Last week I finally put my first video online. Seriously, I kid you not when I say that I was fannying around for weeks doing this and it took about 150 takes at least, so I certainly feel predisposed to provide some tips for getting your video online. Incidentally I use a Flip Video Ultra HD which are small handheld camcorders that plug straight into your laptop, have the software built in, and are fantastically easy to use – another post on these soon.
1. Note the key points of what you want to say
Trying to remember everything for your very first video is far too stressful. It’s a lot easier to know the key points which you can use to guide you through your video rather than trying to have a word for word script that you’re not going to remember anyway. It is OK to glimpse at your card – I’ve seen Oprah do it enough times.
2. Location
You need a set. Oddly people seem to love having shelving and books in the background, otherwise park yourself at your desk. But make sure it’s tidy, remove identifiable stuff out of the shot, and look through the camera before hand to get an idea of what you can see. I’ve tried to shoot with natural light, otherwise have some well positioned lamps out of shot.
3. Grooming
I feel like I’m running a TV studio ironing clothes each day and trying to get my hair right. I work from home – I must admit that I don’t normally look quite as ‘glam’. A few people have asked if I’m going somewhere nice – I’ve found it’s easier to say yes rather than try to explain that I record myself answering relationship questions for my website… Also test to see how much cleavage is on show, make sure things are fastened where they are supposed to be, and try not to shoot with hair too close to your eye as you’ll fidget with it.
4. Noise
A number of my attempts had to be abandoned due to sudden loud noise that could not be ignored. Try to choose a quiet location in your home/office and don’t forget to turn off phones and the volume on your laptop, and stuff like the baby monitor…
5. Don’t refer to things that no-one knows or gives a hoot about
There’s nothing worse than watching video’s where the people in them start referring to people and you think ‘I don’t know who/what the hell you’re talking about’. If you want to be inclusive but also make your video watchable by many rather than only people that know you/read your site/blog, don’t do the whole keeping in with the Jones thing. Or make your video private. Or use subtitles.
7. Watch your video timing
As I discovered after I’d made a 14 minute video, You Tube wants them to be 10 minutes and under. I put mine on the Facebook Fan Page and then got the embed code (html for making it show in a different website), although some people said they couldn’t view it. Plan C was then to upload to Vimeo, but if your video is very salesy rather than informative, content, then don’t put it here.
8. Editing Software
Allow time to get your head around the editing software. It’s a lot easier than wanting to smack your head off the keyboard repeatedly. If you’re nervous of messing with a clip you intend to use, do a ‘save as’ or use one of the clips that didn’t make it.
Part two is now available. If you want to see my ‘efforts’, you can check out the Baggage Reclaim channel on You Tube.
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