7 Tips for Creating Professional Quality Videos

Making a high quality video has become a must if you want to exist seriously on YouTube. Videographers are always spending more effort to make good quality videos because higher production quality exudes professionalism and that can lead to viewers being more favorable to what you are sharing with them. Now, while amateurish videos may work for certain vlogging lifestyles and capture the “raw, unfiltered look” in some cases, the general trend is to further develop your legitimacy you need to keep improving production quality. Now if you are doing presentations, using a professional grade slideshow software can help improve the quality of your slides and in this case you are advised to use special software such as Aiseesoft Slideshow Creator but the following 7 tips must be known to make your videos as natural as possible.

Here are 7 simple tips for making a good quality video.

Video Quality Tip #1 – Do not scream in the microphone

When the camera is 2 or 3 meters away, the natural tendency is to shout out your text or rehearsed speech as if you were talking to someone in the distance. A closer microphone will give you a much more natural sound.

Considerations:

Use a lapel microphone. It will allow you to speak at the proper conversational tone so that you aren’t shouting or too loud.  Be careful that the microphone does not rub on your clothes, which will cause noise and disturbance and if possible you may want to wear it so the wearable mic isn’t on camera unless you want it to be.     You may consider some excellent USB microphones as well with a boom mic stand to keep the mic above you as an option too.

Video Quality Tip #2 – Do not fix the camera all the time

Yes, it is important to look “in the camera” to capture the viewer’s attention. But you can also, from time to time, look elsewhere to appear a little less robotic.  When someone addresses an audience they will scan and not stare at one place only for too long, you need to appear to be having a casual conversation with live people, so don’t stand there or sit there transfixed at staring at the camera lens the whole time.  Also, do not adjust zoom, camera position or make movements to the camera which would introduce shakiness or unprofessional movement while filming.

Considerations: 

As in a conversation with a group of peers or friends, be natural and look away from time to time. Especially when looking for an example. This will give a more fluid side to your presentation, it will be more natural.  Also make sure you have your camera properly configured and adjusted prior to the final recording, this includes disabling auto-focus or any thing the camera would do that would cause movements while filming, especially auto-focus which can periodically pick up on something you are holding or another object and blur out your face while talking to the camera.

Video Quality Tip #3 – Do not Speak Too Fast

We often tend to speak too fast, and not to articulate clearly enough for some people. It is unpleasant in life when having phone conversations, but in video, it sends a message that is not necessarily positive to your audience, that you are in a rush and not taking the time to carefully and clearly present your message.

Considerations:

Remember, different regions have different speeds at which they communicate so you want to speak slower and more clearly and not assume everyone is used to fast conversation.  Take your time, especially at the beginning of the video. Film a small clip of yourself and listen to determine if you feel you are talking to quickly, do viewers have enough time to make out every word spoken clearly, are there proper pauses between sentences and to let information soak in before changing topics? Repeat your text several times before filming if necessary to articulate your sentences so that people can understand you well. You can also enrich your video with your favorite music, but keep the music at low enough levels that it would not distract from your spoken words. For mixing music with your presentation you can also consider a photo video maker with music software.

Video Quality Tip #4 – Talk to a person

Your video will be watched by a single person in front of their screen. So, talk to this person.  So even if your video will get thousands of views, remember that each view is most likely a single person at a time.

Considerations:

So, how do you make a video of professional quality? You do this by speaking directly to the viewer. You address the individual and pretend this video is for 1 specific person that you know.

For example, do not say “Many people suffer from acne problems and never find a lasting solution.”

Reformulate and say, “You have acne problems, you have tried a lot of so-called” miracle “products, but you have not achieved any results. Today, you do not know what to do to fight against this acne that ruins your life … “

Make the video about them, what are you offering that person, how can it help him or her.  Don’t generalize for the masses, each viewer is your chance at a one on one pitch.

Video Quality Tip #5  – Have an adapted gesture

Nonverbal communication is just as important than verbal communication. It is therefore crucial to have an adapted gesture to get your message across. But many people are not comfortable with the camera and as a result they have a fixed gesture or a repetitive gesture.

Considerations:

By gestures we mean usage of your hands, facial expressions and movement to dramatic effect.  Good gestures come with time. To begin, you can simply speak lightly with your hands, without doing too much. Train in front of a mirror or filming yourself. If you do not know what to do with your hands, alternate two types of shots: close-up on the face, and wider shot, which stops in the middle of the trunk.   Too much gesturing can make you look frantic as well, there is a fine balance.  Watch some TED talks and see how these presenters leverage movements and gestures to maximum effect for an audience to gain some examples you can try and emulate as well.

Video Quality Tip #6 – Present one idea at a time

If you want to raise too many topics or mix ideas, the viewer will have trouble following you. Your video will be more difficult to edit and in the end you may end up with mixed messages or viewer confusion because you are addressing too many items at the same time.

Considerations:

Present one idea at a time. If you need to approach many ideas, think ahead to how to present these ideas as logically as possible to keep the viewer’s attention.  Make sure you do proper transitions to each idea and give clear indications when a topic shift happens, this can be with a slideshow transition and/or a brief cue to let viewers know you are shifting topics by introducing the next topic.  Let viewers know at the start of a presentation an agenda and what will be covered so they know how many topics and when.  Finally you may want to put in the description of the video the timestamps of each topic clearly laid out table of contents style as well.

Video Quality Tip #7 –  Do not make too long sentences

Rambling on is one of the marks to either confuse viewers or bore them quickly.  Making extended sentences where the main idea is lost in the middle of digressions, will likely lose the attention of people and should be avoided.

Considerations:

Favor short sentences, with simple structures: subject, verb complement.  Be clear and concise, and if you need to tell a story or have a setup prior to what you want to say, do it in a way that maximizes gestures, inflection and other characteristics to keep people engaged and hooked.  Again, remember you are trying to be as natural as possible as if you are speaking to the person right in front of you face to face.

In conclusion:

If you are doing any sort of video marketing then you need to be sure you can be credible and one way is to ensure your video production quality and your presentation style are as professional as possible. As mentioned earlier, address your audience as you would in real life. Be direct and simple in your remarks while taking care of your non-verbal communication. These 7 simple tips will help you make a professional quality video, try them!

Video Quality Bonus Tip:

Now that you have the video, take the time to leverage proper thumbnails and descriptions/tags if you host your video on YouTube, Vimeo or another video site. A professional thumbnail is important and is the first thing a viewer may see and if it doesn’t appear professional they may never even click play on your video.  Always make sure the end of the video has a clear message where the viewer can get more information, or get what you are trying to sell if you are selling something.  Leveraging an end slide, or end cards if using YouTube is an important tool as well.