Engaging Stories, Expanding Audiences: Top Three Methods

The Best Storytelling Techniques to Grow Your YouTube Channel

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Lighting the Way: Enhancing Your YouTube Videos with Pro Tips

10 Tips For Shooting Profesional YouTube Videos

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

We have mentioned before about the equipment you should have to start your YouTube video shooting , however, being methodical in your approach to the video making process and knowing exactly what and where you are going to stage and record will increase the quality of the content. Focus on the technical aspects of your YouTube video before you actually start shooting and strive to be well prepared for all the challenges a day on the set may bring.

These and other useful tips may help you make better videos for your YouTube channel, so let’s explore different ways of improving your video making skills.

10 Tips for Shooting Better YouTube Videos

All videographers agree that you shouldn’t come to the set unprepared. Everything has to be in its place, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because a tiny detail can completely ruin the shot or even an entire day of work. These tips are going to help you avoid common mistakes, inexperienced video producers often make.

1. Write the Script

Everything starts with a script, at least in the cinematography world. You don’t have to write long, detailed descriptions of all scenes, just make a short note of every scene, what is being said in the shot, on-screen actions, camera positions, and so on. By doing this, you’ll save yourself a lot of valuable time, you can then dedicate to other burning issues on the set. Besides, knowing what you are going to say throughout the video so you don’t have to improvise all the time is going to help you feel more relaxed in front of a camera.

2. Build the Set (Lighting included)

Don’t leave anything to chance. You should control everything that is going to be in the shot, so avoid working at locations you can’t at least partially control. Shooting in studio-like conditions will enable you to carefully select the scenography and to design light so it matches the scene perfectly. The actors must always be clearly visible to the audience, which is why you need to pay attention to where they are located in the shot and how much light you have in that part of the shot.

3. Keep Your Batteries Charged

There is nothing more frustrating than arriving at the set anxious to start shooting just to find out that the batteries are empty. Charge the batteries at the end of each day on the set, because the chances are that you are going to need them early in the morning. Always have several spare batteries with you, so even if one battery is empty you have the replacement ready. You can also prolong the battery life by switching the camera off when you are not recording.

4. Do a Microphone Check

Capturing audio with an external microphone drastically increases the quality of the sound in your videos. That’s why making absolutely sure that all cables are connected and that the microphone is perfectly placed is paramount if you want to get the sound right. The host or the hosts of the video must be at the right distance from the microphone, usually, the length of their fist with the thumb and pinky finger extended, but this can vary a few inches to either side.

Check out the best microphone for YouTuber in 2018

5. Pay Attention to The Shot Composition

The rule of thirds is a common composition principle used by videographers to create balanced and unified images. The rule suggests that the subjects in a shot should be placed at the intersections of the lines that divide the screen. Most digital cameras have a grid that makes using the rule of thirds quite simple because you can easily see when the subjects in the shot are not positioned correctly.

This is just one of many shot composition techniques you have at your disposal, and as you gain more experience you’ll learn how to combine them and get aesthetically pleasing results.

6. Always Record Videos in Landscape Mode

Posting vertically oriented videos to your YouTube channel will make you look unprofessional because portrait mode is never used for capturing videos. YouTubers who record their videos with Smartphones are more likely to fall into this trap, but all you need to do to avoid this is remember to hold the device horizontally.

By switching to portrait mode, you’ll be cropping the frame in a way, so you might unknowingly end up removing parts of the shot you wanted to record.

In case that you want to convert your portrait video to landscape, do not miss this article about How to Convert A Portrait Video to Landscape.

7. Eliminate The Background Noises

Professional microphones can pick up even the softest sounds, that might prove difficult to remove in the post-production. You can reduce the noise levels in your videos by using shotgun microphones that only capture sounds that come directly into the microphone, or by using the omnidirectional mic to eliminate the wind if you’re shooting on an outdoor location.

Background noises can be particularly unpleasant when recording narration, because the viewers of the video may not want to watch it until the end if they can’t hear what the person in the video is saying.

If it is hard for you to record your YouTube video in quite environment, you can remove the background noise by using some video editing software. For YouTubers, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora to de-noise. Check the video below about how to remove background noise with one click.

8. Keep The Shot in Focus

You can always keep the shot in focus by simply enabling the autofocus feature, but if you do so you won’t be able to control where the focus is going to be. Pulling focus manually is an art that takes years to master, and you have to keep practicing it as much as you can in order to become good at it.

The best way to deal with out of focus shots is to avoid shooting scenes that include a lot of action because you won’t have to pull focus that often.

