Somewhere on your phone, there's a video you haven't posted because you laughed halfway through. The next take was smoother. You also sounded a little like you were answering a question in a job interview.
Billie Eilish opened her 2019 debut album with herself taking out her Invisalign and laughing with her brother, Finneas. That moment became the opening track, “!!!!!!!”, on When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? GQ's interview with Finneas recalls that familiar introduction.
It's the sort of thing you might cut before the recording has, in your mind, properly started. On her album, it's the first thing you hear.
Give the awkward bit another look
Watching yourself back is strange. You discover a hand gesture you apparently use for everything. By the fourth replay, a tiny pause has become the main event.
Someone watching for the first time is probably more interested in what you're showing them.
Picture a gardening creator repotting basil. She spills soil down her shirt, laughs, then explains how to loosen the roots without tearing them. She could start again. She could also trim the fumbling, keep the laugh, and finish the demonstration. Anyone watching with compost on their kitchen floor might feel right at home.
Let the feeling have a say
Rihanna told Vogue she recorded “Higher” around four or five in the morning, imagining a desperate, drunken voicemail. That gives the exposed delivery an emotional purpose.
Neither example proves that mistakes improve a song. They give us a useful question: what does this moment help someone feel?
For you, it might be the excitement when an experiment works, or the disappointment when it doesn't. Repeating the moment until every sentence comes out neatly can take some of that feeling away.
Make the edit earn its place
Watch one recording you've been putting off posting, all the way through. Can someone follow your explanation? Is it accurate? Can they see what you're demonstrating? Fix those problems first.
Then revisit the moment that makes you wince. What would removing it improve? You might find a distraction worth cutting, or yourself being funny without trying. You're also allowed to keep something private because you'd rather keep it private.
A home for your work on YaySquad gives people somewhere to follow the process over time, including whatever small, human moments you choose to share.
What's a moment you nearly cut but ended up sharing—or one you wish you'd kept? Tell us what happened in the comments on our Facebook post.