Nobody tells you how strange it feels to see yourself on camera for the first time. 

Your voice sounds different. Your face looks awkward. And suddenly, all you can notice are the little things you don’t like.

More than the awkwardness, it’s the feeling of being exposed—like the whole world is watching you stumble through something new.

That’s when the doubt creeps in. You tell yourself, “Maybe I’m not made for this. Maybe I should wait until I’m better.”

But the truth is, every creator you admire has been here.

In a recent chat with Stan’s co-founder John Hu, Steven Bartlett said it best: “Embarrassment is the cost of entry.”

This post is about those first awkward stages—why they happen, why they’re normal, and how to move past them so you can keep creating with confidence.

Let’s get started.

Why Every Creator Starts Out Awkward

Starting as a creator is a lot like learning to ride a bike in front of a crowd.

You know it’s supposed to look smooth, steady, confident. You’ve seen other people do it hundreds of times. But when it’s your turn, your legs feel stiff, your steering is shaky, and you’re painfully aware that everyone can see you wobbling.

That’s what making your first content feels like.

You’ve spent hours watching creators you admire. Maybe Jeff Nippard in fitness, Ali Abdaal in productivity, or Emma Chamberlain in lifestyle. They make it look effortless.

What you don’t see are the hundreds of earlier, messier attempts. The times they were still figuring out where to look, how to keep their voice steady, and what to do with their hands.

Here’s a reality to accept:

When you hit record for the first time, there’s a gap between what you want to create and what you’re able to create right now. And that gap is obvious to you because your taste has been shaped by the best in the game.

For example, think of a beginner fitness creator. You’ve watched Jeff Nippard’s videos for years. 

You’ve enjoyed his clean edits, perfect lighting, and clear delivery. You think, “I can do that too.” Then you film your first 60-second push-up tip. You watch it back and notice:

• Your voice sounds different, almost like it belongs to someone else.
• The camera angle makes you look smaller than you are.
• The pauses feel twice as long on playback.
• The whole thing just… doesn’t flow.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? That right there is the awkward truth of starting something new in public.

As a brand that works closely with creators, we’ve seen this happen countless times. One example is Ricky, one of our engineers at Stan, who decided to “build in public” on Instagram to better understand what our creator customers experience.

As expected, his first videos felt uncomfortable. His voice sounded different, his delivery didn’t feel natural, and he wasn’t sure how people would react. He even spent a week writing the script for his first Reel because it never felt quite right.

Every creator you look up to, and plenty you’ve never heard of, has been through this same phase. That early awkwardness is normal, and everyone goes through it.

If You’ve Felt This, You’re Not Alone

Every creator has a highlight reel of moments they’d rather forget. If you’re in that phase right now—feeling awkward, overthinking, and second-guessing yourself—you’re in good company.

Here are some of the most common early-stage moments, and why they feel so strange:

1. Hearing Your “Weird” Voice

You finish recording, hit play… and freeze. The voice coming out of the speakers doesn’t sound like you at all.

It’s jarring because you’ve spent your whole life hearing your voice from inside your own head—a deeper, warmer version. The microphone gives you the “outside” version, the one everyone else hears. It feels like meeting yourself for the first time.

2. Seeing Yourself on Camera

Suddenly, you’re noticing details you never thought about. Your eyebrows shoot up, your head tilts, you blink too much.

It’s like catching your reflection in a shop window when you weren’t expecting it. You become hyperaware, and the more you notice, the stiffer you get.

3. Long, Awkward Pauses 

What felt like a normal breath in real life suddenly feels like ten seconds of dead air on playback. So you start filling the silence with extra words and end up sounding rushed or repetitive.

4. Overusing Filler Words

“Uh,” “um,” “you know,” “like”… you can’t not hear them now. It’s like when you learn a new word and suddenly hear it everywhere, except this time, it’s in your own sentences.

5. Editing Envy

You watch your rough cut and then compare it to a big creator’s latest upload. Their transitions are smooth, the pacing is perfect, and their captions feel effortless. Yours, on the other hand, feels choppy, uneven, and anything but effortless.

6. Camera & Lighting Disasters

The lighting makes you look tired. The angle feels unflattering. There’s a random shadow behind you that you can’t seem to get rid of. In your head, the shot looked cinematic. In reality, it looks like you filmed it in a dim hallway.

7. The “What Will People Think?” Trap

You start picturing old classmates, coworkers, or distant relatives watching your video and silently judging you. Logically, you know most people are too busy to care, but the feeling is real.

Put together, all these moments tell you something important. 