9. Put The Camera on a Tripod

The footage you produce should be smooth and free of camera shakes. All video cameras pick up vibrations easily, so even the slightest movement or impact can ruin a shot. Putting the camera on a tripod is one of the best ways to stabilize the shot and avoid camera shaking.

In addition, a tripod enables you to maintain image stability even when shooting form lower or upper angles, something that cannot be achieved by simply holding the camera.

We have chosen some of the best tripods that you can use for starting a YouTube vlogging Video shooting . If you are using a 4K camera, here are some tripods that you can use for your 4K Cameras .

10. Find The Best Angle

Every scene has its perfect angle, you just have to find it. This job is much easier if you have already built the set and adjusted the lighting before approaching the shot selection process because it will allow you to know exactly where the camera should be.

The camera position depends on a number of factors, including the video’s aesthetics or the action that takes place in the shot, and you have to go through this process for each shot in your video.

Read More to Get : How to Download YouTube Videos without Any Software Easily >>

Conclusion

Hopefully, the tips we provided in this article are going to help you create better YouTube videos. There are hundreds of tricks you’ll have to learn as your skills become more polished, but sometimes just paying attention to the basic rules of videography is more than enough to create a stunning video.

Leave a comment and let us know which tips helped you the most or tell us which useful tips we failed to mention in this article.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

We have mentioned before about the equipment you should have to start your YouTube video shooting , however, being methodical in your approach to the video making process and knowing exactly what and where you are going to stage and record will increase the quality of the content. Focus on the technical aspects of your YouTube video before you actually start shooting and strive to be well prepared for all the challenges a day on the set may bring.

These and other useful tips may help you make better videos for your YouTube channel, so let’s explore different ways of improving your video making skills.

10 Tips for Shooting Better YouTube Videos

All videographers agree that you shouldn’t come to the set unprepared. Everything has to be in its place, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because a tiny detail can completely ruin the shot or even an entire day of work. These tips are going to help you avoid common mistakes, inexperienced video producers often make.

1. Write the Script

Everything starts with a script, at least in the cinematography world. You don’t have to write long, detailed descriptions of all scenes, just make a short note of every scene, what is being said in the shot, on-screen actions, camera positions, and so on. By doing this, you’ll save yourself a lot of valuable time, you can then dedicate to other burning issues on the set. Besides, knowing what you are going to say throughout the video so you don’t have to improvise all the time is going to help you feel more relaxed in front of a camera.

2. Build the Set (Lighting included)

Don’t leave anything to chance. You should control everything that is going to be in the shot, so avoid working at locations you can’t at least partially control. Shooting in studio-like conditions will enable you to carefully select the scenography and to design light so it matches the scene perfectly. The actors must always be clearly visible to the audience, which is why you need to pay attention to where they are located in the shot and how much light you have in that part of the shot.

3. Keep Your Batteries Charged

There is nothing more frustrating than arriving at the set anxious to start shooting just to find out that the batteries are empty. Charge the batteries at the end of each day on the set, because the chances are that you are going to need them early in the morning. Always have several spare batteries with you, so even if one battery is empty you have the replacement ready. You can also prolong the battery life by switching the camera off when you are not recording.

4. Do a Microphone Check

Capturing audio with an external microphone drastically increases the quality of the sound in your videos. That’s why making absolutely sure that all cables are connected and that the microphone is perfectly placed is paramount if you want to get the sound right. The host or the hosts of the video must be at the right distance from the microphone, usually, the length of their fist with the thumb and pinky finger extended, but this can vary a few inches to either side.

Check out the best microphone for YouTuber in 2018

5. Pay Attention to The Shot Composition

The rule of thirds is a common composition principle used by videographers to create balanced and unified images. The rule suggests that the subjects in a shot should be placed at the intersections of the lines that divide the screen. Most digital cameras have a grid that makes using the rule of thirds quite simple because you can easily see when the subjects in the shot are not positioned correctly.

This is just one of many shot composition techniques you have at your disposal, and as you gain more experience you’ll learn how to combine them and get aesthetically pleasing results.

6. Always Record Videos in Landscape Mode

Posting vertically oriented videos to your YouTube channel will make you look unprofessional because portrait mode is never used for capturing videos. YouTubers who record their videos with Smartphones are more likely to fall into this trap, but all you need to do to avoid this is remember to hold the device horizontally.

By switching to portrait mode, you’ll be cropping the frame in a way, so you might unknowingly end up removing parts of the shot you wanted to record.

