The Visual Lounge

Whether you create videos for YouTube or internal training content, you should have one top priority – keeping your audience engaged. But what steps can you put in place to make sure this happens? And what should you do if your videos aren’t making the desired impact? On this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce shares top tips for making engaging YouTube and internal content, why jump cuts could be the simple tool that makes your videos more compelling and why it’s vital you know your audience. Remember: bring them in, create content for them and keep them watching. Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Introduction 00:57 – Fighting for attention on YouTube 02:45 – The YouTube creator mindset 05:44 – Applying a creator mindset to internal training content 07:29 – How AI could impact video creation 08:53 – The power of jump cuts 11:33 – Find your style 11:52 – Experimenting with TechSmith content 13:13 – What’s on screen in your videos? 15:52 – Knowing your audience 16:54 – Bring them in, create content for them and keep them watching 17:00 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Follow Matt on Twitter

Whatever type of presentation you’re delivering it’s important to remember that building a relationship with your audience is paramount. Your slides are not the presentation, you are the presentation, says Senior Director, Customer Education, Leslie Chamberlain. Leslie joins this episode of The Visual Lounge to guide us through making effective, “sense rich” presentations faster, from concept to completion. She provides tips on keeping things clear and concise and balancing individualism with brand values. Leslie also dives into the importance of appealing to your audience’s senses in order to make presentations more memorable. Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Introduction 02:49 – How Leslie became involved in customer success 05:13 – Making learning presentations successful 06:49 – Leslie’s tip for using videos and images in presentations 09:04 – Brand vs individual in your presentations 10:43 – The first steps towards a great presentation 16:14 – Making your ideas sense-rich 19:06 – Where people get stuck making presentations 24:54 – Should you script presentations? 26:47 – How to condense information and keep things short 31:40 – Hear Leslie’s Speed Round answers 35:57 – Leslie’s final take 36:36 – Outro   Important links and mentions: Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-chamberlain-a3475121/ 

In this podcast, they discuss the challenges of workplace communication and the importance of using visuals to improve it. They also explore the value of meetings and suggest replacing unproductive ones with emails or videos. The speakers share insights about email habits and processes, and emphasize the benefits of using visuals for clearer instructions. Additionally, they talk about travel experiences, finding inspiration, and overcoming communication challenges in the modern workplace.

Managers – do you communicate enough with your team members? This guest says you should always communicate more than you think. Communication is key to success in any workplace, so we asked Jeremie Brecheisen, Managing Director at Gallup, on The Visual Lounge, to share his expert advice. Jeremie shares what good communication means to him and how we can prevent proximity bias as teams continue to mix remote and onsite working. Plus, hear how asynchronous communication can boost productivity and cut out distractions. Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Introduction 02:57 – Getting to know Jeremie 04:57 – Defining healthy communication in the workplace 08:12 – Using visuals to breed strong communication 11:55 – Dealing with proximity bias 21:03 – Do we have too many meetings? 27:26 – Benefits and drawbacks of asynchronous communication 31:50 – Practical advice on workplace communication 33:54 – Speed Round Questions 38:48 – Jeremie’s final take 40:26 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Jeremie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiekbrecheisen/  Jeremie’s Gallup articles: https://www.gallup.com/people/JeremieBrecheisen.aspx?a=246527&p=1  Jeremie’s Gallup piece on the Four Essential Dynamics of Hybrid Work: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/390944/four-essential-dynamics-hybrid-work.aspx  

We are seeing illustrations being used more and more to represent brands and their goals, but how do you land on a visual that works and what are the things to consider?  In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we are joined by Graphic Designer and Illustrator, Lainey Yehl to talk about the steps that go into creating successful illustrations, what makes good graphic design and how to tell stories through your visuals. Plus, Lainey gives us insights into her own career, what graphic design trends are on the horizon and shares details about her contribution to our Snagit update.  Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Introduction 02:19 – How Lainey began her career in illustration 03:51 – Why everyone is creative 04:47 – What makes a project successful? 06:52 – Advice for being successful with images 08:42 – Why are more organizations using illustrations? 11:17 – The power of storytelling through illustration 12:07 – Outlining the creative process from concept to final product 15:06 – Keeping up with illustration trends 16:52 – How Lainey illustrates 20:27 – Exploring Lainey’s work for TechSmith 22:14 – Does she have creative freedom? 23:46 – Incorporating diversity and inclusion 25:07 – The importance of accessibility 26:48 – The top trends to look out for 29:17 – Lainey’s Speed Round 34:29 – Final take 35:05 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Lainey on LinkedIn Follow Lainey on Instagram Visit Lainey’s website 

