For a lot of people, they want to make a video, but don't have a clue how to start. The best way to create videos is to develop a simple, repeatable workflow. In this episode, Matt Pierce , Andy Owen , and Justin Simon talk through video workflows that will let you create videos faster. Do you want more tips on creating videos? You can easily watch and search past episodes here. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify ....
When you hear the word “comic”, do you think of your favorite cartoon strip, superheroes and graphic novels, or instructional content? Thinking outside of the box can often help instructional design content connect more successfully with users. Kevin Thorn advocates bringing external inspiration into designs and using creativity to communicate. His preferred educational visual is the instructional comic. Kevin is an award-winning eLearning designer and founder of NuggetHead Studioz. He joined Ma...
How can you help your videos reach more people? You’ve spent a lot of time and effort creating a great video, and you’ve just published it. What’s your next step? Is it to move on and start planning your next video? Or is it to get that video in front of as many people as possible? Repurposing your video, or any content you create, is a fantastic way to help more people find and engage with your content. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Amy Woods joins host Matt Pierce to reveal how you can...
How can an audio-first workflow optimize your tutorial videos? Creating tutorial videos using an audio-first workflow is one of our preferred methods at TechSmith. The editing process is often more straightforward, flexible, and easier to control than any other method. But, as tutorial videos are primarily visual content, people often don’t think to start creating them using audio. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce walks you through a step-by-step guide to creating a high-value t...
How do you create a successful online course? Online courses are incredibly popular and effective ways to provide learning solutions. However, creating a course requires a very different approach from any other type of instructional content. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Emily Weiss joins Matt Pierce and shares the secrets behind creating successful online courses. Emily is Head of Partner Marketing at Thinkific, an all-in-one online course platform. She works with top course creat...
Good tech isn’t just for Christmas. If you’re unsure what to get the video creator, audio editor, or remote worker in your life (or want to level-up your own content creation) we’re sharing our ultimate tech gift guide. In this bumper episode of The Visual Lounge, host Matt Pierce is joined by members of the TechSmith team to share the best tech gifts for creating better videos, images, and more. Find out how you can improve your communication with better audio, change your focus with a backgrou...
Effective virtual instructor-led training is more vital than ever before. But converting training from a physical space into a digital one can present some challenges. Shannon Tipton specializes in converting instructor-led training from in-person to virtual environments. She is the founder of Learning Rebels, has over 15 years experience in corporate learning leadership, and joins Matt Pierce on this episode of The Visual Lounge. Listen as she shares her methods and advice for ensuring effectiv...
Are you an educator exhausted with online learning? Pivoting your skills from in-person to a virtual environment comes with its challenges in any industry. But for training and education, the transition isn’t always straightforward, and there’s a lot of pressure to succeed. But don’t despair! There are many tools that can help educators confidently deliver online training, teach successfully, and avoid burnout. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce is joined by Education Innovator an...
How can a simple exercise help develop your skills, find gaps in your learning, and motivate you to progress to the next level? It might sound too good to be true, but the simplicity of the “maturity matrix” is what makes it so effective. Anyone, from teams to individuals, can use them to help grow any skills – that’s right, any skills. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, join host Matt Pierce as he interviews guest Phylise Banner, Learning Experience Design Consultant, about this innovative t...
If you’re a beginner video creator, it can take time to develop a scriptwriting strategy that suits your style and helps you create better content. But there are ways to streamline and improve your process if you’re just getting started. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we discuss how to write a video script – even if you’re not a scriptwriter (or video producer!) Listen in as TechSmith’s Video Producer, Andy Owen, and Global Content Manager, Justin Simon, join podcast host Matt Pierce and ...
Digital communication can often straddle the space between problem and solution. For example… Problem: You’re a live speaker, but all live events are canceled. Solution: Pivot to virtual speaking and utilize technologies and tools to continue your career in a new way. Problem: You’re unsure about how to transition from live speaking to virtual speaking. Solution: Get some advice from the experts (listen to find some!). In March, TechSmith collaborated with the one and onl...
Can simplified user interfaces revolutionize your visual instructions? You may not have heard of simplified user interfaces (otherwise known as SUI) before, but there’s a good chance you’ll have seen them. Companies like Dropbox, Microsoft, Adobe, and Google use SUI graphics to help their audience navigate their software. But what are SUI graphics, and how can they improve your users’ experience? Instructional content and SUI expert, Anton Bollen joins Matt Pierce in this episode of The Visual L...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 lo...
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 ...
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, shar...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 conversation...
