Many videos are shot simply using their mobile devices and uploaded directly to YouTube using a variety of applications, which can actually do a pretty amazing job. But if you go through the YouTube catalog, you’ll find that the quality of the videos varies widely. In a way, that’s the beauty and fun of YouTube: its sheer chaotic nature. And it would be pretty boring if all videos were the same and all had the same production qualities with perfectly polished video and sound, all conforming to some arbitrary standard. Now I’m not saying that you can’t also produce crazy, wacky videos that are more your style and that fit with your particular niche. If videos like this are engaging and fun for your audience, then by all means go for it!
But for me, I tend to make informational or instructional videos and they do need certain qualities to be effective. In short, they need to be clear, concise, easy to understand and provide information that the viewer has value for. And as part of this process you also need to put a bit of yourself into the video as well. This could mean putting yourself in front of a camera and simply talking or simply doing a screencast video narrating. What doesn’t work so well is posting a self-contained PowerPoint presentation to a musical soundtrack. It just isn’t emotionally engaging for the viewer. I’m sure you know the sort of thing I mean – a presentation baffling you to loud or simply insipid music and you’re left with a mainly stunned feeling at the end of it – if you even make it to the end before the switch happens!
People will start to turn away very quickly with these types of videos and they simply won’t come back. When you do it this way, no level of trust has been built between you and the viewer. The viewer will feel that you are not credible and may even feel insulted that you haven’t put yourself forward in a way that shows your personality in some way. And this interaction is crucial. The viewer needs to know that they can listen to you and like you and what you have to say. This is what keeps them coming back for more. And this is what will ultimately lead to more sales!
So whatever you do, follow this simple rule:
Tip: Use your own face in all your videos, or at the bare minimum, your own voice. Other points to note are:
1. You don’t need to be Mr Magnetism to present your videos. I know I’m not! So don’t try to be something you’re not. So use your personality. If you’ve never done it before, it might feel a bit awkward at first, but the more you do it, the easier and more natural it will become.
2. Speak clearly and subtly into the microphone. Many YouTube videos have very poor quality sound, and oddly poor sound is almost more distracting to me than the poor quality video itself, especially with screencast videos. This seems like such an obvious point I know but you can really lose visitors over this. (I have a list of microphones I recommend in the appendix section to suit all budgets).
3. If you’re doing a screencast video, remove all clutter and distractions from your desktop – so lose the 300 icons and a picture of a naked woman from your wallpaper! You should ideally have just one ‘My Computer’ icon on the top left and a pastel-coloured screen, and that’s it!
4. Make sure there’s no outside traffic noise, kids running around, or other distractions.
5. Prepare a detailed script and do a few run-throughs first. Remember, have as many as you want! Too many ums and ahs can be extremely distracting!
Tip: Keep your video to around 5-7 minutes. Try to keep your video short, around 5-7 minutes, as viewers tend to lose concentration then. If you have more to say, break your video up into different parts. Google and YouTube love videos that form part of a series, as your audience and research has shown that this keeps them on your channel longer. You can also cross-promote each video within the video, as well as the descriptions themselves. I don’t want to be too prescriptive here and stifle your creativity, but audiences can be very fickle and can be turned off by the silliest things in your videos. So at least try to eliminate these obvious ones!’
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