Gaining the trust of your audience is a tough task. In fact, it’s much easier to lose it! That’s why we invited Peter Hopwood, Global Speaking and TEDx Coach, to take us through his top tips on building trust, holding your audience and coming across like a pro on camera. Peter runs his own business, Hopwood Story & Speaker Coaching, and also works in coaching, strategy and hosting roles for TEDx, Microsoft and the European Commission. On the episode, Peter explores his rout...
Mar 15, 2023•51 min•Ep. 154
When you break educational content down to its fundamentals, it’s all about helping people to address a need or solve a problem. And that’s what informs all of Kevin Stratvert’s videos. With almost 2 million subscribers on YouTube, Kevin teaches millions of students around the world every month across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms to help them master technology, achieve more at work, and succeed at school. He's been featured on CNBC, Fast Company, GeekW...
Mar 08, 2023•36 min•Ep. 153
Hybrid work is about balancing meetings with getting your head down, while allowing yourself the odd break, all while contending with family life continuing around you (or maybe noisy neighbours!). If that sounds familiar, this episode could help. Amy Casciotti, Vice President of Human Resources, joins Matt Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador at TechSmith, to delve into our Async First experiment from July last year. The experiment helped us cut down meeting times and find ...
Mar 01, 2023•37 min•Ep. 152
Old content can be a treasure trove of value, but you need to brush off the dust and repurpose and refresh it. Sometimes that means turning in-person training into an online course or a series of videos, which can be a challenge if you’re brand new to video. To chat more about this, Matt Tidwell, CEO of ThinkThru, joins The Visual Lounge. Matt’s company builds customer education programs, including videos and online courses. He shares his top tips on how to get started wi...
Feb 22, 2023•42 min•Ep. 151
Whatever type of videos you are producing, the key to doing it successfully is to build effective processes you can rinse and repeat. Whether it be how your equipment is set up, the way you edit, write, or record your videos, having repeatable processes in place can help you scale your videos at a sustainable pace. This week’s guest on The Visual Lounge is Tim Slade, founder of The eLearning Designer’s Academy. He explores how using efficient processes has helped him in his work, plus he tells u...
Feb 15, 2023•38 min•Ep. 150
The video creation journey is different for everybody. But is there a secret sauce in that recipe for success? Josh Cavalier, Learning Architect – Digital Technologies at American Tire Distributors and Mark Lassoff, Video Instructor and Founder at Dollar Design School, join this episode of The Visual Lounge to give us a sneak peek into what makes their work so great. Josh and Mark explain how they got going in the world of educational video, discuss the power of AI and reveal some of...
Feb 08, 2023•51 min•Ep. 149
How do you know that your presentation has been successful? It can be challenging to discern what “success” actually means when you make a presentation. But, in this episode of The Visual Lounge, our guest explains the formula he follows to smash it out the park every time. Tommy Re, President of Vital Talent, joins the show to explain how presentations should inform, persuade and inspire, the importance of knowing and resonating with your audience and the key points from his brillia...
Feb 01, 2023•40 min•Ep. 148
Sometimes the best thing you can do as an instructional designer is to step into your learners’ shoes. Whether you’re delivering content on compliance or something completely different, keep your learners in mind at all times. That’s advice that’s served Cath Ellis well throughout her career. Cath is an eLearning Designer and Developer who creates powerful learning experiences for learners around the world. Cath joins us on The Visual Lounge for a fantastic talk about her backg...
Jan 25, 2023•50 min•Ep. 147
Remote working can add extra challenges for employees. It may feel harder to collaborate on projects, difficult to build structure and put systems in place, and for some it can feel isolating at times. So, in this episode, Emily Whitmer, Learning & Development Team Leader at Southwest Airlines, explains that when leaders in learning design manage remote teams, it can help their employees have the best possible work experience. Emily provides tips on how to build a ‘remote ecosystem’, explain...
Jan 18, 2023•49 min•Ep. 146
Color is something we see everywhere, every second of every day. It’s something we never really question or think about too much. But color choices are so important in any design or branding and play a huge part in how we communicate with audiences and customers. Tracy Parish, Education Technology Specialist at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Toronto, Canada, joins Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, on this episode of The Visual Lounge to discuss why color needs to be ...
