DIY Video Tips & Tricks with Nikolai Pozdniakov
Video content has become a very popular and effective way to share your expertise, generate attention, and drive marketing on social media. At our May 6, 2020, (Virtual) Wine Wednesday event, Nikolai Pozdniakov, Owner of HashtagLegal, and E-Discovery Production Manager at vdiscovery, shared DIY tips for creating and sharing video content using free or low-cost digital tools.
It needs to be entertaining and educational. No one will watch a boring video. Bring your energy first. Get passionate, and start talking. You have to engage and entertain your audience. No, you do not have to tell jokes, but you have to be energetic enough to get your audience to engage. Educational content is another way to go, but if you lack energy or your message is not clear your audience will not stay with you, even if what you are saying is correct. Combining entertainment with education is a secret behind best video creators online. This combination is the most difficult one to achieve.
Get over your fear and insecurities about DIY video. Getting your face “out there” creates instant connection with your viewers that no email or article can provide. However, doing so is not easy. We can have face-to-face conversation with a client, but as soon as the camera is rolling, we instantly forget what we were going to say. More to that, people are very conscious about their appearance as well as how their voice sounds recorded. It is easy to say, "Don’t worry about your appearance," but we do. If you make videos indoors, you can easily control environment so you can time to fix up your hair, and use lighting that would be most flattering. As far as sound of your voice, yes, you do sound like that, and everyone is used to it. You will get used to it very quickly as well.
Your message needs to be louder than your fear of getting started. You have something to say? Go out there and say it. Go over your talking points in your head over and over. Let the issue start burning inside of you. Forget what others may think, and start talking. Let the passion for the topic drive you. Show your emotions and bring energy. It will definitely show in the video, and viewers will appreciate it.
Don’t know what to share?
- Start with daily updates. Talk about what is happening in your world. You can start with “Good morning. Today is going to be a great day. I’m planning to do so and so”. I prefer to do update once I finish with project or part of it “ Today was good day. Here is what I did. What do you think? …” Another update could be “Today I learned .. “ and share something you learned today. This in turn can bring you providing valuable tips to potential clients.
- What is relevant? This is something you have to decide for your business. Keep in mind that people will just follow you as a person and want to know what are YOU personally up to.
- What is your theme? Pick a style that you are comfortable with and your viewer expect when clicking on your video. Keep it consistent. I keep my videos in playlists that cover specific topic and each of the playlist has its own theme of the video.
Video editing is super easy. DaVinci Resolve is a relativity easy-to-use and intuitive video editing tool. Microsoft's Windows Essential suite comes with Windows Movie Maker 10. It’s basic, but doesn’t provide microsecond editing. (It's also no longer supported by Microsoft, but still a suitable tool for beginners.)
- There are different sizes needed for social media platforms. This changes often so please do your own research. Quick Google search will keep you updated on the latest specs and trends.
- Keep your content under 10 minutes. You don’t want your video to be longer than it needs to be. Leave viewers wanting more instead of providing too much and letting them disengage.