Screen recording tutorials are some of the most popular types of videos on
YouTube. And they're a great content type for any.
Channel, especially newer ones. They're straightforward to create. They don't.
Require a bunch of complex and expensive camera equipment,
or a ton of elaborate post production or editing,
but they provide tremendous value for your viewer,
but like any other kind of instructional video screen recording tutorials are
tricky to get, right.
What I'm going to do is share with you a few tips that I learned along the way
that I hope will help you make better screen recording tutorials.
As much as possible try to make your screen recording tutorials project based.
Don't just show how a function or a feature of the software works,
demonstrate how that function or feature can be used to make something,
preferably something that your audience wants to make. Now,
the example project doesn't have to be long and elaborate.
It just needs to be a complete piece that has a beginning, a middle and an end.
All right, this next step probably seems really obvious,
but that is research your topic,
but don't just read the user manual and sort of take what's in there and put it
into your tutorial video.
Actually make the thing that you're going to teach.
By actually doing the thing that you're going to teach your,
putting yourself in the position of the viewer of your learner.
And by doing that,
you'll be able to see what is the best order for the steps and what details to
really emphasize and what pitfalls or what I call "gotchas" that the viewer
or learner needs to look out for.
Those little important details are what make your screen recording tutorial
stand out and make it memorable. All right,
the next step is to write an outline or a script for your screen recording
tutorial. Now this tip is less to do with memorizing word, for word,
what you're going to say.
And it's more to do with organizing your information into the best possible
order,
and also to make sure that you don't miss any important details of whatever
you're teaching.
Effective instructional design relies heavily on the structure of the
information.
So the first few tips were about planning your screen recording tutorial. Now,
I want to talk a bit about how to approach your tutorial in terms of tone.
When you're trying to teach someone something,
how you say things is just as important as what you say.
Research into learning has shown that an informal supportive delivery in your
on cameras and your voiceovers is more effective than a formal authoritative
tone. So rather than being an expert.
Talking down to the viewer. Think of.
Yourself more as what we call a guide on the side.
Think like a tour guide. Along the same lines as the last tip,
be enthusiastic about what you're talking about.
If you're not enthusiastic or excited about what you're going to be sharing or
teaching, then why should the audience be excited?
Now you don't have to go overboard in terms of your excitement and enthusiasm,
but seem somewhat interested in what you're going to be sharing with your
audience.
And that's going to make your screen recording tutorial way more engaging.
The next tip: rehearse. Before you hit record on your screen recording software,
rehearse your tutorial, doing every move and clicking every button.
This will not only help you become familiar with your script or your outline.
It will also help you with timing your delivery with your onscreen movements.
So you can see where you might need to give things a bit more time or where you
can speed things up.
Speaking of giving things a little more time or speeding up,
when you're delivering your tutorial,
go at a pace that your target audience can follow.
I take a lot of grief for this in the comments, people saying,
I go too slow. Well,
I go at a pace that I think my target audience can follow.
My target audience for the most part are beginners.
I want them to be able to follow the tutorial in real time and not have to
constantly pause the video and rewind the video to keep up with what's going
on. All right, the next tip, control your mouse.
It's natural to move your mouse around the screen,
especially when you're nervous,
but it's incredibly distracting to the viewer and it makes the learner feel
uneasy, like you don't know quite what you're doing.
Try to keep unnecessary mouse movements to a minimum. Likewise,
when you're moving around the screen, clicking on buttons or opening menus,
don't go too fast.
The viewer needs to be able to easily follow your mouse movements around the
screen, or they'll quickly become lost. All right,
those last few tips were about delivering your screen recording tutorial.
Let's talk about editing.
Now much like we do with traditional instructional video,
it's important to direct the focus of the viewer to important details
in your tutorial.
And that involves things like using zooms to bring attention to important
details on the screen or using annotations or different shapes and outlines
to highlight important details.
So it's important to zoom in and show important details on the screen,
but it's just as important to get back out wide on the interface so
that the viewer can orient themselves with what's going on.
It's so easy to get lost in the weeds,
looking at little buttons and little menus. So whenever possible,
get back out wide so that the viewer can track and keep
up with the geography of what's going on with the screen. And as a bonus tip,
show the completed sample project in the teaser or near the beginning of your
screen recording tutorial video,
this gives the viewer a sense of what they're going to be making so they can
sort of get their head in the right space. Now,
I try to do that with each one of my tutorials, and sometimes I don't.
It depends on how long the tutorial is and how complex the tutorial is.
Making great screen recording tutorials is really about practice. I mean,
I look at my first tutorials that I made on my channel and I cringe,
but as I did more and more and listened to the feedback from my viewers,
I think I've gotten better over the last few years.
So if you want to learn more about how to create screen recording tutorials or
videos in general, have a look at these videos on my channel.
And of course, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.