I don't treat recording as something to add immediately. In one conversation, Don was talking about practicing with strangers and building his confidence back up. I suggested getting some of that confidence back before recording it.
My concern was a thought arriving in the middle of the exchange: “Fuck, I'm recording.” I knew how quickly another thing to worry about could pull attention away from speaking.
That was the situation I was addressing. He was trying to regain confidence, and I didn't want the camera to become another part of the problem at that moment.
Why do I record myself now?
I want people to see what I do in ordinary places. In the grocery store, a man looks at cookies and gives me an answer I haven't prepared for. At the market, somebody misses a trash can and I comment. In the bookstore, I make a comment and the interaction stays short.
The camera gives me a way to show those moments and explain them. What did I notice? What did I say? What happened next? That is the teaching I want the recordings to carry.
Watching and practicing together had another purpose
When I talked with Don about going out together, I wanted him to watch me approach someone. Then I wanted to come back and explain what I did and why I said it. He could try too, and we could discuss what happened.
I said the time before the approach and the time afterward could be especially valuable. An idea can be quick to describe and take longer to practice. Seeing a particular attempt gives us something specific to discuss.
That conversation was a proposal for an outing. It is a different use of observation from asking someone to manage a camera while they are still trying to regain confidence.
A recording can have preparation around it too
In my older account of making a coffee recording, I described knowing the employee, asking permission and returning to record again. That is part of the production context of the example I discussed.
I also described how draining a long public recording could be. Walking, talking, explaining what I am doing and dealing with the place around me involve work too.
The decision depends on the job the camera has
When I suggested waiting, the immediate job was practicing conversation and rebuilding confidence. When I record my public teaching, the job is to let someone see the situation and hear my explanation of it.
I had spent years working on my speech before making those recordings. Watching me use a camera at that stage doesn't mean adding one was the first thing I suggested to Don.
The speaking still has to happen with the person in front of us. I want the recording to help explain that experience, rather than become the only thing someone thinks about while trying to have it.