Jan 11, 2023•48 min•Ep. 145
This is a special episode of the Visual Lounge podcast featuring tips and ideas from a variety of team TechSmith about our products, including Camtasia, Snagit, and Audiate. We discuss topics such as asynchronous communication, connection over perfection, hotkeys, and editing out mistakes. There is also a special opportunity for a few folks - listen for Emmie Musser - who has an exceptional opportunity for the first 5 individuals to follow her instructions. Find tips including: Keep it up—asynch...
Dec 28, 2022•17 min•Ep. 144
Do you want to save time in the editing chair? Who wouldn’t? A lot of our video editing time is spent tidying things up. Getting rid of “ums,” “ahs,” and little pauses can feel tedious and time-consuming. But there is a better way – using Audiate. Rather than editing with waveforms in Camtasia, you can use Audiate’s handy text-based editor to clean up your videos much faster. In fact, we recently put Audiate to the test and found that it could save up to 40% extra time while editing! Hear all ab...
Dec 21, 2022•34 min•Ep. 143
Everything needs a refresh eventually…and that includes e-Learning! Jonathan Hill, Head of E-Learning at Entain, believes it’s personality and humor that e-Learning often lacks. But why is it so important? Jonathan joins Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, in this episode of The Visual Lounge to discuss challenging traditional workplace learning. He explains the benefits of adding humor to your educational content, what defines success in L&D for him a...
Dec 14, 2022•48 min•Ep. 142
If you want your learning content to have the best possible impact on your audience, there’s only one thing for it...you need a solid strategy in place! Whether your go-to learning method includes videos, images, or something else entirely, starting out with a strategy is the best way to ensure you’re choosing the right medium to deliver training. Treion Muller, CEO and Founder of The Modern Learning Architect, is on The Visual Lounge to share his strategy secrets and framework...
Nov 30, 2022•41 min•Ep. 141
It happens to the best of the best, even those people who have been making videos for years. A creative slump can feel impossible to get out of sometimes. You might lack inspiration or motivation, or self-doubt might have crept in, making any creative work an uphill battle. If that sounds familiar, then this episode of The Visual Lounge is for you. Host Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, explores what it means to be in a creative slump, how you can kickst...
Nov 23, 2022•29 min•Ep. 140
How do you ruin a tutorial video? More importantly, how do you fix it? We’ve got you covered by providing strategies to fix common tutorial pet peeves in this episode of The Visual Lounge! We have an awesome panel of experts, including Andrew DeBell, Senior Learning Experience Strategist at Atlassian, Cara North, Founder & Chief Learning Consultant at The Learning Camel, and our Instructional Designer Lead at TechSmith, Chandra Owen. Andrew, Cara, and Chandra join forces to break...
Nov 16, 2022•46 min•Ep. 139
Instructional design is not easy and, for that reason, getting feedback is essential. Making sure you’re on the right path and proving the efficacy of your work is so important in working towards a successful career. Ask fellow professionals, follow your customers and watch them use what you create. Gauging people’s opinions on what you build can sure be uncomfortable, but it’s worth it in the end. That’s the opinion of Julie Dirksen, Learning Strategy Consultant at Usable Learning, who joins Ma...
Nov 09, 2022•57 min•Ep. 138
How effective are your videos? There’s only one way to find out – by digging into the numbers. Video metrics can tell you if your video is effective, reaching the right people, and performing how you want. That way, you’re not left guessing if your video strategy is on the right track. Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning and Video Ambassador, talks us through the importance of different metrics and how you can gather this all-important data. As you look at video metrics and data, you'l...
Nov 02, 2022•37 min•Ep. 137
Drumroll…Snagit 2023 is here! And with it comes a host of intuitive new features and some new and improved fan favorites. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce sits down with Paul Donahue, Senior Technical Product Manager, and Emmie Musser, Senior Portfolio Marketing Manager at TechSmith, to get the latest. Emmie and Paul take us behind the scenes of Snagit 2023 to share details of the new release, their top features, and how Snagit helps you perfect workplace communication with imag...
Oct 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 136
Before you start creating video content, there are a few things you need to know. Whether you are starting at the beginning, or have plenty of experience behind you, this is a must-listen for anybody creating educational video content. TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, Matt Pierce, is joined by Tiffany Taylor, Director, EDU Success & Education at Handshake, on this edition of The Visual Lounge. She shares what led her to create video, how she defines success and why keeping things...
