameras at all costs to hosting hundreds of videos and two successful video podcasts. (Check out both The Flow and The VHS Club)
What makes this approach work is the community aspect of livestreaming. Katie explained how having supportive people in the chat completely changed her relationship with video:
"You realize no one is sitting there thinking 'Katie is using that word too many times.' They're there for the value, for the humanity of it."
For creators paralyzed by perfectionism, this approach offers a practical path forward. Rather than endlessly polishing content that never sees the light of day, going live creates immediate momentum and builds confidence through repetition.
The full interview contains many more gems from Kaite on building camera confidence, simplifying your tech setup, and growing community around your content. This conversation was a total blast as well - Katie is a great human!
What's your experience with creating video content? Are you caught in the perfectionism trap, or have you found ways to overcome it? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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