How To Do Video When You're No Good At Video

Are you the sort of person who hates the thought of being on camera? Do you dislike hearing your own voice?

If the answer to either of the above questions is 'Yes', then you'll probably feel you're at a distinct disadvantage as a marketer, since so much of it seems to revolve around putting up at least a short clip. There are ways around this problem, though.

Also, making videos was once a very expensive game. Professional grade cameras, studio-style lighting, and sound, not to mention the cost of digitising tools to get the video onto computer and editing equipment to sort it all out afterwards. Fortunately, all that has now changed.

Mobile phones, tablets, and cheap digital cameras all have the capability to take decent video and there is also a plethora of cheap and free video editing tools to sort it all out afterwards. I haven't used and tested everything available. I don't need to. I have found some stuff that works for me and I've stuck to it. If it ain't broke...

Before getting to the creation of videos, we ought to sort them into different types.

Talking head: The camera is pointing straight at the presenter who talks as if to a friend or lecturing to a class. It needn't solely be 'head and shoulders' as the name suggests, but usually, there's nothing else in the frame except the person who's talking.

Presentation: Also commonly known as the Powerpoint video. A series of pre-made slides done in Powerpoint or a similar program (Libre Office, Open Office if you want 'free'), usually with a voice-over, although they don't have to have one. Very easy to make and almost everybody's starting point. Consider animation videos a subset of the presentation.

Screen Capture: Exactly what the name says. Perform actions on the computer screen and use software to capture the activities. I do product reviews that capture me going through the sales and download pages on my browser.

Interview: Two or more people talking together in the frame. This one can be more tricky to set up and edit as it usually involves multiple cameras and viewpoints to keep it interesting. A way around the complexity is to do them 'Skype' style, where the interviewer is in a small frame in the corner while the interviewee takes up the rest of the frame.

Almost all of the videos I make are presentation & screen capture types although I have done the odd talking head video. (Once from the cockpit of a plane). Check out my YouTube channel for examples.

Now onto the tools I use.

To make up the presentation slides I use PowerPoint. If you need a free office-type program, take a look at Libre Office or Open Office. They're largely similar and more importantly - free. Once I've created the presentation - following the usual presentation rules (short sentences, clear delivery, uncluttered backgrounds), I separate each slide into a gif image and save each image into a single directory.

The star of the show for me is Microsoft Movie Maker. It's not big and clever but it is free and it does do enough. You can import most video types, gif images, add captions on a time basis, import voice overs and music separately and adjust the timings of everything relatively easily. It can also export in a number of different formats and video sizes to suit wherever you're sending your video to.

I have a pre-made video intro that I got off a Fiverr seller (you can see it in my video library on here) that I cut down from 10 seconds to 6, again using Movie Maker and which I add to almost everything as my branding. I since found the website where the Fiverr seller got the job done - Flixpress, where for free, you can get 2 minutes of introductions done per month. That might not sound much but at 10 seconds each that's 12 intros. How many do you need?

When you're timing your slides, do not assume that everyone reads at the same pace that you do. Just because you can read one in 4 seconds doesn't mean it should be only displayed for 5! Draw the timing out to 10 seconds, if required, and don't let the seeming delay faze you too much.

I get my background music from Free Music Archive, which you access directly from Movie Maker. Don't forget to credit the artist either in your video (I do it at the end) or in the description. There is also PLR music available if you search it out and many other royalty-free-music sites. Just bear in mind that royalty-free does not mean payment free. The same goes for background images. Be careful where you get them from. My choice is usually a Google search, select Images, Search Tools, Usage Rights, Labelled for ReUse with Modification.

For transitions between images, keep it simple. Don't do a different transition type between each slide, be consistent as it's less distracting. Make sure you have a slide near the end with a call to action, such as "Visit this website" or "See in the description below" so people know what to do next. Do also make sure, if you're putting the video up on a site like YouTube or Vimeo that you do a good description,including the link you promised. I will cover more about using these sites in another article.

I will also do an article on screen capture videos at a later date.

If you're interested in video marketing, please visit: Easy YouTube Marketing and sign up for a free report on the subject.

Hope this helps you all,

Regards,

Steven

Steven Lucas Marketing

P.S. In the interests of transparency: I will tell you that the Flixpress link is affiliated. I won't get paid money but I will get points which accrue to bonus time and extra templates for use on the site. The Easy YouTube Marketing link is a squeeze page I own. Almost all of my YouTube videos are monetized by links in the description box. Thank you if you use any of them.