The Visual Lounge

Gaining the trust of your audience is a tough task. In fact, it’s much easier to lose it! That’s why we invited Peter Hopwood, Global Speaking and TEDx Coach, to take us through his top tips on building trust, holding your audience and coming across like a pro on camera. Peter runs his own business, Hopwood Story & Speaker Coaching, and also works in coaching, strategy and hosting roles for TEDx, Microsoft and the European Commission. On the episode, Peter explores his route into the industry, how to connect with your audience (and how to know you’re doing so), plus the importance of how you look and sound. Peter also serves up expert advice and his final take for anybody creating image and video content. Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Introduction 1:18 – Introducing Peter 2:47 – Peter’s roots in the industry 6:31 – Defining success on camera 15:53 – Peter’s one tip for being on camera 21:10 – Why is trust so important on video? 28:20 – Defining the role of visual aids 34:01 – Stuff to avoid that break your audience’s trust! 43:54  - Peter’s Speed Round 49:05 – Final take 49:58 – OutroImportant links and mentions: Peter’s website: http://www.peter-hopwood.com/  Peter Hopwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterhopwoodpublicspeaking?originalSubdomain=uk  Peter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HopwoodMedia  Peter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterhopwood/  

When you break educational content down to its fundamentals, it’s all about helping people to address a need or solve a problem. And that’s what informs all of Kevin Stratvert’s videos.  With almost 2 million subscribers on YouTube, Kevin teaches millions of students around the world every month across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms to help them master technology, achieve more at work, and succeed at school. He's been featured on CNBC, Fast Company, GeekWire, and Windows Central. He's an ex-Microsoft Product Manager and is now a full-time educational content creator. Kevin joins this episode of The Visual Lounge to share a look into his process, why his videos are about solving problems, and his tips for improving your own videos. We also hear about how he first got into video and how he defines success when it comes to creating content.  Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 - Introduction 1:48 - What led Kevin to start making videos  3:52 – How Kevin defines video success 7:40  - Kevin’s top tip to improve your videos 8:53 – Why Kevin decided to become a content creator 13:08 – Kevin’s process for creating videos 17:14 – The editing and recording process 20:28 - What other creators can learn from Kevin’s process 23:38 – How Kevin designs slides 26:37 – Video length and the impact on viewer retention  30:22 – Speed round questions 34:28 – Outro Important links and mentions: Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstratvert/ Follow Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevstrat Follow Kevin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinstratvert/ Kevin Stratvert’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/kevinstratvert

Hybrid work is about balancing meetings with getting your head down, while allowing yourself the odd break, all while contending with family life continuing around you (or maybe noisy neighbours!). If that sounds familiar, this episode could help. Amy Casciotti, Vice President of Human Resources, joins Matt Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador at TechSmith, to delve into our Async First experiment from July last year. The experiment helped us cut down meeting times and find new ways to communicate asynchronously. Amy shares why TechSmith chose to run the experiment, how it worked and what she’d change next time. Plus, she provides expert advice on using videos and images in the workplace. And don't forget to check out the full report with all the details in our Async First white paper: https://bit.ly/TVL-asyncfirst Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Introduction 1:06 – Introducing our guest Amy Casciotti 2:08 – Replacing meetings with videos 3:48 – What makes for good asynchronous communication? 6:14 – One tip to improve your use or video/images at work 7:50 – TechSmith’s Async First white paper experiment 11:20 – Hesitations around the experiment 12:14 – Biggest takeaways from Async First 13:33 – Human approach at TechSmith 16:06 – Having more asynchronous communication 19:46 – How Async First affected team wellbeing 23:25 – What would Amy change if the experiment ran again? 25:38 – Other asynchronous meeting techniques/ideas 26:55 – Why TechSmith did the experiment 29:58 – Amy’s Speed Round answers 35:52 – Amy’s final take 36:21 - Outro Important links and mentions: Follow Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycasciotti/  Async First white paper: https://bit.ly/TVL-asyncfirst 

