The Visual Lounge

It is increasingly impossible to think of a content strategy that doesn’t utilise video as a strong and effective component. Yet for many people there are still barriers and obstacles stopping them from breaking into the video world.To get some expert insights into this, we spoke with Andy Crestodina, co-founder and CMO of​ the award-winning digital agency ​Orbit Media. Over the past 20 years, Andy’s provided guidance to over a thousand businesses, written hundreds of articles on content strategy, SEO and Analytics, and authored the book Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.Learning points:Content marketing is giving people what they want (usually educational, sometimes entertainment) to grow brand awareness, to build loyalty and to grow trust.Video gives you better access to the human brain, by turning your audience into viewers instead of readers.Video is accessible and compelling. Seeing someone’s face, tone and body language helps establish a connection and build trust in a short space of time.The reason why people don’t make more videos is not that the tools are difficult, it’s people not being comfortable making something with their face and voice in it.Traffic driving videos should be hosted on social media platforms, Content Marketing Video should be on YouTube & your website, About Us / Testimonial Video should b hosted solely on your website.Outcomes can be measured in a few different ways. If the video is on your website, you can measure the change to the performance of that page. Or if the video is hosted somewhere like YouTube, you can measure the performance of it on that platform.Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics can be used to measure video plays.Comparing the behaviour of viewers and non-viewers provides invaluable data into what video content adds to your website.YouTube Studio has its own analytics that show you total number of hours people have spent watching your video, how many new subscribers the video generated, and which sources drove traffic to the video.Leverage your strengths - Make videos for any content you have that is consistently performing well over time.Do Some Measurements - If you’re not measuring your results, then how do you know if you’ve hit a home run?Work Harder - you can make a video relatively quickly, but if you put more work into making a video, you will see that pay off a hundred fold with the engagement.Content marketing really benefits if you spend more time and more effort in its creationLearn more about designing and creating images and videos for Learning from the Techsmith Academy.Andy Crestodina provided a few of his articles that we talked about during this episode:https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/youtube-content-strategy/https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/tracking-video-views-google-analytics-tag-manager/To read the blog post on this topic, click here.**What's New At TechSmith - Check Out These Blog Posts and New Content** We'd love to have you subscribe where ever you listen to podcasts. If you like what you're hearing, give us a 5 star rating, and we'd love your review. I know it's such a small thing, but it makes it so others are more likely to find our podcast.https://the-visual-lounge.captivate.fm/listen**Get Started with Online Education Videos** https://www.techsmith.com/blog/get-started-with-online-education-videos/**4 Prove Steps to Make High-Quality Product Demo Videos** https://www.techsmith.com/blog/make-demo-video/**Clear Voice Over - Continuing on with the Screen Recording Basics Course Series** https://youtu.be/ljaqZjdY-zg

How can you design content that will help people to learn?You don’t have to be a teacher in the traditional sense to teach others. You might find yourself faced with a teaching role that you didn’t expect.Perhaps you need to give a presentation, create an educational video, or even host an online course? Whatever the case may be, you must design your educational content for learning.Sharing your knowledge with others and creating an effective learning experience for your ‘students’ (whoever they happen to be) doesn’t have to be difficult. There are ways that you can design for learning and in this episode of The Visual Lounge from TechSmith, Mike Taylor shares the best tips and advice he has accumulated throughout his two decades of industry experience with training development.In this episode, you’ll learn:The crucial roles of curiosity and empathyHow to connect with your audienceWhat you can learn about designing for learning from marketersHow to keep your audience focused on learningHow to engage with your audienceDesign and development tipsLearn more about designing and creating images and videos for Learning from the Techsmith Academy.Important Links & MentionsSubscribe to TechSmith on YouTube: http://bit.ly/TSCYouTubesubscribeFind more great content on our blog: http://www.techsmith.com/blog  Follow TechSmith on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/techsmithLike TechSmith on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/techsmithHave our monthly newsletter for tips, tricks & info: http://bit.ly/TS-newsCAMTASIA: https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

PowerPoint is boring. That’s what we’ve all heard, right? Too much text, too many bullet points, too much of the presenter just reading off the slides. But is it a PowerPoint problem or a design problem? There are a lot of ways to build slides for PowerPoint that convey information effectively and don't fall into the stereotypical design problems. Understanding how to make better slides is vital for holding your audience’s attention and conveying your message. It's also important if you're going to turn your PowerPoint presentations into videos. Here’s how you can design better slides, find the most visually appealing imagery, and turn your slides into better videos.Find out about:The differences between using PowerPoint for live presentation versus videoThe biggest common mistakes when getting startedThe steps you need to build a videoHow to tackle technical data without overwhelming your audienceWhich images you should be choosing for your slides, and whyThe great resources for finding great slide imagesHow to make a connection and build trust with your audience To read the blog post on this topic or watch the video click here.Find out more about the Techsmith Academy.Important Links & MentionsNancy Duarte's Resonate (Free ebook version): https://www.duarte.com/resonate-book/ You Suck at PowerPoint! by Jesse Dee: https://www.slideshare.net/jessedee/you-suck-at-powerpointTechSmith Asset Libary for images, music, videos, Camtasia templates and more: https://library.techsmith.com/camtasiaFreely Usable Videos: https://unsplash.com/Free Stock Photos and Videos: https://www.pexels.comSubscribe to TechSmith on YouTube: http://bit.ly/TSCYouTubesubscribeFind more great content on our blog: http://www.techsmith.com/blog  Follow TechSmith on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/techsmithLike TechSmith on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/techsmithHave our monthly newsletter for tips, tricks & info: http://bit.ly/TS-newsCAMTASIA: https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

Current events have turned the world upside down for many people. Those in the education field have had to switch classrooms and lecture halls for virtual videos and remote teaching for the first time. Educators have had to swiftly learn how to educate virtually and effectively without traditional in-person instruction.Transitioning to remote work and creating and sharing educational content virtually can be difficult. What you may not realize is that online education does not mean perfection and on this first episode of The Visual Lounge from TechSmith, you’ll find out how you can create better educational content online and while you don’t have to get it 100% perfect every time, with our help, you can get pretty close.In this episode, you’ll discover:The power of educationWhy it’s okay to be ‘less than perfect’Tips to help improve your online education videosHow to edit videos for a classroom presentationOvercoming common fears around creating videosHow to avoid hesitation and speak fluently in videosWhy it’s so important to know your audienceHow to save time when creating a video….and so much more!Transitioning from real-life classrooms to virtual education videos doesn’t have to be difficult. If you need help creating education videos, we have a range of tutorial and training videos to help you create and edit professional-quality videos for educational purposes.To find out more, go to: techsmith.com/customer-education.htmlTo read the blog post on this topic or watch the video, click here.Find out more information on the Techsmith Academy.

Welcome to The Visual Lounge from TechSmith, the podcast all about using, creating, evaluating, and getting the most from your images and videos.The Visual Lounge is a place where we talk about creating and using visuals and videos for all sorts of communication. Whether you’re creating a course to help your organization roll out new software, an educator learning to better communicate with your students, or a marketer helping your customers see the impact of your product, our conversations will help see how visuals can impact your work. Expect to hear from industry guests and experts in customer education, training and development, marketing, education, technical documentation, and more.We’ll also have the occasional how-to episode, so you can level-up your skills as you listen to help you to create better and more impactful images and videos.Join us on our weekly deep dives with some of the best in the business – we hope you’ll love every episode!Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the show so you don’t miss our first episode and any future content!