One, know your why. Why are you even creating these videos for? What’s your purpose? If you try to create the videos just to create the videos, there won’t be substance to your message.

Two, get the message down. Whatever I want to communicate to my audience, I must write the entire script. And as I’m writing, I need to constantly ask myself, “is what I’m going to say benefit those who’re going to watch my videos?” After finishing writing the first draft of my message, I need to let the message simmer in my head for a couple of days to ensure that the message is actually the message that I want to communicate to my audience. Often, as I let the message simmer, new ideas will come to mind that I need to add to my message, and parts of the message that I need to delete or improve. Throughout the week, I’ll make editions to my message.

Three, add the comic relief. I realized that there should be a comic relief every twenty to thirty seconds in the video. If not, it’s too much information and not enough engagement. I realized that for me, comedy is not the purpose so it should come after the message. I have a tendency to focus on the comedy so much that I don’t actually focus on the message. I have to remind myself, message first, comedy second.

Four, practice. Honestly, I’m not a natural when it comes to being in front of the camera. I actually have to practice the comic reliefs and memorize what I’m going to say. Only when I practice, I sound natural.

Five, study your video to see areas of improvement. For example, for me, I need to be able to finish an entire sentence without stumbling over words or saying “uhm” to save me from editing time and to create scene transitions more naturally. Instead of having a scene transition in the middle of a sentence, it’s much more natural to have it at the end of one.

Six, ask for feedback from people that you trust. The way that your audience perceives your video is valuable information that you need to improve your next video. Do not dismiss their feedback because they might hold the key to improve your videos tremendously.

So, these are the things that I’m going to work on as I create my next video!