I have noticed that a lot of instructional videos start out with a “hi” and an introduction to what is going to be discussed. The speed and tone of talking on the videos is not usually how you would talk to someone if they were live in person.

Hook

With any good presentation you want to hook your audience into what you are talking about. Making instructional videos is not different.

Tips

Here are my tips for making an instructional video

Keep it Short

1-3 minutes max, you can always make another video. Personally, I shoot for 30 second segments.

Make a Playlist

Rather than making a 10 minute video, how about 5 one minute videos. Put them together in a playlist on YouTube. The playlist autoplays the next video so it is as if it were one long video, but you can clearly label each video segment to help students target the information they need.

The other advantage is if you made a mistake or there is an update to the screencast you are using, you only need to fix that one segment. No need to redo the entire video.

Talk Normal

Make “eye contact.” Look at the camera, pretend you are actually talking face to face to someone. You do need to enunciate clearly, but you do not need to talk super slow. The genius of video is that it can be replayed. If you are making instructional videos you should be creating captions and or a transcript. This should help your English Language learners if they need it.

Be Personable

If what you are saying is boring and could be written down, then do not make a video. Just write down the information for the audience to read. It is faster for both of you. If you are using a video let your personality come through, be funny. Provide value beyond the content.