Videos are the new pictures if a picture is worth 1000 words than a 3-minute video is worth 1,000,000. In one class last semester, we read a textbook called “Watching YouTube” by Dr.Strangelove. In the textbook, he talked about how amateur videos are taking over the internet and hence the success of YouTube and other video producing, promoting, and watching platforms.
I also learned from that class, that the appeal of amateur videos comes from them not being staged and edited like Hollywood films. There is a realness, personable and authenticity to those videos. Regardless, Hollywood is still very successful, advertisements are still staged, but I find every video I watch now, attempts to show a realness of the person being filmed. You’ll notice with our People On The Grid videos, that we convey every person in the videos as personable, happy and enjoyable (because they are). We still have a lot to learn with videos. But based on our observations here are ten tips to make videos that capture your audience’s attention. Let’s go
The first steps are to get your audience to click on your video; then it’s about keeping them watching until the end.
- Your Title
This is crucial, and there are a lot of things you need to think of when making a title. You want it to be short and let the viewer know what they are about to watch, and you DO NOT want to use Click Bate because chances are once they click and are bored they will stop watching. Not only do you want them to click in the first place but you want them to stick around until the end! - Length
Speaking of sticking around until the end, if you’re video is too long people won’t watch it forever. Plus, if it is too long you are probably repeating yourself, and that is never, good. I know personally that if a video is longer than 10 minutes chances are I won’t watch it. - Your Introduction
The best way to start a video is to not just jump straight into what is being talked about. After looking at some popular videos on YouTube, I’ve noticed two things. First. The video starts off with a mini montage, or time lapse type clip for 15 seconds or less. Setting the scene, giving viewers a sneak peak of what is about to happen will always work in your favor. Second, music is important. Especially if you do something montage-y, you don’t want there to be silence, because nothing is worse than watching something silent. - Topic
After that little introduction, it is important to get to the point as quickly as possible. If you can’t sum up what is going to happen in the 2-10 minutes that I’m going to be watching the video, then I won’t watch the whole thing. I want to know if my time is going to be wasted or not. - Good Content Is Key
Now once the introduction is out of the way, it is important that the rest of the video follows a similar format. If you’re talking about more than one topic, do not stay on that topic for so long that you repeat yourself or that it get’s boring. The content has to be good and interesting the entire time. - Visual and Audio Content
Things like bad editing, blurry visuals, garbled audio, and filters are major turn-offs for viewers. Because if you didn’t put in the time and effort to make it great why should I watch it? Editing can be very simple, but it is tedious. Matching up audio to visual, inserting B-roll or other content related clips, having proper lighting and microphones can all make the job a little easier. Also having a basic film editing software is helpful. - You Over We
Going back to videos being more personable, referring to yourself as an I or me or we, separates you from the audience and makes you less like a person and more like a character. If you keep the video “you” centred, refereeing directly to the viewers/ audience, they will feel a connection to you the speaker as if you are having a conversation with them. - Conclusion
Finally, when it comes to concluding avoid using cliché phrases like “in conclusion,” “therefore” because these phrases will make your audience assume that everything said from this point on is just repetition, which translates to why should I keep watching.
These tips are easy to do, will help you with the direction of your video and keep people interested. Like everything else in life, these small changes can make a world of a difference. It’s just a matter of making them.
Some videos and channels that we are watching
- The House of Beautiful Business
- Mindvally Academy
- JacksGap
- Pentagon Wave
- The School of Life
- Soft-Focus
By: Emma Edwards