In case that you want to convert your portrait video to landscape, do not miss this article about How to Convert A Portrait Video to Landscape.

7. Eliminate The Background Noises

Professional microphones can pick up even the softest sounds, that might prove difficult to remove in the post-production. You can reduce the noise levels in your videos by using shotgun microphones that only capture sounds that come directly into the microphone, or by using the omnidirectional mic to eliminate the wind if you’re shooting on an outdoor location.

Background noises can be particularly unpleasant when recording narration, because the viewers of the video may not want to watch it until the end if they can’t hear what the person in the video is saying.

If it is hard for you to record your YouTube video in quite environment, you can remove the background noise by using some video editing software. For YouTubers, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora to de-noise. Check the video below about how to remove background noise with one click.

8. Keep The Shot in Focus

You can always keep the shot in focus by simply enabling the autofocus feature, but if you do so you won’t be able to control where the focus is going to be. Pulling focus manually is an art that takes years to master, and you have to keep practicing it as much as you can in order to become good at it.

The best way to deal with out of focus shots is to avoid shooting scenes that include a lot of action because you won’t have to pull focus that often.

9. Put The Camera on a Tripod

The footage you produce should be smooth and free of camera shakes. All video cameras pick up vibrations easily, so even the slightest movement or impact can ruin a shot. Putting the camera on a tripod is one of the best ways to stabilize the shot and avoid camera shaking.

In addition, a tripod enables you to maintain image stability even when shooting form lower or upper angles, something that cannot be achieved by simply holding the camera.

We have chosen some of the best tripods that you can use for starting a YouTube vlogging Video shooting . If you are using a 4K camera, here are some tripods that you can use for your 4K Cameras .

10. Find The Best Angle

Every scene has its perfect angle, you just have to find it. This job is much easier if you have already built the set and adjusted the lighting before approaching the shot selection process because it will allow you to know exactly where the camera should be.

The camera position depends on a number of factors, including the video’s aesthetics or the action that takes place in the shot, and you have to go through this process for each shot in your video.

Read More to Get : How to Download YouTube Videos without Any Software Easily >>

Conclusion

Hopefully, the tips we provided in this article are going to help you create better YouTube videos. There are hundreds of tricks you’ll have to learn as your skills become more polished, but sometimes just paying attention to the basic rules of videography is more than enough to create a stunning video.

Leave a comment and let us know which tips helped you the most or tell us which useful tips we failed to mention in this article.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

We have mentioned before about the equipment you should have to start your YouTube video shooting , however, being methodical in your approach to the video making process and knowing exactly what and where you are going to stage and record will increase the quality of the content. Focus on the technical aspects of your YouTube video before you actually start shooting and strive to be well prepared for all the challenges a day on the set may bring.

These and other useful tips may help you make better videos for your YouTube channel, so let’s explore different ways of improving your video making skills.

10 Tips for Shooting Better YouTube Videos

All videographers agree that you shouldn’t come to the set unprepared. Everything has to be in its place, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because a tiny detail can completely ruin the shot or even an entire day of work. These tips are going to help you avoid common mistakes, inexperienced video producers often make.

1. Write the Script

Everything starts with a script, at least in the cinematography world. You don’t have to write long, detailed descriptions of all scenes, just make a short note of every scene, what is being said in the shot, on-screen actions, camera positions, and so on. By doing this, you’ll save yourself a lot of valuable time, you can then dedicate to other burning issues on the set. Besides, knowing what you are going to say throughout the video so you don’t have to improvise all the time is going to help you feel more relaxed in front of a camera.

2. Build the Set (Lighting included)

Don’t leave anything to chance. You should control everything that is going to be in the shot, so avoid working at locations you can’t at least partially control. Shooting in studio-like conditions will enable you to carefully select the scenography and to design light so it matches the scene perfectly. The actors must always be clearly visible to the audience, which is why you need to pay attention to where they are located in the shot and how much light you have in that part of the shot.

3. Keep Your Batteries Charged

There is nothing more frustrating than arriving at the set anxious to start shooting just to find out that the batteries are empty. Charge the batteries at the end of each day on the set, because the chances are that you are going to need them early in the morning. Always have several spare batteries with you, so even if one battery is empty you have the replacement ready. You can also prolong the battery life by switching the camera off when you are not recording.

4. Do a Microphone Check

Capturing audio with an external microphone drastically increases the quality of the sound in your videos. That’s why making absolutely sure that all cables are connected and that the microphone is perfectly placed is paramount if you want to get the sound right. The host or the hosts of the video must be at the right distance from the microphone, usually, the length of their fist with the thumb and pinky finger extended, but this can vary a few inches to either side.

