Ready to amplify your video production superpowers with AI? From prompting to finding tools and everything in between, this episode of The Visual Lounge is the perfect guide to get you started. Whether you’ve already started using it or feel afraid about jumping in, this episode is teeming with tips, ideas and pointers to help you unlock AI’s potential. We are joined by friend of the show and learning & development expert Josh Cavalier on this edition of The Visual Lounge. Josh guides us thr...
Jun 07, 2023•48 min•Ep. 165
What sets apart the hobbyists from the pros on YouTube? It’s all about consistency. Salma Jafri, a Video Marketing Coach, Consultant and Speaker, is a big believer in brand consistency on YouTube, and how it can help build a loyal following. She joins The Visual Lounge to explain her process behind visual branding consistency and shares some top tips that she gives to fellow video creators. Salma also digs into how consistency looks different for everyone and why it’s not just about posting as m...
May 31, 2023•33 min•Ep. 164
What makes a successful video? The answer to that question is different for everyone. However there are some things that all creators more or less agree on. For example, as this week’s guest says, if your video is packed with information, engaging to watch and super-enjoyable, you’ve done your job (no pressure!). If you need some extra tips to help you reach these goals, this episode has them all. Kelly Rush, TechSmith’s very own Technical Product Manager, joins this episode of The Visual Lounge...
May 24, 2023•39 min•Ep. 163
Have you found yourself putting enormous time and effort into creating a video, only to end up dragging it straight to ‘trash’? Feeling like your work’s not good enough is tough, which is why it’s so great to hear that you’re not alone. On this episode of The Visual Lounge, we’re delighted to welcome creative powerhouse, Eddie Grey. Eddie is a Los Angeles-based musician, composer and video creator who has also collaborated with TechSmith. In this episode, he shares his journey – the good, the ba...
May 17, 2023•32 min•Ep. 162
Get ready to level up your content game as this week’s guest provides actionable tips to enhance your strategy with video. Andrew DeBell, Senior Learning Content Strategist at Atlassian University, returns to The Visual Lounge for this episode. He shares how he got started making video, explains why AI is not to be feared by content teams and shares advice on creating systems to prioritize and manage video production in your content strategy. Plus, Andrew shares his one top tip for all video cre...
May 10, 2023•47 min•Ep. 161
Would your business benefit from creating learning simulation videos? These step-by-step videos can help learners master their craft and reach their A-game. But we know how it is…they seem too complicated or costly, or maybe they’re just low down your to-do list. However, this guest breaks it down perfectly so you can get started right away. On this episode of The Visual Lounge, we are joined by Debbie Richards, Chief Technology Officer at Creative Interactive Ideas. Debbie provides a masterclas...
May 03, 2023•39 min•Ep. 160
Ready to create videos that stop the scroll and wow your audience? On this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce, TechSmith Learning & Video Ambassador, delivers a masterclass on how to level up your video content. Matt provides tips to make your videos pop, such as maximizing the impact of text, bringing images to life and using music wisely. Plus, he provides step-by-step techniques to polish your work and make it stand out from the crowd. Head to YouTube to watch the video version and...
Apr 19, 2023•41 min•Ep. 159
We’re covering something a little different this week on The Visual Lounge… In this episode, we are joined by YouTube creator Nico Edward. Nico creates reaction videos on the channel WhatchaGot2Say where he has almost 300,000 subscribers. Nico takes us through his YouTube journey, how he uses Camtasia to streamline his production and editing processes and explains how to create impactful reaction videos. Tune in for this, plus plenty of chat about K-pop superstars BTS! Learning points from the e...
Apr 12, 2023•42 min•Ep. 158
Video lets your personality shine through…and having an Australian accent no doubt helps too! On this episode of The Visual Lounge, we are joined by Troy Hunt, Pluralsight Information Security Author & Instructor. Troy reveals all about how he got into creating videos, his scripting processes and why video is the perfect medium for him. Plus, he shares how he became a tech pro, where he turns for inspiration and his experiences with Snagit. Troy is also the founder of data breach aggregation...
Apr 05, 2023•37 min•Ep. 157
Want to build an academy for your educational video content? This episode of The Visual Lounge features Jaclyn Anku, Director of Community and Education at Gusto, and Elliott Morin, Creative Director at 3Motion Creative and Creative Founder of Jettison Creative. Jaclyn and Elliott explore their work together on Gusto Academy, how the project came about and why building an academy was the right move for them. Plus, they share tips on asking your superiors to back academy projects, deciding what c...
Mar 29, 2023•47 min•Ep. 156
When done right, video learning can be so effective. But what does the research tell us we can improve? In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Patti Shank, President of Learning Peaks, explains how instructional video creators can make their work easier to process. Patti discusses how she got started in the industry, her articles on research around eLearning and tells us the one thing hindering instructional video creators in 2023. Patti is a renowned researcher, speaker, author and workplace lea...
Mar 22, 2023•45 min•Ep. 155
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 route into the industr...
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, GeekWire, and Win...
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 new ways to commun...
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 with video, how to improve...
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 the biggest...
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 brilliant book, ‘Th...
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 background as well as s...
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 and provides a ton ...
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 frameworks for delivering t...
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 kickstart your motivatio...
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 down their ...
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'll notice tha...
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
