6 Tips For Creating Tutorial Videos That People Will Want To Watch And Share

Pretty good at something and you want to create a tutorial for it?

Posting an instructional video about a craft, a recipe, or a technique you are skilled at is a great way to share valuable information with a virtual audience. A lot of people have been turning to the internet for how-to’s and it’s a great time to take advantage of that demand.

But how can you make sure that you get the attention you deserve?

Here are a few tips to make your video tutorials worth watching and sharing.

Create a suitable set or backdrop

Before recording your tutorial, you must first design the set and adjust your camera settings. Depending on how you plan to shoot it, from the top or with you included, your setup must not distract the viewer from what you are showing them. Choose an area with good lighting or add lighting fixtures to make it brighter, especially when shooting indoors.

Adjust your camera settings

You also need to set up your camera settings. Adjust the aperture to make the footage more brilliant. Make sure the white balance setting is adjusted to make colors appear correct and vibrant. If you are unable to adjust these before shooting, you can apply the changes to your recording using a video editor.

Keep it short and fluff-free

Be straightforward when creating tutorials. If your introduction takes up half of your video, viewers are more likely to skip to step 1 or find another tutorial. Before recording your video, outline the process you wish to share.

You may also want to write a script if you are doing a voiceover. Go through it several times, reading it aloud if necessary, and edit out any unnecessary words or lines.

Use layman terms

You have to keep in mind that most people who are looking for tutorials are those who have no expert knowledge about that topic. Using special words or expressions that are only used in specific professions or groups may be too much for newbies. As much as possible, use the simplest terms you can. If there is no simpler version, add an explanation or flash the definition.

Speak clearly (or add clear captions)

If you are going to use your voice to teach in your video, make sure that you speak clearly enough to make your instructions easy to understand. While YouTube has an automatic caption feature, other platforms do not. Also, auto-captions often rely on speech recognition so, if it is unable to recognize what you are saying, it may generate any word that sounds like it.

For reliable and accurate captions, add your own. Make them visible and readable. Also, it is important to consider the aspect ratio of your video when positioning captions. Make sure that they can be fully seen regardless of the display size or dimension.

Know when to speed up or slow down

You’ve probably seen videos with time-lapse and slo-mo scenes. Knowing when to control video speed could make your tutorial more interesting and effective.

• Speed up a video when it is showing a long process that requires no explanation, like kneading dough for baking, priming a canvas, or downloading a software program. This will prevent awkward dead airs and keep your video from becoming unnecessarily long and boring.
• Slow down a video when it involves a step that is done quickly, like making a special knot on a string, doing a certain dance move, or folding origami paper. The slow-motion effect will help viewers follow the steps more accurately and get a good grasp of what’s going on.

Don’t skip a step

There are online tutorials where a certain step is merely mentioned, not shown, because the ‘teacher’ assumes that it is very simple. This is a big no-no. Your video will be available to people from all levels of understanding. If you want to cater to everyone, you must not assume that everyone will know even the simplest of steps. If it is worth mentioning, it is worth demonstrating as well.

Showcase the results

Some viewers fast forward to the end of the video to see the final product or result. This is somehow a way for them to gauge how reliable the video tutorial is. If they see that the results are satisfactory, the more likely they will sit down and watch it. If you simply lay out the steps but not show how it would look like or turn out in the end, your viewers may be doubtful of your credibility or doubtful of theirs in following your instructions.

Share the love

Once your tutorial video is done and edited, scrub the video to do a final check. Is it easy to follow and understand? Is it done in a way that you would be interested in?

We hope these tips can help you create or improve video tutorials and encourage you to keep sharing valuable content that eager learners will want to watch and share with family, friends, colleagues, and online followers.