I’ve found videocasting a really useful way to share information and tips with my social media community. It is easy for me to direct a customer to a video on how to do something if I get stuck and it also draws people into my website and Facebook page. It is my belief that there are lots of businesses out there that can benefit from videocasting, if you are brave enough to sit in front of a camera it’s worth giving it a shot.
If I’ve managed to convince you and are itching to get started here are some tools for shooting and editing your video and some quick tips on how to prepare yourself for the camera.
Hardware
You will need:
A webcam, camcorder, digital camera with video facility or a smart phone.
A microphone (for your computer).
Software
Screencasting – Record what’s going on on your computer screen
Jing Pro – I find this really easy to use, you can record mute or with a voiceover and save both to your computer and to the cloud. The pro version is a must as it gives you file formats that are compatible with most editing. For only $14.95 a year it’s a bargin.
Camtasia – From Techsmith, the same company as Jing this is a more complete solution and this is reflected in the price. As well as screencasting it offers editing, visual effects and more. If your serious about videocasting this has to be the tool for you. Still well priced at $99 dollars (for mac) and $299 (for windows) with a free 30 day trial.
Editing
There are plenty of free tools out there for editing.
iMovie – If you have a mac, an iPhone or a iPad. iMovie is a really easy to use editing application. We’ve not tried the mobile version yet but the full version allows you to add attractive captions, images, as well as music and voice-over. It’s simple and user friendly.
Movie Maker – Those running windows can use Movie Maker, again it’s simple to use if a bit clunky compared to iMovie.
YouTube – You can edit your videos on YouTube. It’s not quite as straightforward as iMovie or Movie Maker but it means you can edit from any computer and you don’t need to worry about file types (YouTube is more forgiving of different file formats) or downloads. I found this excellent tutorial on editing on YouTube:
Broadcasting
YouTube – It’s essential you upload your videocasts to YouTube, it’s the king of online video sites and will almost guarantee a viewership.
TubeMogul – This application allows you to upload your video to one place and then syndicates it to a number of video sharing sites. A massive time saver.
VideoJug – One of many sites that is full of online tutorials. If your videocast is demonstrating how to do something it could be worth adding this to your places to broadcast.
Facebook – Don’t forget to add your videos to Facebook, uploading them directly to your business page makes them very easy to share within Facebook. It’s harder to keep tabs on views but they are great for getting comments and interaction and carry more edgerank (as far as I can gather) than a link.
Prepare Yourself
1. Forget about the way you look. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t comb your hair but don’t focus too much on the way you look. Most of us are self critical and staring at a walking talking image of ourselves can be quite disconcerting. I always tell myself that in 20 years time I’ll look back at my videos and think how young and healthy I looked.
2. Don’t read from a script. You must learn your script before talking to camera, reading it will mean looking away from the camera and distracting your audience, it can also make you sound quite wooden.
3. Treat the camera as a person. Look straight into the lens of the camera, this is like making eye contact with a person so it’s really important. It also avoids you looking at yourself when you are recording so you don’t get distracted by the way you look.
4. Practice. I record all my rehersals in case I get it right the first time. In reality this is less likely to happen, the first may take 20 – 30 takes but as you make more videos you will find yourself doing it in 3 or 4.
5. Be Yourself. Relax and be natural in front of the camera, this way your personality will shine through. You are what makes your videocast different to the rest so don’t be afraid of being yourself.
Have you any tips to add? Are you new to Videocasting and have a question? I’d love to hear your comments and queries in the comments section below.
