Son-of-Fire's Learning Landscape: HOW TO: Make a Great How-To Video

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HOW TO: Make a Great How-To Video: "

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If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video certainly adds a good few more on top of that. One area in which video is invaluable is the “how-to” instructional that takes a diagram, recipe, or list of steps and brings the topic to life.
A bad how-to isn’t worth the pixels it’s rendered with, so we quizzed Tom Laidlaw, CEO of VideoJug.com — a site dedicated to how-to videos that stocks over 125,000 of them. He shared some dos and don’ts for the format.
Whether you’re a small business owner and want to demo a product, an artisan wanting to show off your skills, or even a consumer with a passion for sharing knowledge, before you pick up the camcorder, have a read of our top tips below.

1. Do Your Research

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“If you find something that lots of people want to know, and no one has already made a film of how to do it, then that’s a great title for a ‘how to’ film,” says Laidlaw.
If you’re not in such a lucky position, then you need to think carefully about the exact content, or angle, for your video. A more specific how-to looking at a key area is likely to do better than a general title. For example, “How To: Use This Software to Make a Flow Chart,” might prove more useful, and ultimately more popular than just, “How To: Use This Software.”
Another important part of research is using the free analytic search tools available to you. Laidlaw suggests that a more “scientific” approach to deciding on content or titles is to look at what people are searching for on Google. This should help narrow your focus down to what people actually want to watch.
To use our earlier example again, if the number of flow chart searches are low, but pie chart searches are high — and the software can do both — then be flexible and change your topic, which at an early research stage won’t be a big hassle.

2. Get an Expert View

If you’re the expert, then great. If not, get one involved in the project, preferably with the actual video, but at the very least as an advisor. “Find an expert and talk to them first — before you put pen to paper,” recommends Laidlaw.
Even if your audience doesn’t know the subject matter, chances are they will pick up on a video made by someone who is clearly winging it. “A script that consists of a loads of borrowed material, cut and pasted from the Internet, and cobbled together, won’t be very good,” Laidlaw states.
In the example above, the “actor” is also a highly experienced carpenter. In addition to his convincing “acting skills,” he also provided VideoJug with all the information for the script.

3. Write a Great Script

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Even if you think your improvisation skills are top notch, an instructional video can’t afford to miss one tiny step, bore the viewer with unnecessary data, or worse — include digressions. So, Laidlaw says, be sure to write a script.
“If people have searched for the answer to a particular problem, then they want you to answer that question quickly, and without too much extraneous prose,” Laidlaw explains.
“Long, wordy sentences are also harder to film because you need more footage to illustrate them. Stick to short, descriptive sentences that explain in a clear, simple, step-by-step way, how to do the job.”

4. Shoot It and Test It!

Laidlaw advises hiring professionals that know one end of the camera from the other for the best results, but if your budget doesn’t stretch that far, be sure to light your video properly, get the camera mounted on a tripod to mitigate any unwanted shakes, and think carefully about the duration of shots.
“Hold each shot for long enough for the viewer to be able to work out what’s going on,” says Laidlaw. “Then when you edit it, make sure the film is long enough for the viewer to be able to understand exactly what’s going on — but not so long that they fall asleep watching it.”
Laidlaw highlights the video above as an example of a tidy how-to. The approval process at VideoJug involved people trying to make the origami sculpture while watching the film. “If everyone could do it, the film passed!” says Laidlaw, highlighting the importance of testing the clip on as many people as you can to make sure it’s clear and simple to follow.

5. Promote It

“It can be the best film in the world, but it’s no good if no one watches it,” says Laidlaw. Promoting your new video is an important part of getting it out to as wide an audience as possible.
“Make sure Google is going to find it by tagging it with the right keywords and making a text version available on the same page,” advises Laidlaw.
In addition, blog about the new clip, promote it on social networking sites, and if relevant, e-mail it to websites and bloggers who might be interested in writing about it.
You can also make sure it’s embeddable and thus more easily shared. As most know, sites such as YouTube and Vimeo allow for easy embeds. Add a Facebook “Like” button, giving viewers the option to share it with their buddies, and a Tweetmeme-type button for Twitter sharing too.