Video production is more accessible than ever, making it a viable option for all content creators. But what is it about video that makes it such an excellent option for training professionals? On this episode of The Visual Lounge, we are joined by Abbey Cooke, Learning and Digital Collaboration Manager at Southern States Cooperative and owner of Lizard Brain Learning. Abbey shares how she got started in her industry, why she prioritizes the social aspects of training and how she measures her success. Plus, she provides tips on adding a touch of creativity to training content and gives us the top secrets behind her 60k+ follower TikTok profile.  Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Intro 01:45 – How Abbey got started making videos and images 03:51 – How to define success in video creation and social media 06:16 – A tip for video and image production 07:33 – How short-form video has impacted Abbey’s work 10:55 – The social aspect of training 14:18 – What helps build bridges between remote trainees? 15:50 – What should be a video vs another type of content? 20:37 – Metrics and indicators 22:10 – Applying creativity to corporate social media content 26:37 – Extra advice from Abbey 28:36 – Abbey’s TikTok tips and tricks 30:56 – Abbey’s Speed Round questions 36:57 – Final take 37:41 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Abbey on LinkedIn Visit the Lizard Brain Learning website Follow Abbey on Instagram Follow Abbey on TikTok Subscribe to Lizard Brain Learning on YouTube 

*Drumroll*  Snagit 2024 is out and packed full of new and improved features to help you make video a part of your everyday toolkit – whether you’re a beginner or a video pro.  In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we sat down with TechSmith’s Nick Rich, Associate Technical Product Manager, who has been responsible for helping us launch these brilliant new features. Hear Nick explain how our new mouse cursor options, timeline display, combined videos, and sharing features can help to take the hassle out of creating videos.  Learning points from the episode include: 02:39 – How Nick got his role at TechSmith 04:05 – What makes successful images and videos? 06:00- Nick’s top tip for working with images and videos 10:43 – Snagit 2024’s new cursor features 14:09 – A look at the new Snagit timeline display 16:40 – How Snagit users can combine videos  21:59 – How to share Snagit captures with Microsoft Teams and more 25:35 – Features you may have missed in Snagit 26:30 – Why we decided to enhance Snagit’s onboarding experience 27:12 – How to use Snagit’s share link feature 29:59 - Nick’s favorite Snagit 2024 feature 30:45 – Speed round questions 36:21 – Nick’s final take  Important links and mentions: Download Snagit 2024: https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html Connect with Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-rich/ 

Looking to deploy social learning in your workplace? Prioritize what your people need and identify how they want to experience it. Nicole Papaioannou Lugara, Learning Strategist and founder of Your Instructional Designer, joins this episode of The Visual Lounge to share top tips on implementing social learning, pitching it to your C-suite and determining whether it’s doing its job. Plus, she explores why video is so effective for social learning and why authenticity should always be front of mind. Learning points from the episode include: 0:00 – Introduction 2:14 – How Nicole got into instructional design 4:25 – What defines success for social learning? 6:23 – Nicole’s tip for using video and images in the workplace 9:16 – What good social learning could look like 10:41 – Can social learning just be natural? 11:49 – What makes it work/not work? 13:29 – What can prevent social learning from working well? 15:01 – The most creative ways to implement social learning 17:32 – The best ways to measure social learning’s success 22:08 – Why video works for social learning 28:33 – Be inspired! 30:21 – Speed round 35:51 – Nicole’s final take 36:36 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn Follow Nicole on Instagram Visit Nicole’s website Subscribe to Nicole’s YouTube channel 

Content can be the glue between your operations and your customers’ experiences, but how can image and video creators best use customer insights to make that content effective? On this episode of The Visual Lounge, Sunny Hunt, founder and CEO of Hunt Interaction, shares top tips for creating effective content to bridge that gap with your customers. Plus, she tells us the best ways to get to know your audience, spread the customer-first mindset across your organization and reap the benefits of generative AI.  Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Intro 02:20 – How Sunny got started in customer experience 03:39 – Defining success in her work 05:09 – Advice on using videos and images to bridge the gap with customers 07:10 – What content Sunny focuses on 08:27 – How knowing your audience leads to better content 10:16 – Building a better connection with customers (the first steps) 14:01 – Make building better customer connections a team-wide mindset 16:30 – Sunny’s views on AI to help build customer connections 20:46 – The potential authenticity hazards of generative AI 26:12 – Sunny’s favorite tools to connect with customers 28:47 – Sunny’s Speed Round answers 38:11 – Final take 39:21 – Outro  Important links and mentions: Connect with Sunny on LinkedIn Follow Sunny on Twitter Visit Sunny’s website 

If you put lots of effort into creating images and videos, you want it to have an impact, right?  That’s what we chat about in this episode of The Visual Lounge with Mike Simmons, Speaker, Advisor, Coach, Fractional CRO/Sales Leader, and Enabler for Catalyst A.C.T.S. Mike shares how he first got started with images and video, and why simply starting can be the hardest but most important step. We hear about his method for balancing impact vs. energy when creating content and why you need to create and get feedback to find that sweet spot and level up your skills.  Learning points from the episode include: 00:00 – Introduction 03:31 – How Mike first started using images and video 05:01 – What makes a successful video 06:45 – Mike’s method for getting feedback  09:19 – Mike’s top tip for making images and videos  11:36 – How Mike defines “accelerating impact” with video 14:08 – The tools Mike uses to help him create videos  19:29 – Mike’s advice for getting started  24:30 – How you build momentum after getting started 26:31 – Overcoming the risks of experimenting with videos  31:52 – Questions to ask yourself to motivate you to start creating 33:51 – Speed round questions  39:38 – Mike’s final take Important links and mentions: Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesimmons/ Catalyst A.C.T.S: findmycatalyst.com Catalyst A.C.T.S’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa66Q2SqaPCA_TbhrOVNOCA