Does your informational content take too long to create? If you create visual instructions, like a job aid or a step-by-step guide, you’ll know that gathering the information is just part of the work. The other part is making sure that you display the information so users can effectively learn from it. It can be time-consuming to design your informational content, especially when you might not need a whole new design. Templates are a great way to optimize the way you create your informational co...
Nov 04, 2020•37 min•Ep. 14
What is help content? You don’t have to be a technical writer to create content that helps people use your product. Your content just needs to help your customers help themselves. Customer education content helps customers to solve problems and perform the tasks they need. Providing this content is an essential ingredient for ensuring the success of your product with your customers. There are ways to create effective help resources, and in this episode of The Visual Lounge, Michele Wiedemer shar...
Oct 28, 2020•46 min•Ep. 13
Video is one of the best ways to reach an audience, but it's also one of the most intimidating content forms to create. If fear is holding you back, maybe you just need to “press the damn button.” It's not easy to get started with video. It might feel daunting at first, but there are many reasons why that shouldn't stop you from creating video content. If anyone has the best advice for creating video, it's Brian Fanzo. Brian has been sharing live videos since 2013 and is an entrepreneur and keyn...
Oct 21, 2020•51 min•Ep. 12
If you're looking for a learning solution to help empower your employees, you might have considered investing in a training course or eLearning materials. But have you considered the benefits of job aids for your business? Job aids can be instrumental in helping employees complete tasks effectively, and as business owners know, empowering employees with the information they need is an integral part of running a successful business. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, discover how job aids coul...
Oct 16, 2020•36 min•Ep. 11
With so much video content online, how do you get viewers to watch your videos? Once you've won that battle, how do you keep them watching to the end? If you've ever seen your watch-rates plummet and wondered why, or if your videos are struggling to get traffic, brushing up on your video consumer behavior knowledge could help you find some solutions to your video-viewer problems. Understanding video-viewer behavior can help you create more attractive videos that keep people watching longer. We k...
Oct 14, 2020•39 min•Ep. 10
The pivot from face to face interaction to online interaction is happening across many industries, and nowhere is it more evident and universal than in education. As teaching continues to move online, how can you ensure that you’re continuing to provide an effective learning experience through this very different medium? When it comes to available technologies, you must make sure that you’re both resilient to the changes they bring and accepting of them. There are ways that technology can enhanc...
Oct 09, 2020•42 min•Ep. 9
How can you write better video scripts, faster? Scriptwriting can heavily influence the amount of time it takes to see a video through from conception to completion and while there are many different ways to write a script, having an efficient process to go from the blank page to the finalized video is the key to faster production. In this episode of The Visual Lounge from TechSmith, Dana Haines, a multifunctional content creator who specializes in video development and scriptwriting, shares her...
Oct 07, 2020•38 min•Ep. 8
Screen recording can be a very useful and powerful tool in your video arsenal, however, few people know how to utilize it well and, if you’ve never used it before, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Understanding how to start creating screen recordings is the first step to optimizing your screen recorded video process. Learn how to set your videos up for success and you’ll discover a faster workflow that gives you better quality screen recordings and more engaging videos. Learning po...
Oct 02, 2020•36 min•Ep. 7
What can you do to make sure that you design an eLearning course that delivers real results? Tim Slade is a speaker, award-winning freelance eLearning designer and the author of the book, ‘ The eLearning Designer's Handbook .’ Having spent the last decade working to help others elevate their eLearning and visual communications content, Tim has a wealth of knowledge on the subject of creating eLearning that delivers results. I mean, he wrote the book on it! Tim was more than happy to share some o...
Sep 30, 2020•49 min•Ep. 6
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 strate...
Sep 23, 2020•49 min•Ep. 4
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 t...
Sep 18, 2020•52 min•Ep. 3
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...
Sep 16, 2020•29 min•Ep. 2
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 a...
Sep 09, 2020•56 min•Ep. 1
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 wil...
Sep 02, 2020•2 min