The awkward voice, messy edits, and fear of judgment are all signs of growth. They show you’re moving forward, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.

The Surprising Upside of Feeling Cringe

Nothing stings quite like watching your own content and cringing. But that reaction is actually one of the clearest signs you’re on the right track.

That discomfort means you’re paying attention. You can see the gap between where you are and where you want to be—and if you can see the gap, you can close it.

Think of it like lifting weights for the first time. The soreness you feel the next day is proof your muscles are waking up, not a sign you’re doing something wrong.

Content works the same way. Cringe is your “growth soreness.”

It means you’ve put yourself in a position where improvement is possible. You’re testing ideas in the real world instead of keeping them locked in your head.

That’s how many successful creators got to where they are today. Take Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast), for example.

Today, he’s one of the biggest YouTubers on the planet. But if you look back at his older videos, they were awkward, low-budget, and often boring. 

In an interview with Colin and Samir, he recalled how, in his early days, people called him “stupid” and “very awkward.” Yet without those first uploads, there would be no MrBeast today.

He put it best himself in another interview: “When I first started, the videos were horrible, and then they slowly got less and less horrible throughout the years.”

Here’s the point: If you feel completely comfortable with your content from day one, you’re probably playing it too safe.

Feeling cringe means you’re stretching. It’s a sign of growth. The only real setback is refusing to act on it.

How to Make Cringe Work for You

If you’ve made it this far, you know two things:

• Awkwardness is inevitable in the early stages.
• Every creator you admire has been through it.

Still, many beginners see cringe as a bad sign. They post something, hate how it looks or sounds, and then slow down or quit. Don’t make that mistake.

Here’s how to turn it into an advantage:

Step 1: Name the Cringe

Cringe happens for a reason. It’s your brain picking up on the gap between your current ability and your standard.

Instead of letting it knock you down, put it on paper. After every post, ask yourself:

• What specifically made me cringe?
• Why did it happen?
• What’s one simple fix I can try next time?

For example, if you say “um” every few seconds, it’s not a personality flaw. You might just need bullet points or a few deliberate pauses, as Vinh Giang suggests.

When you name the problem clearly, it stops feeling like a vague “I’m just bad at this” and becomes a tangible thing you can improve.

Step 2: Pick One Thing to Improve at a Time

The fastest way to burn out is to try fixing everything in one go—delivery, lighting, editing, captions, sound, pacing. Instead, pick one focus per post.

For example:

• If your audio was echoey, your next post’s mission is to record in a smaller space or closer to the mic.
• If your lighting was flat, focus only on getting closer to a window or trying a soft light.
• If your delivery felt stiff, focus on imagining you’re talking to one specific person, not “the internet.”

This approach keeps your brain from overloading and gives you small, measurable wins.

Step 3: Shorten the Gap Between Recording and Posting

The longer you sit on content, the more you’ll overthink it. You’ll start noticing imaginary flaws. You’ll convince yourself it’s not ready.

Top creators don’t avoid bad takes. They publish, learn, and keep going.

Set a personal rule: once something is 90% ready, it goes live. That last 10% is usually just perfectionism trying to stall you.

Step 4: Review With a Plan

Yes, you should watch your own work, but only with a clear purpose.

Instead of replaying your video endlessly, use this simple review process that keeps you focused:

1. Post it
2. Watch it once as a regular viewer without pausing
3. Watch it once as a critic and note what felt slow, confusing, or awkward
4. Add one item to your improvement list
5. Close it and move on

Replaying your video 15 times will not make it better. It will just make you more self-conscious next time.

Step 5: Focus on Reps (Not Perfection)

Think of every post like a workout set. The goal isn’t to get it perfect, but to show up and get the reps in.

When you think in reps, you stop expecting every post to define your worth as a creator. You see each one as practice. Over time, those practice posts are what make you good enough to create the work you’re proud of.

The Creator You Want to Be Starts Here

Somewhere ahead is a version of you who creates with ease. They show up with confidence, publish without hesitation, and know their voice and audience.

That version doesn’t exist yet. But every post you make now is shaping them.

The discomfort you feel today is proof you’re moving forward. Each time you push through it, you build confidence. A month from now, you’ll look back at your first post and see real progress.

And a few months down the line, you could be one of our 80,000+ Creators, turning consistency into a monetized presence with Stan.

So keep going.

Show up. Improve a little each time. And create until the version you’ve been working toward is the one holding the camera.

Join the Discussion

What was your most cringe moment as a new creator? (And how did you get past it?)
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