Old content can be a treasure trove of value, but you need to brush off the dust and repurpose and refresh it.  Sometimes that means turning in-person training into an online course or a series of videos, which can be a challenge if you’re brand new to video.  To chat more about this, Matt Tidwell, CEO of ThinkThru, joins The Visual Lounge. Matt’s company builds customer education programs, including videos and online courses. He shares his top tips on how to get started with video, how to improve your content, and the best ways to translate old content into different mediums for maximum results. Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 - Intro 2:27 - How Matt first got started with images and video 4:27 - What makes a successful video 10:24 - Matt’s one tip to improve videos 11:25 – Matt explains more about his work 17:06 – How Matt helps clients get started with video 20:10 – The difficulties of going from in-person experiences to on-demand media  23:33 – What works best as a video vs. in-person experiences 30:13 – Advice for companies transitioning to digital learning experiences  34:19 – Speed round questions 39:20 – Matt’s final take  40:12 – Outro Important links and mentions: ThinkThru: https://www.thinkthru.co/  Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsmatttidwell/

Whatever type of videos you are producing, the key to doing it successfully is to build effective processes you can rinse and repeat.Whether it be how your equipment is set up, the way you edit, write, or record your videos, having repeatable processes in place can help you scale your videos at a sustainable pace.This week’s guest on The Visual Lounge is Tim Slade, founder of The eLearning Designer’s Academy. He explores how using efficient processes has helped him in his work, plus he tells us how he got started in video creation and his tips and tricks for creating video courses.Tim also explains how processes can help ease your burden when it comes to post-production and expresses how important it is to be natural and show off your personality on video.Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Introduction1:11 – Introducing Tim Slade1:58 – The first video he made compared to now4:50 – Defining success for a video course6:16 – One tip for improving video content7:42 – Tim introduces his project10:39 – How to start planning for a big project13:35 – To script or not to script?16:10 – How Tim deals with heavy post-production tasks18:38 – How he makes things simpler – reusing and repeating23:56 – Advice for batch-producing videos27:38 – Extra advice for repeatable, efficient video production processes29:39 – Tim’s Speed Round questions35:40 – Tim’s final take36:36 - OutroImportant links and mentions: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sladetim/ https://www.elearningacademy.io https://www.timslade.com

The video creation journey is different for everybody. But is there a secret sauce in that recipe for success? Josh Cavalier, Learning Architect – Digital Technologies at American Tire Distributors and Mark Lassoff, Video Instructor and Founder at Dollar Design School, join this episode of The Visual Lounge to give us a sneak peek into what makes their work so great. Josh and Mark explain how they got going in the world of educational video, discuss the power of AI and reveal some of the biggest video creation mistakes they’ve made! Plus, they discuss why high-end technology isn’t the key to success, provide top takeaways for listeners and tell us what they believe is the secret sauce for great video content. Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Intro 3:14 – The first video Josh and Mark ever made 6:33 – What should ALL video creators know? 12:23 – Video producers’ secret sauce 17:58– What’s changing the game in video? 32:11 – The Video Mastery Intensive 38:28 – Speed round questions 47:08 – Final takes and outro Important links and mentions: Josh’s website: joshcavalier.com Mark’s website: dollardesignschool.com Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshcavalier/ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklassoff/ The Video Mastery Intensive workshop: https://learningsolutionscon.com/program/pre-conference-activities/co-located-events/video-mastery-intensive/  

How do you know that your presentation has been successful? It can be challenging to discern what “success” actually means when you make a presentation. But, in this episode of The Visual Lounge, our guest explains the formula he follows to smash it out the park every time. Tommy Re, President of Vital Talent, joins the show to explain how presentations should inform, persuade and inspire, the importance of knowing and resonating with your audience and the key points from his brilliant book, ‘The Power of Presentation’. Plus, Tommy reveals his interesting former career and provides unmissable advice on image and video creation and presentation.Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Introduction 1:14 – Introducing Tommy Re 3:00 – How Tommy began using presentations 5:17 – Defining success 6:43 – A tip for visually improving presentations 9:03 – Why did Tommy write his book? 11:01 – Live presentations 13:19 – Inform, persuade and inspire 18:14 – Getting to know and resonate with your audience 22:28 – Switching up structures 25:23 – Transferring presentation skills to video 26:09 – What role should text play in presentations? 31:10– Extra advice from Tommy 34:08 – Speed round questions with Tommy 38:18 – Final take and outro Important links and mentions: Follow Tommy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommy-re-4277513/ Vital Talent website: www.talentisvital.com Buy ‘The Power of Presentation: A Vital Guide to Delivering Compelling Business Presentations’: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Presentation-Delivering-Compelling-Presentations/dp/1642252522