Check out the best microphone for YouTuber in 2018

5. Pay Attention to The Shot Composition

The rule of thirds is a common composition principle used by videographers to create balanced and unified images. The rule suggests that the subjects in a shot should be placed at the intersections of the lines that divide the screen. Most digital cameras have a grid that makes using the rule of thirds quite simple because you can easily see when the subjects in the shot are not positioned correctly.

This is just one of many shot composition techniques you have at your disposal, and as you gain more experience you’ll learn how to combine them and get aesthetically pleasing results.

6. Always Record Videos in Landscape Mode

Posting vertically oriented videos to your YouTube channel will make you look unprofessional because portrait mode is never used for capturing videos. YouTubers who record their videos with Smartphones are more likely to fall into this trap, but all you need to do to avoid this is remember to hold the device horizontally.

By switching to portrait mode, you’ll be cropping the frame in a way, so you might unknowingly end up removing parts of the shot you wanted to record.

In case that you want to convert your portrait video to landscape, do not miss this article about How to Convert A Portrait Video to Landscape.

7. Eliminate The Background Noises

Professional microphones can pick up even the softest sounds, that might prove difficult to remove in the post-production. You can reduce the noise levels in your videos by using shotgun microphones that only capture sounds that come directly into the microphone, or by using the omnidirectional mic to eliminate the wind if you’re shooting on an outdoor location.

Background noises can be particularly unpleasant when recording narration, because the viewers of the video may not want to watch it until the end if they can’t hear what the person in the video is saying.

If it is hard for you to record your YouTube video in quite environment, you can remove the background noise by using some video editing software. For YouTubers, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora to de-noise. Check the video below about how to remove background noise with one click.

8. Keep The Shot in Focus

You can always keep the shot in focus by simply enabling the autofocus feature, but if you do so you won’t be able to control where the focus is going to be. Pulling focus manually is an art that takes years to master, and you have to keep practicing it as much as you can in order to become good at it.

The best way to deal with out of focus shots is to avoid shooting scenes that include a lot of action because you won’t have to pull focus that often.

9. Put The Camera on a Tripod

The footage you produce should be smooth and free of camera shakes. All video cameras pick up vibrations easily, so even the slightest movement or impact can ruin a shot. Putting the camera on a tripod is one of the best ways to stabilize the shot and avoid camera shaking.

In addition, a tripod enables you to maintain image stability even when shooting form lower or upper angles, something that cannot be achieved by simply holding the camera.

We have chosen some of the best tripods that you can use for starting a YouTube vlogging Video shooting . If you are using a 4K camera, here are some tripods that you can use for your 4K Cameras .

10. Find The Best Angle

Every scene has its perfect angle, you just have to find it. This job is much easier if you have already built the set and adjusted the lighting before approaching the shot selection process because it will allow you to know exactly where the camera should be.

The camera position depends on a number of factors, including the video’s aesthetics or the action that takes place in the shot, and you have to go through this process for each shot in your video.

Read More to Get : How to Download YouTube Videos without Any Software Easily >>

Conclusion

Hopefully, the tips we provided in this article are going to help you create better YouTube videos. There are hundreds of tricks you’ll have to learn as your skills become more polished, but sometimes just paying attention to the basic rules of videography is more than enough to create a stunning video.

Leave a comment and let us know which tips helped you the most or tell us which useful tips we failed to mention in this article.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

We have mentioned before about the equipment you should have to start your YouTube video shooting , however, being methodical in your approach to the video making process and knowing exactly what and where you are going to stage and record will increase the quality of the content. Focus on the technical aspects of your YouTube video before you actually start shooting and strive to be well prepared for all the challenges a day on the set may bring.

These and other useful tips may help you make better videos for your YouTube channel, so let’s explore different ways of improving your video making skills.

10 Tips for Shooting Better YouTube Videos

All videographers agree that you shouldn’t come to the set unprepared. Everything has to be in its place, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because a tiny detail can completely ruin the shot or even an entire day of work. These tips are going to help you avoid common mistakes, inexperienced video producers often make.

1. Write the Script

Everything starts with a script, at least in the cinematography world. You don’t have to write long, detailed descriptions of all scenes, just make a short note of every scene, what is being said in the shot, on-screen actions, camera positions, and so on. By doing this, you’ll save yourself a lot of valuable time, you can then dedicate to other burning issues on the set. Besides, knowing what you are going to say throughout the video so you don’t have to improvise all the time is going to help you feel more relaxed in front of a camera.