Oct 19, 2022•45 min•Ep. 135
Thumbnails and titles are the bait that reels viewers into YouTube content. Not only are they great for SEO, but they also define your brand and catch the audience’s eye. But what makes a good YouTube thumbnail? And how do you write a great title? In this week’s episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, is joined by Paul Wilson, freelance e-Learning designer and Adobe Captivate Teacher. Paul explains how he creates videos and shares his top tips for ...
Oct 12, 2022•42 min•Ep. 134
What makes a great video script? Whether you’re brand new to scripting or want to brush up on the best practices, there’s so much to unpack from this episode of The Visual Lounge. TechSmith’s Content Marketing Specialist, Ryan Knott, joins the show to share his advice on best practices, what to do vs. avoid, how to nail your tone, and so much more. If you’ve never scripted a video before, it’s easy to overthink it. The good news is that simpler is usually better, and Ryan has plenty of actionabl...
Oct 05, 2022•36 min•Ep. 133
Successful presentations require planning and focus…and one specific part of your presentation that needs a great deal of both is visuals. Visuals play a significant part in how presentations come across and so it’s important to remember a few things. In this week’s episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador, explores how to use effective visuals to enhance presentations. He explains how they should grab the audience’s attention but not distract them from what you...
Sep 28, 2022•32 min•Ep. 132
We've had a great break, but we're coming back soon with new shows, new guests, and some new ideas and approaches. This episode is a short one to give you some of those details. Some of the changes you can expect in future episodes include some new formats to the interviews, slightly shorter shows (in most cases), and a variety of other small tweaks to hopefully make watching & listening to the show even better. To watch the full video, go to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gMwWX9Ffc7o...
Sep 02, 2022•7 min•Ep. 131
Register for the Level Up Event by TechSmith here: https://bit.ly/3oBpi9l Looking to Level Up your video creation game? We have the event for you! Come hear more amazing speakers like Adam Avermascu, Tiffany Taylor, Dee Kapila, Matt Pierce, and more! Whether you’re making product demos, software marketing videos, explainer videos, onboarding videos, tutorials, or other screen recordings, this event will help you create more engaging content faster. At TechSmith, we’ve been helping our customers ...
Aug 02, 2022•6 min•Ep. 130
Creating your first video can be a daunting experience, and this week’s guest has to do it in front of the entire The Visual Lounge audience! In this week’s episode, we’re joined by return guest Kassy LaBorie, Founder and Principal Consultant at Kassy LaBorie Consulting, LLC., as she navigates the ins and outs of creating her own video. Matt takes her through some editing basics, such as cutting, adding all sorts of media to her finished video, and even how to pick some accompanying music. Kassy...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 129
Looking to take your video and image content to the next level? Well, you’re in the right place! Matt Pierce, Learning and Video Ambassador at TechSmith, is joined by eight industry experts on this episode of The Visual Lounge. From embracing video imperfections to keeping things consistent and double-checking image attributions, these guests have a lot of helpful advice to offer. Joining this episode are: Andy Owen, Social Engagement and Video Manager at TechSmith Tricia Ransom, Senior Learning...
Jul 13, 2022•57 min•Ep. 128
Mistakes – everyone makes them, but most of the time we try to hide them. What should we be doing instead? Acknowledging that we’re not perfect while looking for ways ‘level up’ in every single video we make. That’s why in this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador, explores the six top mistakes he still makes in his videos. Matt doesn’t just point out the blunders, he also gives clear and precise steps on how to tackle them. So, if you find yourself making t...
Jul 06, 2022•43 min•Ep. 127
Getting started with video creation? Then one of the most basic things you need to master is how to choose the right types of videos and images to get your message across. With that in mind, Matt Pierce, Learning and Video Ambassador at TechSmith, talks about the ABCs of making videos in this episode of The Visual Lounge. As he tells us, video creation isn’t as hard as some people make it out to be. But there are some key decisions that can either make or break the final product. Learn the secre...
Jun 29, 2022•58 min•Ep. 126
Camtasia 2022 unlocks even more great features and capabilities than ever before. Joe Dearman, User Experience, and Brooks Andrus, Product Technical Manager at TechSmith, hopped on to this episode of The Visual Lounge to share their favorite features, what to expect from Camtasia 2022, how its “epic cursors” work, and much more. Joe and Brooks take us behind the scenes of Camtasia’s development and how this new iteration aims to help video creators level up their content. Find out what new featu...
Jun 22, 2022•59 min•Ep. 125
