I'm also a self-taught / book-taught quilter, and it took me a while to get up the nerve to put the cool FMQ foot my husband had bought for me months previously to use. I'm not good with videos; I prefer a book or written explanation, and I did some reading about the technicalities of FMQ. But for me, the thing that really made it happen...was DOING it.
I just took a deep breath, threw together some orphan blocks, and started quilting. I had done many in-the-ditch projects to that point, but this was a new feed-dogs-down adventure. Let's just say that my dogs are now the proud owners of several wonkily-quilted crate pads! It took many jerky curves, widely varying stitch sizes, and backing eyelashes before I got my hands, the movement of the quilt, and the machine's tension all in coordination. Now I consider myself adept enough at FMQ that for the latest project I went "fancy" and made this water quilting pattern on this blue quilt.
I've FMQ quilts of all sizes on my DM; it is much easier with the machine set into the table top to create a large, flat surface. I use the slick covering under the quilt, but I haven't tried the gloves you guys are talking about; I'll have to give those a shot.
In short, just keep quilting and you'll get better and better despite yourself'!
--Q