Sometimes the best thing you can do as an instructional designer is to step into your learners’ shoes. Whether you’re delivering content on compliance or something completely different, keep your learners in mind at all times. That’s advice that’s served Cath Ellis well throughout her career. Cath is an eLearning Designer and Developer who creates powerful learning experiences for learners around the world.  Cath joins us on The Visual Lounge for a fantastic talk about her background as well as some insights into the types of projects she helps clients with. Cath shares some great takeaway pieces of advice and discusses how she approaches learning a new tool, her thoughts on AI, and why YouTube is a goldmine for educational content.Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Intro  2:15 – How Cath got started with eLearning 5:28 – How to define success when creating learning content 8:30 – Cath’s top tip to improve using images or video 10:41 – Cath explains the types of eLearning projects she works on 14:40 – How Cath approaches a new learning project 21:54 – The process of learning a new tool 25:07 – ChatGPT writes a poem for Cath 28:58 – The top video tools in Cath’s toolbelt 31:28 – The biggest barriers to learning video tools  35:37 – Cath’s prediction for creating learning content in 2023 and beyond 41:02 – Speed round questions 47:32 – How to find out more about Cath’s work 48:42 – Cath’s final take on creating learning content  49:19 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Cath Ellis’ website: https://www.cathellis.com/ Connect with Cath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathmellis/  Follow Cath on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cathellis 

Remote working can add extra challenges for employees. It may feel harder to collaborate on projects, difficult to build structure and put systems in place, and for some it can feel isolating at times.So, in this episode, Emily Whitmer, Learning & Development Team Leader at Southwest Airlines, explains that when leaders in learning design manage remote teams, it can help their employees have the best possible work experience.Emily provides tips on how to build a ‘remote ecosystem’, explains why psychological safety is so crucial in remote teams, and shares her views on asynchronous work.Plus, she explores the similarities and differences between in-person and remote working and shares a ton of fantastic image and video tips that you simply can’t miss!Learning points from the episode include:0:00 – Introduction1:38 – Introducing Emily Whitmer2:25 – How she first became involved in remote work4:39 – Defining success in remote team leadership8:03 – One tip for image and video creators working remotely10:11 – Sharing useful information11:53 – Defining remote work13:52 – The role of asynchronous work15:44 – Psychological safety in remote work25:10 – Emily’s favorite image and video tools29:32 – What does video have over written text?36:16 – The benefits of ‘water cooler’ chats in remote work38:04 – Onboarding in a remote workspace41:45 – Emily’s speed round questions!47:19 – Emily’s final takeImportant links and mentions:TechSmith Academy: Learn how to use and create better images and videos (for free): https://academy.techsmith.com/Connect with Emily on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilywhitmer/

Color is something we see everywhere, every second of every day. It’s something we never really question or think about too much.But color choices are so important in any design or branding and play a huge part in how we communicate with audiences and customers.Tracy Parish, Education Technology Specialist at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Toronto, Canada, joins Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, on this episode of The Visual Lounge to discuss why color needs to be carefully considered in learning design.Tracy shares a ton of valuable tips and tricks about what to keep in mind when picking color combinations, considering cultural meanings behind color and selecting tools that can make the job easier. Some truly eye-opening words from Tracy in this episode, so don’t miss it.Learning points from the episode include:0:00 – Introduction 1:03 – Introducing Tracy2:08 – How Tracy entered the world of design4:00 – How to define success in design5:15 – One tip to improve images/videos8:37 – What’s the purpose of color in design?9:50 – Using color to “beautify”?10:57 – What to bear in mind when choosing colors17:23 – How do we know if we’re using color correctly?18:49 – Color to enhance learning24:03 – Tap into your current environment24:58 – Using color picker sites27:10 – Making your design accessible30:58 – Tool and resource suggestions from Tracy36:14 – Cultural perceptions of color39:15 – Pantone’s Color of the Year41:59 – Tracy’s speed round!46:18 – Final take46:54 – Outro Important links and mentions:TechSmith Academy: Learn how to use and create better images and videos (for free): https://academy.techsmith.comStark accessibility checker: https://www.getstark.co/chrome Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyparish/Tracy’s website: tracyparish.ca