6 Ways To Make a Better YouTube Video

Web video is growing exponentially. Ten hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute!  Some good (even great!) some bad, and some really ugly.  Getting into the great category takes some magic, but staying out of the bad isn’t that hard if you follow a couple of easy tips.

1.  First plan it out a little.   What’s your goal?  Where do you want your audience to focus? Planning it out ensures you can set up your shots to catch the best action.

2.  Use a tripod, especially for interviews or zoomed in shots (which magnify shake).  Even pros who are rock steady with their cameras use them for a reason, your video quality will be much better.  If you don’t have a tripod try to steady yourself on a railing, tree, or the back of a chair.

3.  Minimize panning across the area and zooming in and out.  Get in close.  It means  more intense video and much better audio.

4.  Get a variety of shots.  Of course you want the money action shot, but get a shot that shows the whole scene and don’t forget to get reaction.  Sometimes that’s better than the action itself.  Sure the fire is blazing, but the guy trying to put it out with his garden hose is really interesting.

5.  Put your best stuff as close to the beginning as possible.  You have less than 10 seconds to get someone’s attention before they will move on.

6.  Edit it down.  With so many choices viewers lose interest quickly.  If it’s not great or doesn’t advance the story, don’t include it.  Before you post have someone who wasn’t there watch it and give you feedback.

All of these things are easy to master with very little practice.  I’ll be covering more advanced and specialized techniques in future posts.  What do you want to learn?  Have great tips of your own? Send me an email or post it in the comments section.

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Tagged as: how-to, video, you tube, youtube