How To Avoid the Thousand-And-One Video Pitfalls Everyone Worries About

Have you ever felt too intimidated about video recording to even try to get a simple message out on YouTube?

Yes, I thought so. Me too. I did a quick search through Google. Let me give you a run down on some of the issues to consider when making a video for any purpose.

First, I was instructed in no uncertain terms to buy the most expensive camcorder I could afford. The quality of the video suffers greatly unless the camera is first class.

The next thing I learned is that you have to have a tripod that costs at least $100 – $200 to insure it’ll be solid and firm enough not to wobble. I also learned you need a portable microphone and a “Lavaliere Microphone” (though I didn’t even know what that was).

Next, I was given TONS of advice on panning, zooming, editing, narration, composition, lighting – and even extensive information on how to sort and pack your equipment.

We haven’t even gotten to the question of memorization vs. cue cards, inflection, noise minimization, facial expression, and my personal favorite – STAGE FRIGHT.

This would all be well and good if you were trying to re-make “Gone With The Wind”, but it’s definitely overkill if you just want to explain something or sell something.

If you’re like me, you understand the incredible power of YouTube and other video sites. You know that more and more internet traffic is video (52% as of this writing), and that if you want your message to get to the most pairs of eyes, you have to go video. The question some of you may be asking is: “How do I avoid all of that other nonsense mentioned above?”

Good question. You could go for some expensive video editing software and – after overcoming a steep learning curve – create one of those masterpieces you see on YouTube from time to time. You know what I mean – a clever series of written messages which fade in and fade out, or leap on to the screen and then leap out, or dance around in a circle – all accompanied by perfectly synchronized music, of course.

But if you just want to get across a simple sales message, you might conclude that all of the above is overkill. So why not look into “text to video” software?

If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry. I hadn’t heard of it either until recently. But actually it’s been around for a while – only nowadays the speech sounds less robotic. The idea behind it is to simply paste or type the words you want spoken into your computer and it gets converted into audio speech.

With this kind of program, creating a video is as easy as writing an email to a friend. Since more and more people would rather watch and listen to a message than read one, you can see that such a program has value.

The main question to ask is how the software handles the video portion. I would personally recommend that you choose a program that generates some kind of computer image, rather than simply flashing the words on a screen as they’re being spoken. Most viewers feel more comfortable actually seeing someone talk, and you want viewers that feel comfortable watching your message.

Learn more about a new text to video program called VideoGoRound.com at Jennifer Gordon’s site: VIDEOGOROUND.COM. Find out how VIDEOGOROUND will address these issues.