You don’t have to chat to too many people before you find someone with their own YouTube channel. However, having a channel is not, by itself, all that impressive. Because let’s be real here: the vast, vast majority of videos that you’ll find on the world’s largest video site are not worth watching. But then, of course, there are videos that most definitely are worth watching. Watch a few of those videos, and you’ll quickly notice just how professional the videos look and feel. How did they achieve that? Below, we take a look at six tips that’ll have you on your way to producing more professional looking content.
The Look
Now, you don’t necessarily need to have a professional look for your YouTube videos. There are plenty of channels that just seem to hit record, regardless of how the room they’re standing in looks. But they normally have something pretty darn special to offer the world, and they’re most definitely the exception for how things should be done, not the rule. Your lighting, background, and your ability to focus the camera properly will all help you to achieve the right “look.”
Can We Hear You?
There’s one thing that lets down many channels, even ones that actually are professional outfits, and that’s sound issues. If you’re hoping for your camera to pick up what you’re saying, well, it will, but it’s not going to deliver the immersive experience that professional videos should provide. So if your videos seem to have something wrong with them, take a look at the quality of the sound, which can sometimes bypass video creators. You’ll notice the difference if the audio line is directly fed from an independent mic, rather than the audio recorder on your iPhone.
Going Global
Unless you’re making videos that are to be aimed at people in your local area (which is unlikely), you’ll want to think about how well your videos can travel. When you’re hosting on the internet, you don’t just have a potential audience in your city or country; there’s a potential to reach the whole world. But, of course, there’s a hurdle to overcome: people in other parts of the world may not automatically understand your video. As such, it can be useful to work with a subtitle company, who can translate your script into a foreign language. It’ll help to make your video accessible to a much larger audience, but also shows that you’re more professional than your average YouTube channel – it shows you take what you do seriously.
Avoid Low-Quality Temptations
The sky’s the limit when it comes to how fancy and advanced you can make your videos. But the sky’s only the limit if you have a large budget under your belt. If you don’t, then you’ll need to go with low-budget effects or none at all. When you’re presented with this choice, then opt for none at all. It’s much better to do the best with what you have, even if that’s only a small budget, rather than to try to make your video look “higher budget” than it actually is. Unless you can do it expertly, leave it out – it never looks as good as the creator had hoped.
Be a Host
Having the authority to speak on whatever topic your channel is about is one half of the battle; the other is knowing how to say it. When you’re in front of the camera, it’s not enough to just talk — you have to present. That means being clear, being comfortable in front of the camera, and being your best, most charismatic self. This is something that you can learn, of course, and in any case, you’ll get better in time anyway. It’s just sometimes a good idea to get the “amateur hour” side of presenting over and done with as soon as possible, or at least pay more attention to your presenting skills.
Make it Watertight
Part of being professional is giving the people what they want. And what they don’t want is an overly-long video that’s badly in need of editing. Before you publish your video, make sure that it’s really as watertight as possible. It’ll help your video significantly, if only because people’s attention spans are pretty short, at least when it comes to content creators they’re not yet familiar with. Don’t waste their time!
As we’ve shown, upping the professionalism of your videos isn’t that difficult – you just need to incorporate a few tried and tested methods into your video making process.