2. Build the Set (Lighting included)

Don’t leave anything to chance. You should control everything that is going to be in the shot, so avoid working at locations you can’t at least partially control. Shooting in studio-like conditions will enable you to carefully select the scenography and to design light so it matches the scene perfectly. The actors must always be clearly visible to the audience, which is why you need to pay attention to where they are located in the shot and how much light you have in that part of the shot.

3. Keep Your Batteries Charged

There is nothing more frustrating than arriving at the set anxious to start shooting just to find out that the batteries are empty. Charge the batteries at the end of each day on the set, because the chances are that you are going to need them early in the morning. Always have several spare batteries with you, so even if one battery is empty you have the replacement ready. You can also prolong the battery life by switching the camera off when you are not recording.

4. Do a Microphone Check

Capturing audio with an external microphone drastically increases the quality of the sound in your videos. That’s why making absolutely sure that all cables are connected and that the microphone is perfectly placed is paramount if you want to get the sound right. The host or the hosts of the video must be at the right distance from the microphone, usually, the length of their fist with the thumb and pinky finger extended, but this can vary a few inches to either side.

Check out the best microphone for YouTuber in 2018

5. Pay Attention to The Shot Composition

The rule of thirds is a common composition principle used by videographers to create balanced and unified images. The rule suggests that the subjects in a shot should be placed at the intersections of the lines that divide the screen. Most digital cameras have a grid that makes using the rule of thirds quite simple because you can easily see when the subjects in the shot are not positioned correctly.

This is just one of many shot composition techniques you have at your disposal, and as you gain more experience you’ll learn how to combine them and get aesthetically pleasing results.

6. Always Record Videos in Landscape Mode

Posting vertically oriented videos to your YouTube channel will make you look unprofessional because portrait mode is never used for capturing videos. YouTubers who record their videos with Smartphones are more likely to fall into this trap, but all you need to do to avoid this is remember to hold the device horizontally.

By switching to portrait mode, you’ll be cropping the frame in a way, so you might unknowingly end up removing parts of the shot you wanted to record.

In case that you want to convert your portrait video to landscape, do not miss this article about How to Convert A Portrait Video to Landscape.

7. Eliminate The Background Noises

Professional microphones can pick up even the softest sounds, that might prove difficult to remove in the post-production. You can reduce the noise levels in your videos by using shotgun microphones that only capture sounds that come directly into the microphone, or by using the omnidirectional mic to eliminate the wind if you’re shooting on an outdoor location.

Background noises can be particularly unpleasant when recording narration, because the viewers of the video may not want to watch it until the end if they can’t hear what the person in the video is saying.

If it is hard for you to record your YouTube video in quite environment, you can remove the background noise by using some video editing software. For YouTubers, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora to de-noise. Check the video below about how to remove background noise with one click.

8. Keep The Shot in Focus

You can always keep the shot in focus by simply enabling the autofocus feature, but if you do so you won’t be able to control where the focus is going to be. Pulling focus manually is an art that takes years to master, and you have to keep practicing it as much as you can in order to become good at it.

The best way to deal with out of focus shots is to avoid shooting scenes that include a lot of action because you won’t have to pull focus that often.

9. Put The Camera on a Tripod

The footage you produce should be smooth and free of camera shakes. All video cameras pick up vibrations easily, so even the slightest movement or impact can ruin a shot. Putting the camera on a tripod is one of the best ways to stabilize the shot and avoid camera shaking.

In addition, a tripod enables you to maintain image stability even when shooting form lower or upper angles, something that cannot be achieved by simply holding the camera.

We have chosen some of the best tripods that you can use for starting a YouTube vlogging Video shooting . If you are using a 4K camera, here are some tripods that you can use for your 4K Cameras .

10. Find The Best Angle

Every scene has its perfect angle, you just have to find it. This job is much easier if you have already built the set and adjusted the lighting before approaching the shot selection process because it will allow you to know exactly where the camera should be.

The camera position depends on a number of factors, including the video’s aesthetics or the action that takes place in the shot, and you have to go through this process for each shot in your video.

Read More to Get : How to Download YouTube Videos without Any Software Easily >>

Conclusion

Hopefully, the tips we provided in this article are going to help you create better YouTube videos. There are hundreds of tricks you’ll have to learn as your skills become more polished, but sometimes just paying attention to the basic rules of videography is more than enough to create a stunning video.

Leave a comment and let us know which tips helped you the most or tell us which useful tips we failed to mention in this article.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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