Golden rules to make a great video
The most important question is "What makes a great video?" In general we believe a great video induces the following comments:
"This video was fun and exciting"
"I enjoyed watching the entire video"
"I really learned something from this video"
To ensure this, here are the Five Golden Rules that will help you achieve this mission.
1. Be professional
Being professional includes many things. In general, it is about showing appreciation to your viewers. Therefore:
• Don't smoke/eat/drink/swear
• Show respect to other players
• Avoid any sounds and pop-ups from software and other devices, such as: skype/facebook/msn/e-mail/cell phone etc.
• Ensure a good audio and video quality
2. Be prepared
Being prepared is important because it will greatly improve your presentation and the structure of your video. This makes it easier for the viewer to follow your story and remember something afterwards. Before you start your recording:
• Choose a clear/specific topic
• Know what you want to say, have a story line in mind
• Any presentation tools (such as PowerPoint) should be well structured, have a good layout and use proper language
• Prepare sample hands, ranges, calculations before recording
3. Show and induce passion
To not lose your viewers after a few minutes, you have to be able to keep your audience interested. Of course an important factor would be to tell something interesting, but the way you tell things definitely counts as well.
• Be enthusiastic about what you say
• Encourage participation of users in forum discussions & video comments.
4. Have good didactics/explanations
To teach your viewers, it is important that you explain things well. A mistake that is easily made is that you start reporting situations, instead of deducting them and explaining your thought process.
Therefore always think about:
• Build attention bridges by e.g. introducing your topic with a question that will be answered during the video
• Explain the 'why' and your thought processes
• Talk about alternatives, create ''what if'' scenarios
• Try to talk in ranges, wherever possible
Interactive tasks are a great tool to increase the attention span of your viewers. Example:
1. Ask a question
2. Ask the viewer to pause the video, and think about the question and resume when he has an answer
3. Make a little pause
4. Give the answer/explanation to the question
Asking questions keeps your audience more involved and helps them learn more.
5. Have a good opening/closing
• Start and end with 'This is XYZ for PokerStrategy.com'
• Keep your introduction crisp, come straight to the point
• Keep your video timeless; Don't mention things that aren't relevant in the future, as it can confuse people
• End with summary/key learnings and answering the question that you asked in the beginning
If you stick to these golden rules, there is a high chance that the community will receive your video well and that it contributes to a great poker school offer.